KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mizzou football coach Eliah Drinkwitz is set to cash in on a breakthrough season.
The ninth-ranked Tigers finished the regular season 10-2 in Drinkwitz’s fourth season at the helm — achieving the program’s highest-ever ranking in the College Football Playoff committee’s final poll, which dates back to 2014, and reaching a New Year’s Six bowl for the first time in the playoff era.
Drinkwitz soon will be $375,000 richer as a result of Mizzou’s success and could pocket another $25,000 if the Tigers beat No. 7 Ohio State on Dec. 29 in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.
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Under the terms of an extension signed in November 2022, Drinkwitz will receive $300,000 for guiding the team to a New Year’s Six bowl.
Terms from his original contract that remain in effect include a $25,000 bonus for finishing in the top 25 of any of the major polls — AP, USA Today/Coaches and CFP Final.
Drinkwitz, who had been 17-19 with two bowl losses in his first three seasons with the Tigers, also earned $25,000 for reaching 10 wins and triggered another $25,000 for winning AP SEC Coach of the Year.
He could earn another $25,000 for an 11th win against the Buckeyes.
But Drinkwitz is not the only local FBS coach making bank off a breakthrough football season.
Kansas football coach Lance Leipold has cashed in on $150,000 in incentives.
He earned $100,000 for getting the 8-4 Jayhawks to the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against UNLV on Dec. 26 at Chase Field in Phoenix and another $50,000 for leading the team to seven or more wins.
Leipold gets another $50,000 if KU, which is currently receiving votes but outside the AP Top 25, finishes in the rankings.
Not to be left out, Kansas State’s Chris Klieman bank account also will swell after an 8-4 season, which will end against North Carolina State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec. 28 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
He earned a $50,000 bonus for leading the Wildcats to a bowl game and another $25,000 for the top-25 finish.
K-State checked in No. 25 in the CFP’s final poll.
In addition to that $75,000 windfall, Klieman’s contract is automatically extended another year thanks to reaching eight wins and qualifying for a bowl, which guarantees him another $6.5 million in 2031.
Klieman missed out on another $100,000 for a third-place finish in the Big 12 when the Wildcats lost the regular-season finale at Iowa State.
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