Eli Drinkwitz recalls playing golf with Steve Spurrier: ‘You’re terrible’

Eli Drinkwitz spent some time with Steve Spurrier this off-season. Although, it doesn’t seem they talked too much about football during their meeting on the golf course.

Joining Paul Finebaum on the SEC Network on Monday, the Missouri head coach revealed what it was like playing 18 holes with the former Head Ball Coach.

“I sure enjoyed playing some golf with Coach Spurrier this past April,” Drinkwitz told Finebaum at SEC Media Days. “One of the highlights in my life for having the opportunity. Never in my life did I think I’d be able to play 18 holes of golf with Steve Spurrier. I was [his partner], and he was like, ‘You’re terrible at golf.’ He hit some uglies, that was his line — ‘Hit some good shots, hit some uglies.’”

18 holes are surely enough time to discuss a thing or two about their line of work. Spurrier, who retired from coaching college football in 2015, hasn’t been a regular football coach since 2019 and has had more than enough time to work on his puts. Drinkwitz, on the other hand, is running the day-to-day operations of an SEC football team.

Still, being able to pick Spurrier’s brain in a one-on-one setting is invaluable for any coach regardless of reputation or position.

Tigers fans hope a bit of Spurrier’s legacy as a winning coach can rub off on Drinkwitz. Going 5-5 in his first season in 2020 and 6-7 in each of the next two years — fans are begging for improvements from Mizzou. Returning 80 percent of their starters from last season, Drinkwitz is banking on his team’s experience and veteran leadership to guide them through the budding SEC East in 2023.

The Tigers will kick its 2023 season off on August 31 against South Dakota. They will also compete against Middle Tennessee State and Memphis during three of the first four weeks of the season before diving into conference play in late September against Vanderbilt. However, hosting LSU on Oct. 7 will be the first prove-it game for Mizzou this season.

If Missouri doesn’t slip up in its first four games, they’ll be 4-0 and well on their way to a postseason berth with a home setting to knock off one of the preseason favorites to win the SEC. Regardless of that game’s outcome, there’s not much more you can ask out of Drinkwitz during the first half of the 2023 season.

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