COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri snagged Eliah Drinkwitz’s attention when it fired football coach Barry Odom on Dec. 1. The Appalachian State coach grew up in Arkansas and still has relatives in the state, plus more family in Joplin, Mo. But his phone never rang.

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He met MU officials at a Hampton Inn in Wilkesboro, N.C. By the next day, Drinkwitz and Mizzou agreed to a six-year, $24 million contract to make him the 33rd head coach in the program’s history. In his first and only season as a college head coach, Drinkwitz was 12-1 at Appalachian State and on Tuesday was named one of nine finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award.