I've been looking through trying to find coaches who had a worse record in their first three years than the guy they replaced had in his last three years and went on to be successful. There are not a ton, but more than I expected. Here's the one that's the best case of what could happen for Drinkwitz if Missouri has some patience:
Iowa under Hayden Fry in his last three seasons: 19-17. That included 3-8 in Fry's final year when he retired due to a cancer diagnosis (BTW, Iowa has NEVER fired a football coach, which is remarkable).
Kirk Ferentz took over in 1999. It bottomed out at 1-10 that year. His record over his first three seasons was 11-24. Over the three years after that, Ferentz went 31-8 and finished eighth in the country all three seasons. For context, that 11-24 did go from 1 win to 3 wins to 7-5 and a bowl win in year three. So there was more linear improvement than we've seen at Missouri so far. But he made a giant leap in year four that I'm not sure you could have seen coming before the season. Overall, Ferentz is 181-114 in his 24th season at Iowa.
Anyway, just found it an interesting potential comp.
Iowa under Hayden Fry in his last three seasons: 19-17. That included 3-8 in Fry's final year when he retired due to a cancer diagnosis (BTW, Iowa has NEVER fired a football coach, which is remarkable).
Kirk Ferentz took over in 1999. It bottomed out at 1-10 that year. His record over his first three seasons was 11-24. Over the three years after that, Ferentz went 31-8 and finished eighth in the country all three seasons. For context, that 11-24 did go from 1 win to 3 wins to 7-5 and a bowl win in year three. So there was more linear improvement than we've seen at Missouri so far. But he made a giant leap in year four that I'm not sure you could have seen coming before the season. Overall, Ferentz is 181-114 in his 24th season at Iowa.
Anyway, just found it an interesting potential comp.
