They still talk on the phone weekly, the new Mizzou football coach and the player who knows him best, the player who trailed him 2,437 miles across the country.
“Coach Drinkwitz and I, we grew together,” said Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ryan Finley, who followed him from Boise State to North Carolina State after the 2015 season. “My college career kind of took off, and his college career took off at the same time. We shared that three years together of growth. It definitely wasn’t always easy. We didn’t necessarily get along all the time. But I think we had a really healthy relationship in that we understood each other but could also challenge each other.