Mizzou Football Coaching History

The Tigers’ Head Coaching job is arguably the most high profile job in the state of Missouri

Missouri football coach Eliah Drinkwitz just signed a new coaching deal that will pay him $64.5 million over the course of 6 years. Coaches are a hot commodity, so getting one to stay is a big deal. And in this age of NIL money for players, the only continuity these days seems to be with the coaching staff. And that is why the coaching history is so important. Here is the history of the head coaches at Mizzou.

Longest Tenure

Even if Drinkwitz stays the entire 6 years, he still won’t have the longest tenure for a Mizzou football coach. He would be at 12 years at that point. That title goes to Don Faurot.

Name	Tenure	Years
Don Faurot	19	1935-1942, 1946-1956
Gary Pinkel	15	2001-2015
Dan Devine	13	1958–1970
Gwinn Henry	9	1923–1931
Warren Powers	7	1978–1984
Al Onofrio	7	1971–1977
Larry Smith	7	1994–2000

Wins:

But what about winning? That is all anybody seems to care about anyway, so here is how that stacks up.

Name	Seasons	Wins
Gary Pinkel	15	117
Don Faurot	19	101
Dan Devine	13	93
Warren Powers	7	46
Gwinn Henry	9	40

Winning Percentage:

Name	Record	Winning Percentage
Dan Devine	93-37	.704
Gary Pinkel	117-71	.622
Eliah Drinkwitz	38-24	.613
Warren Powers	46-33-3	.579
Don Faurot	101-79-10	.558

Note: Winning Percentage requires more than 3 seasons in modern era off college (1950 – present). Several coaches in the early 1900s had higher winning percentages, but only coached 1 season.

Awards:

-Drinkwitz has been named AP SEC Coach of the Year in 2023 as well.

-Gary Pinkel won the National Coach of the Year in 2007 going 12-2 with Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin.

-Larry Smith on the Big 12 AP Coach of the Year in 1997 when the Tigers ended their streak of 13 straight losing seasons.

Highest Paid State Employees in Misouri (2024)

Name	Position	State Agency	Salary
Eliah Drinkwitz	Football Coach	University of Missouri	$9,378,891
Dennis Gates	Basketball Coach	University of Missouri	$4,154,346
Mitchell Godbee	Physician	University of Missouri	$1,744,670
James Stannard	Professor	University of Missouri	$1,610,335
Kirby Moore	Asst. Coach	University of Missouri	$1,552,754

Source: Open The Books

Mizzou Coaching By the Numbers

33 – There have been 33 head coaches since the program started back in 1890.

1 – A.L McRae was the first coach. He went 2-1.

6 – Number of Mizzou Coaching Hall of Famers. Frank Broyles, Dan Devine, Don Faurot, James Phelan Gary Pinkel and Wes Roper.

2-23-2 – That’s the record for Frank Carideo who coached from 1932-1934.

190 – That is the number of games coached for Don Faurot. He grew up in Missouri, went to Mizzou, and died in Missouri. And the name of the field, Faurot Field, is there to forever memorialize this legendary Missourian.

12 – Number of coaches who only stayed one year.

3 – Number coaches who have coached more than 10 years.

37 – Mizzou has been in 37 bowl games.

5 – Highest Final Ranking in AP and Coaches Polls in 2023.

Homecoming History

Chester Brewer may not be the best known football coach in Mizzou history, but what he did during his tenure is legendary. Records show that the first Homecoming game in history was played between the University of Missouri and the University of Kansas in Columbia in 1911. The historic game was the idea of Coach Brewer. He wanted the entire university to put forth the effort to encourage alumni to come home to campus to inaugurate the location of the new football field and reinvigorate the program. It worked… and made history.