Believing the football program to be on an "upward trajectory," Missouri announced a two-year contract extension for coach Eliah Drinkwitz on Saturday that links him to the school through the 2027 season.
The school did not announce the value of the extension, though a university spokesman said Drinkwitz would receive an increase in guaranteed pay. His original six-year deal paid him $4 million annually before incentives.
The decision -- a unanimous vote by the University of Missouri board of curators -- comes as Drinkwitz is seeking his first winning season in three years as Tigers coach. Missouri fell to 4-5 with a 21-17 loss to Kentucky at home Saturday.
The Tigers went 5-5 during Drinkwitz's first season in 2020 and 6-7 in 2021. Drinkwitz's predecessor, Barry Odom, was fired after going 25-25 in four seasons.
"I know today's loss is disappointing," Drinkwitz said, "but it's the belief in how we're doing it and the direction that we're going, and really appreciate that belief. Belief's a powerful thing, and I talked about it a couple of weeks [ago]; I really feel like we've improved in a lot of ways, and the results will come."
All four losses by the Tigers in SEC play have been by one possession: They fell 17-14 at Auburn when Nathaniel Peat fumbled the ball going in for the winning touchdown in overtime, blew a late lead in a 26-22 loss to Georgia and lost 24-17 at Florida before letting a 17-14 lead against the Wildcats slip away Saturday.
Kentucky scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:18 to play after Missouri had taken its first lead of the game.
"Obviously didn't get it done today," Drinkwitz said, "but we're still heading in the right direction. We got to keep everybody pulling in the right direction. You know, we've got three games left and we've got a lot of opportunities ahead of us, two of those at home, and got a lot of opportunity ahead of us, and this team will stay together and fight."
Drinkwitz, 39, has had some wins on the recruiting trail recently, signing No. 1-ranked wide receiver Luther Burden in a 2022 class that featured seven ESPN 300 prospects.
Blake Baker, in his first year as Missouri's defensive coordinator, had his contract extended through the 2025 season on Thursday. His pay increased from $600,000 to an average salary of $1.2 million. The extension came amid the Tigers' improvement from 113th nationally in points allowed last year to tied for 31st this year and from 124th in rushing yards allowed to 26th.
"Like the University and Missouri Athletics, Mizzou Football is on an upward trajectory, and Coach Drinkwitz is a key part of those efforts," Darryl Chatman, chair of the UM board of curators, said in a statement. "As a board, we continue to support setting higher expectations and making progress in all that we do as a university. That applies to research, academics and athletics. We look forward to watching Coach Drinkwitz build Mizzou Football into a championship program."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.