Eli Drinkwitz Tells Story of Recruiting, Evaluating Beau Pribula

Quarterback was one of the top needs for the Missouri Tigers this offseason. With Eli Drinkwitz looking to the transfer portal to fill that need, he found one that checked all of his boxes — former Penn State quarterback Beau Pribula.

"When we first talk about recruits, it's all about the right fit for us — focused, intangibles, talented and tough," Drinkwitz said in his SEC Media Days press conference. "And when you talk about the quarterback position, there's five specific traits that we're looking for. Beau had those traits."

There was some concern regarding Pribula's lack of college football experience. After redshirting his first season, Pribula backed up Drew Allar each of the last two seasons. However, Pribula still earned playing time as a gadget player, often coming in on designed runs. But, Pribula doesn't have that man collegiate pass attempts on tape, only throwing 56 times.

"When you watch the tape, there's not an inability for Beau to throw," Drinkwitz said. "He just didn't quite have the opportunities. And I would say, after this spring, I'm as confident as ever that Beau is a very talented passer."

It wasn't an easy decision for Pribula to join the Tigers. He was thinking about other schools, navigating which would be the best fit for him.

"I will give a lot of credit to Beau and his maturity. He had a process that he wanted to go through," Drinkwitz said. "He wanted to see three different schools and then make a decision. And we made an impression."

One way Drinkwitz may have made an impression came unintentionally. He took Pribula out to dinner to talk, and at the end of the night, he drove him back to his hotel.

"I dropped him off, and I looked, and he walked in, walked around. I dropped him off at the wrong hotel," Drinkwitz said. "So he had to come back out, get in the car. We had to go to the other one in town. I'm not sure how much he thinks about my intelligence level, but it was good enough to get him to come play for us."

Despite Drinkwitz's hotel mishap, Pribula chose to play for him. And now that the Tigers have their potential starting quarterback.

"Beau came in with the right mindset: nothing given, everything earned," Drinkwitz said. "(He) works extremely hard, developing his craft. He's a guy who has a chip on his shoulder, the right kind of chip, does a really good job leadership-wise. (I'm) just impressed with his ability to connect with our team."