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COLUMBIA, Mo. — The University of Missouri has extended football coach Eli Drinkwitz's contract, adding one more year to the agreement while keeping his compensation the same.

The agreement, signed in February but announced by the school on Thursday, runs through the 2029 football season and marks a continued commitment by the university to keep its prized coach in Columbia.

The buyout terms remain similar to Drinkwitz's previous extension, which came on the heels of the 2023 football season. As part of the new deal, Drinkwitz has a larger salary pool to spend on his assistant coaches, which is expected to come into play soon with an extension for defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, at a minimum.

This is Drinkwitz's third extension since he took the Mizzou job ahead of the 2020 season. 

His salary for the 2025 season will remain the same: $9 million. 

In 2026, that will bump up to $9.25 million. In 2028, he'll receive another automatic raise to $9.5 million. 

Last season, that figure tied Drinkwitz with Tennessee's Josh Heupel and Mississippi's Lane Kiffin for the 10th biggest salary in college football. 

Should Drinkwitz leave MU between now and December 1, he'd owe the university a $5 million buyout. That number drops to $4 million before Dec. 1, 2027, then $3 million if he left in 2028. 

And should Missouri fire Drinkwitz, it would have to pay out 75% of what's left on his contract. At the moment, that would be a bit under $35 million — though the thought of a program dismissing a coach it just extended is outlandish.

Drinkwitz remains eligible for incentives based on win totals, bowl appearances, making the College Football Playoff and winning various coach of the year honors. He can receive at most $1.575 million in incentives for any season, though he wouldn't reach that threshold unless the Tigers win a national title.

Under the terms of his new contract, Drinkwitz will have at least $12 million to spend on the rest of his coaching staff each season, including coordinators, position coaches, strength coaches, analysts, operations staff and executive assistants. Previously, he had $9.8 million to work with.

At Southeastern Conference media days in Atlanta last week, Drinkwitz suggested a contract extension — which would likely come with a raise — for defensive coordinator Corey Batoon will be on the way soon. 

“I’m incredibly grateful for the continued belief in our vision for Mizzou football,” Drinkwitz said in a statement. “The Board of Curators, President (Mun) Choi, Laird Veatch and our donors and fans have shown a deep commitment to building a championship-caliber program. That means investing in the people throughout our building who work tirelessly for our student-athletes. I’m proud of the staff we’ve assembled and excited to keep pushing forward together.”

“The consistent progress we’ve seen under Coach Drinkwitz’s leadership is inspiring,” Veatch said in a statement. “This extension, along with increased investment in our coaching and support staff, reflects our commitment to sustaining success at the highest level. It’s all part of our ‘Will to Win’ — a clear statement that we’re building championship programs.”

Drinkwitz was named to the preseason watchlist for the Dodd Trophy, which is awarded at the end of each season to the nation's best coach. It's his second year in a row making the watchlist.

He is 38-24 through five seasons at Mizzou, which surpassed legendary coach Dan Devine's program record for the most wins through the first five seasons of a coach's tenure.

MU has won 21 games in the last two seasons.

The Tigers report Sunday for fall camp, with the first practice of the preseason coming Monday.