During SEC meetings Tuesday, Missouri head football coach Eli Drinkwitz may have put his foot in his mouth when asked a question about gambling and the NIL.
“We’re giving guys 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 years old life-changing money,” Drinkwitz said. “People are making more money in NIL than my brother-in-law, who’s a pediatrician who saves lives, and we kind of do it cavalier, and we think that there’s not going to be any side effects or there’s not going to be issues.”
Oh, but he wasn’t finished yet. He also spoke out against gambling as well. A huge baseball gambling scandal involved Alabama and several other schools recently.
“It’s going to become one of the key issues that we face in our locker rooms; I mean, the NFL’s faced it more high-profile than I’ve ever seen in the last 15 years in the last two years,” Drinkwitz said.
“So I think it’s more prevalent because there’s more money involved, and everybody’s looking for a quick way to make a dollar. I’ve been known to play blackjack myself. It’s a tough deal, and like I said, these young men are getting a lot of money, that is a lot right now. Other than trying to hand out advice and provide some parameters to it, you know we talked about recruiting; you recruit your own problems, and with this NIL situation, we’ve created our own problems for college sports.”
Drinkwitz, who is on the hot seat this year, is set to make $6 million this year. His comments did not go over well with many fans after they were revealed.
He’s not complaining about his own salary I’m assuming
— MSU Chief of Propaganda (@OdellBretthamJr) May 30, 2023
Imagine being such a sh*tty person, you hate on people succeeding.
I hope they all get everything they can.— 3xCrownMoto (@TripleCrownMoto) May 30, 2023
And how much does Eli make to lose a lot? How much will he get from his buyout when they eventually fire him?
Pot meet kettle.
— 🟧⬜️Eric🟧⬜️ (@MrUTvol) May 30, 2023
If you read the full context, you can understand where Drinkwitz is coming from.
Full context of question and answer. I am no way complaining about player compensation! I’m FULLY SUPPORTIVE!! Always have been! https://t.co/orKO46NpQs pic.twitter.com/JvjZgSSYdi
— Eliah Drinkwitz (@CoachDrinkwitz) May 30, 2023
However, Eli Drinkwitz is still one of the highest-paid coaches in the game and has yet to lead his team to an SEC East championship or a major bowl game, so maybe he should sit this conversation out.
He did say he supports the NIL.
