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COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥� As college football continues to professionalize and increasingly resemble the National Football League, there鈥檚 a trendy new role popping up on the sport鈥檚 metaphorical job boards: general manager.

That鈥檚 a standard role across pro football teams. The GM is the person who hires and fires coaches, who negotiates trades, who handles draft picks and contracts. And as more money and more reliance on contracts settles in around college football, there鈥檚 increased interest from some programs in appointing an NFL-esque general manager.

Oklahoma recently hired former NFL scout and Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy to be its GM. Bill Belichick鈥檚 first hire after taking the North Carolina job was making Michael Lombardi, a longtime NFL personnel staffer, his GM. Southern California poached Chad Bowden from Notre Dame after he built a College Football Playoff title game-caliber roster as the general manager of the Fighting Irish.

The logic is that in the NFL, no head coach is expected to also handle player evaluation, contracts and salary cap management 鈥� so perhaps it鈥檚 time that college coaches offload some of those duties to someone with a background in the business side of the game.

But don鈥檛 expect Missouri鈥檚 Eli Drinkwitz to hire a GM in the immediate future.

鈥淣ope,鈥� he said when asked this week about that possibility, 鈥渂ecause I don鈥檛 even know if we have a structure in place. Honestly, I haven鈥檛 made any of those decisions yet.鈥�

By structure, he鈥檚 referring to college sports and the present uncertainty around a landmark legal settlement in the House v. NCAA case. If approved, that agreement would allow schools to share up to $20.5 million of revenue directly with athletes each year, re-work what NIL deals are permissible and limit roster spots 鈥� with the latter looking like it could still see some tweaking before approval.

All of those aspects of the House settlement seem like the sort of thing best navigated by a general manager-type expert, but if the terms of the settlement change, so too might the need for a GM.

鈥淭his goes back to: I don鈥檛 know what the rules are,鈥� Drinkwitz said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know. If that鈥檚 the structure that we go down because of the new settlement that鈥檚 in place, then yeah, awesome.鈥�

But if the structure looks different? Maybe a GM isn鈥檛 so appealing.

There鈥檚 also the matter of placing a GM on the hierarchy of football and athletics department employees.

鈥淭hat would be a conversation Laird (Veatch, Mizzou鈥檚 athletics director) and I would have to have,鈥� Drinkwitz said, 鈥渂ecause some places, the GM is firing the head coach. I don鈥檛 necessarily know if I want to hire somebody that can fire me 鈥� that would be dumb, right?鈥�

He was joking for that last bit, but only partially. Stanford hired former star quarterback Andrew Luck to be its GM, and like in the NFL, he has the power to fire the head coach. He did so a couple of weeks ago, firing coach Troy Taylor after reports of past investigations into alleged mistreatment.

The norm across most programs, however, seems to be structuring the general manager role as more of a sport-specific deputy under the head coach.

There鈥檚 also the matter of whether Missouri would need a GM.

Brad Larrondo took over as the CEO of Every True Tiger Brands, the marketing and branding agency tied to Mizzou for NIL purposes, late last summer. He鈥檚 not a GM, and the terms of the House settlement will change what NIL looks like. But he did move over after carrying the title of director of football external relations and recruiting and worked closely with Drinkwitz.

Since Drinkwitz gave up calling plays ahead of the 2023 season, too, he鈥檚 stepped into more of a 鈥淐EO鈥� role with more time to consider the roster-building and personnel questions that face a modern program.

The general manager question is also applicable to a sport like men鈥檚 basketball, where former ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski鈥檚 move to become the GM at St. Bonaventure, his alma mater, was a high-profile one.

For now, though, it鈥檚 something that interests Drinkwitz, even if it鈥檚 not a hire he鈥檒l make immediately.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that would make a lot of sense if there was a partner that needed to partner with me and handle a little bit more of the business side of it, great,鈥� Drinkwitz said. 鈥淏ut until I really know what that looks like, I think there鈥檚 not a rush to do that 鈥� not yet.鈥�