CFB fans react to Eli Drinkwitz pulling off No. 1 DL commit move over Kirby Smart, Coach B, and more: "I blame that loser and his poem"

Eli Drinkwitz beat Kirby Smart to a prospect's commitment! Football fans were in uproar after Nwaneri Williams chose to stay close to home and picked Missouri over Georgia as his next destination.

He was aggressively pursued by programs such as Georgia, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. But he chose to play for coach Eli Drinkwitz over the double-national champion, coach Kirby Smart.

Nwaneri Williams is a five-star defensive lineman and is considered the No. 3 overall prospect of his class in the nation by 247Sports.

Drinkwitz has shown a knack for elite recruitment during his time as Missouri coach. With Nwaneri's commitment and speculation placing five-star prospect Ryan Wingo firmly in Missouri, that reputation is well earned.

Drinkwitz could be seen celebrating emphatically with his staff after Nwaneri confirmed his commitment to Mizzou live on ESPN2 on Monday.

A hotly contested debate ensued on Reddit on how Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz managed to pull such a move over the more celebrated Kirby Smart.

Nwaneri Williams' NIL value

Nwaneri will be eligible to start earning from NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) as early as September 1. Missouri has in-state laws that allow high school prospects to earn NIL revenue.

The unique set of laws trumps other states that only allow student-athletes to start earning NIL revenue once they are enrolled in a university. In Missouri, that's a 4-9 month jumpstart for prospects.

Nwaneri Williams has 17,000 social media followers already and his On3 NIL valuation jumped by $22,000 to $386,000 after the announcement of his commitment.

Can Kirby Smart make it a three-peat?

The AP Top 25 preseason poll was recently released and, as predicted, Smart has made the Georgia Bulldogs favorites once again.

With weapons like a quarterback Carson Beck at his disposal and a winning pedigree, it would be hard to rule out Smart making it a three-peat of title wins.

If Smart navigates the SEC (Southeastern Conference) and gets to the College Football Playoffs, he will be within touching distance of immortality.

He might have lost the recruitment battle for Nwaneri Williams but no coach has ever won a three-peat of national college football titles. Kirby Smart will hope to be the one to buck that trend.

About the author

Cabral Opiyo is a journalist who covers college sports at Sportskeeda. With work experience spanning over 10 years, Cabral is an avid follower of college football and basketball and what goes into making the perfect elite prospect. He brings the news as it happens and analyzes football games to a high degree of accuracy.

As a writer, he loves bringing to life historical and iconic moments with his writing, fueled by extensive and verifiable research, creating an image in the reader's eyes.

Cabral has been known to sneak away from a high-profile NBA game to catch an obscure college basketball game and is an avid re-watcher of Tim Duncan and San Antonio Spurs games from the 2000s.

UConn winning its first national title under Dan Hurley remains his best college sports moment. Cabral rates A'ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark as his favorite players due to their productivity and the Alabama Crimson Tide as his favorite college team.

In addition, Cabral follows football and is a huge Italian and Brazilian football fan. He has written about football for a decade and held a byline with Outside of the Boot Football.

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