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Missouri Loses AD Desiree Reed-Francois But Not Its Promising Football Future

Missouri remains a rising football program despite the departure of its athletic director

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Four-star 2025 Offensive Tackle Michael Fasusi from Lewisville
Four-star 2025 Offensive Tackle Michael Fasusi from Lewisville

By Rock Westfall

Desiree Reed-Francois Leaves Mizzou For Arizona in Surprise Move 

The University of Missouri announced on Monday that athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois would be leaving to take over the athletic department of the University of Arizona, where she earned her law degree.

Reed-Francois has deep ties to the West and the old Pac-12 Conference footprint. She was born in Fremont, California, and earned her BA at UCLA. Her athletic administration career began in 1997 at the University of California, followed by jobs at Santa Clara, Fresno State, San Francisco, Tennessee, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, and then UNLV, where she was an AD for the first time.

While there was incessant media wallowing and panic, the move is understandable based on her roots. It is NOT a knock on Mizzou that she is leaving, regardless of what anyone says.

Mizzou still has a damaged reputation from when former athletic director Mack Rhoades bailed for Baylor after the student strike at MU during the 2015 season. When Rhoades took the Baylor job, it was considered a graveyard because of the sexual abuse allegations that forced out popular head coach Art Briles. Rhoades’ departure was taken as a sign that Mizzou was a hopeless nuclear wasteland.

This time, it’s not as much about Mizzou as it is about Reed-Francois wanting to rescue her alma mater from the ruins it now finds itself in and getting a reboot where she may be a better fit.

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Eli Bought the Drinks in 2023

It is no secret that Reed-Francois and head coach Eli Drinkwitz have had plenty of tension since she arrived in 2021. After three losing seasons, Drinkwitz was said to be on a very warm seat at the start of the 2023 season. Reed-Francois did not hire Drinkwitz, and that added to the pressure.

But Drinkwitz delivered an 11-2 season, which triggered five consecutive sellouts at Faurot Field to end the 2023 campaign. Following a name-brand Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State, Drinkwitz was extended, and the program received a school-record $62 million donation.

Much of the media is trying to spin that donation as being due to Reed-Francois’s brilliance at fundraising. Instead, the donation was about a football coach she did not hire and may have wanted to fire, delivering a renaissance season for Ol’ Mizzou.

Reed-Francois did take over a department in the red and left it in the black. Certainly, she had a role in improving fundraising and facilities. But in 2023, it was Drinkwitz who closed the sale for most of it. 

Friction With Insiders, Mizzou Moneymen, and Drink’s Success 

Not long ago, University of Missouri leadership established an oversight committee to monitor all athletic programs and program expenditures. While everyone played nice in public, it was believed to be a source of friction with Reed-Francois and an insult to her.

Previously, in her efforts to balance the books, Reed-Francois streamlined and eliminated many jobs. Some of those affected had ties to Mizzou’s biggest donors. That served to create damaged relationships with the wrong people.

Eli Drinkwitz could be elected governor in Missouri. His popularity dwarfs any other figure in the state except for Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. Drinkwitz’s success in 2023 gave him the upper hand and a new contract through 2028. Thus, Reed-Francois lost functional control over her football coach after the Cotton Bowl.

Furthermore, Drinkwitz was always the favorite of the financiers, even before the 2023 campaign, Now that he has turned the corner, he had no need for Reed-Francois with the donors unanimously in his camp.

Just as impressive, Governor Mike Parson and the state legislature passed a law that allows for NIL to high school recruits as long as they sign with a school in the state. That was another achievement some credited to Reed-Francois despite the fact she was not actually responsible for it.

Arizona’s Money Has Gone Dry as the Desert  

Reed-Francois has the chance to be the heroin that saves the day in Arizona. The athletic department is well over $100 million in the red, if not significantly more, depending on the source or who is asked. In fact, the finances are in such peril that Arizona has been considering a separation of the athletic department to a private firm that could finance it more effectively.

As was the case at Mizzou, she inherits her football coach at Arizona, Brent Brennan, who replaced Jedd Fisch. Fisch went 10-3 in 2023 but left Arizona, a Big 12 program for 2024, for Washington, a member of the Big Ten in 2024.

Reed Francois hired only one football coach in her career, Marcus Arroyo, who lasted only three seasons before being fired after she left. Ironically, former Mizzou coach Barry Odom took the job in 2023 and led the Rebels to a record of 9-5 and berths in the Mountain West Conference championship game and Guaranteed Rate Bowl.

Nothing Changes – Mizzou’s Momentum is Upward

The departure of Reed-Francois changes nothing. Mizzou football is ascending and has momentum, government and fan support with significant financial backing. Missouri will find an effective athletic director who sees its attractive appeal and will keep moving forward. The loss of Reed-Francois is no loss at all.

Reed-Francois leaves an emerging SEC contender for a less Big 12 program that is bankrupt.  She joins a lesser league and a lesser football school with a lot less money.  She gets no increase in pay, and either she or her bankrupt new school will owe Mizzou over $2 million for a buyout. 

Good luck and good riddance. 

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