6 Missouri football coaches get contract extensions, pay bumps. Here are details – Columbia Daily Tribune

Six Missouri football coaches have had their contracts extended, according to documents posted to the official Missouri athletics website on Wednesday.
According to contract amendments reviewed by the Tribune on Wednesday, running backs coach Curtis Luper, defensive ends coach and pass-rush specialist Brian Early, cornerbacks coach and assistant head coach Al Pogue, wide receivers coach Jacob Peeler, linebackers coach Derek Nicholson and safeties coach Jacob Yoro each have had their deals extended.
Between the six extensions from the figures the Tribune has been able to review, Mizzou will spend at least an extra $485,000 per year on the assistants’ combined new salaries.
That uptick in staff spending isn’t unexpected.
In a lucrative new contract for Eli Drinkwitz signed this past November that saw the Tigers’ soon-to-be seventh-year head coach sign a deal worth $64.5 million through the 2031 season, he also received an additional $4 million to spend on his staff salary pool.
The Tigers now have $16 million to use each year on assistant pay, which MU athletic director Laird Veatch, at the time, estimated puts the Tigers among the top half of the SEC.
Some of that is being put to use on returning staff members.
Early, who joined MU from Houston in 2024 and has since helped coach NFL edge rushers in Darius Robinson, Johnny Walker Jr., and Zion Young, has received a $100,000 pay raise and has been extended through January 2027. He will earn $575,000 in total pay this upcoming year, including base salary and non-salary compensation.
Luper has received a two-year extension through January 2028, which also includes a $50,000 raise. He will earn $625,000 in total pay per year, up from $575,000 last year.
The running backs coach has coached three Mizzou players to the program’s single-season rushing record in the past five seasons, with Tyler Badie, Cody Schrader, and Ahmad Hardy each re-setting the MU record since 2021.
More: Eli Drinkwitz addresses Ahmad Hardy status at Missouri caravan stop
Nicholson, who joined Mizzou from Miami in January 2025 and serves as MU’s co-defensive coordinator, has signed a one-year extension through the 2028 season. He has been given an $85,000 raise and will now earn $625,000 per year in total pay.
Yoro, who was hired by Missouri from Hawai’i in 2024 and is MU’s defensive pass-game coordinator, will now earn $375,000 in total pay and has been extended through January 2027. According to a pay sheet for Missouri assistants obtained by the Tribune in May 2025 through an open records request, that is $225,000 more than Yoro earned this time last year.
Pogue has received a $25,000 raise, but the contract on the Mizzou athletics website does not specify how long he has been extended. He has been with the program since 2022.
Peeler’s deal also appears to have been extended, which makes sense since his previous contract was due to expire this past January, but the amendment posted to the Mizzou website is from a previous extension signed in 2024. Mizzou hired Peeler in 2022.
The new deals were posted to the Missouri athletics website Tuesday, May 19, according to a date stamp, but all contract extensions seemingly were signed in January or February.
Mizzou also made several new hires this offseason, adding Chip Lindsey from Michigan as offensive coordinator, John Papuchis from Florida State as the team’s special teams coordinator, Garrett Riley from Clemson as its quarterbacks coach, Alex Atkins from LSU as tight ends coach, and Chop Harbin from Tennessee as the defensive line coach.
More: What is Missouri football’s stance on possible CFP expansion format?
The contracts for Lindsey, Papuchis, Riley, and Atkins are worth a combined $1.96 million, according to contracts and memorandums of understanding reviewed by the Tribune. Harbin’s deal has not yet been made available publicly.

source