It was bound to happen. News of the Missouri Tigers being interested in poaching Michigan Wolverines offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey quickly manifested into him being the guy Eliah Drinkwitz wants to partner up with in CoMo. Missouri had to replace its former offensive coordinator Kirby Moore, who is on his way back to Washington State to take over for Jimmy Rogers this winter.
So with Lindsey off to Missouri, that largely tells us one of two things for the Wolverines moving forward. One, it does not appear that Drinkwitz will be a serious candidate to take over for Sherrone Moore in the long-term at Michigan. Otherwise, why would Lindsey be on the move if he was going to stay? The second one is Biff Poggi and the last remaining holdovers of Moore's staff are up against it.
Michigan still have to take on the Texas Longhorns on the Citrus Bowl on New Year's Eve this season.
Missouri is in fact set to hire Michigan’s Chip Lindsey as its new offensive coordinator, sources tell @CBSSports https://t.co/ALUUOyEj1m pic.twitter.com/qZsls8wYD1
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 21, 2025
Clearly, Lindsey wanted job security above all else. Him going to Missouri probably indicates that he was not likely to be retained by the new staff in the coming weeks. It also suggests that he either does not want to work for Poggi moving forward, or that he does not believe Poggi will get the interim tag removed. Regardless, Lindsey has made up his mind to leave Michigan for a mid-tier SEC team.
Let's briefly unpack what this latest hiring by Missouri may indirectly mean for the Michigan program.
What Chip Lindsey to Missouri really means for the Michigan program
Again, the biggest thing to glean here is Drinkwitz has been empowered to continue to make a difference at Mizzou. He had opportunities to leave CoMo for supposedly better pastures, but opted to stay and continue to build up his Tigers. Losing Moore to a program the caliber of Washington State was bound to happen. It served Drinkwitz to find another coordinator he thinks he can lean on.
As for what this could mean for Michigan in the extended fallout, it probably indicates that however ends up replacing Moore long-term will want to bring in his own staff. If he is leading another team currently, or out there waiting for his next opportunity, Michigan's next head coach will want to have his say on the status of his offense, as opposed to inheriting what Lindsey brings to the table for him.
What may happen now is Michigan will be doing more reconnaissance on its next batch of coaching candidates after striking out with Kenny Dillingham and the timing not being right to land Kalen DeBoer. Michigan may want to keep close tabs on what may happen over in the NFL, especially if Notre Dame were to lose Marcus Freeman to the New York Giants job. The carousel keeps on turning!
For now, Michigan will be even more depleted from a coaching standpoint with Lindsey departing.