Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Drinkwitz’s humor goes to dark side
Missouri Coach Eli Drinkwitz had some fun at Dan Mullen’s expense after the Tigers beat the Gators 24-23 in overtime on Saturday.
Then Drinkwitz had some more fun on a Tuesday radio appearance with a Florida station after Mullen was fired by Florida.
First we have to go back to last season, when Mullen wore a Darth Vader helmet to his news conference after Florida beat Missouri 41-17.
Drinkwitz responded by ending his news conference after this season’s
Missouri
Florida game by pulling up the hood on his sweatshirt, grabbing a light saber and saying the “Star
Wars” classic line, “May the force be with you.”
During Drinkwitz’s Monday news conference leading into Friday’s game against Arkansas, he was asked how long he had been planning his “Star Wars” payback for Mullen.
“Really, that’s our recruiting department kind of had that whole scenario planned out and after the game in the locker room they asked me about it, and I probably wasn’t thinking clearly and said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’ ” Drinkwitz said. “Then it turned into what it turned into. But, you know, it was funny. I thought it was funny.”
If you thought that was funny, Drinkwitz was downright hilarious talking about Mullen during an appearance on radio station 1010XL in Jacksonville, Fla., on Tuesday.
Drinkwitz was asked about Mullen’s firing and if he believed in the football gods, because it couldn’t have played out any better for Missouri against Florida this season considering what happened in 2020.
“My father-in-law is a farmer, and there is an old saying you reap what you sow,” Drinkwitz said. “I believe this, that if you sow kindness, you reap kindness. If you sow jackassibility, you get jackassibility. Just kind of one of those things.
“I’ve done my fair share of jabbing people and know that it will come back to you. So I think it’s just kind of part of the game.”
Drinkwitz, told by one of the radio-show hosts that Florida fans approved of his dig at Mullen, said his inspiration was Steve Spurrier, the former Gators coach.
“I think the best jabber in all of sports has been Steve Spurrier,” Drinkwitz said. “I felt like that would be something Steve Spurrier would’ve blessed, so I went with it.”
Drinkwitz talked about Mullen’s “Star Wars” antics as far back as last summer at SEC media days.
“I know Coach Mullen,” Drinkwitz said in July. “I have a lot of respect for him, but he’s got no future in standup comedy. He’s really got no future in acting, either.
“He doesn’t know whether there are six or nine “Star Wars” movies. Darth Vader doesn’t win in the end, so I mean, whatever.”
Asked Tuesday on the radio show about those comments, Drinkwitz said, “Maybe I do keep records and receipts.”