Eli Drinkwitz was just getting settled in Wednesday for an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show” when the show’s host threw him a doozy.

After introducing the Missouri coach and mentioning the talks of SEC coach of the year, the SEC Network analyst referred to him as “perhaps the next Nick Saban.”

What?

Yes, the Missouri Tigers are 7-1 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, sitting just behind Georgia in the East standings, but the next Saban?

Drinkwitz, for his part and perhaps to his point, reacted to the compliment by mimicking the Alabama coach in a very Saban-like way.

“That’s rat poison right there, Paul,” he quipped. “That’s what that is, so I’m not going to worry about any rat poison. I’m just going to create value for myself on a day-to-day basis.

So why the reference?

Finebaum replayed Mary Jo, a Missouri caller from his Monday show. She had nothing but praise, love and support for Coach Drink.

“Hi Paul, I want you to start seeing coach Eli Drinkwitz as a young coach Nick Saban,” she said Monday. “He’s doing some of the same things, Paul, and he’s succeeding. And we have 100 percent trust in our Coach Drink. I just think we’re doing great, and we’re all excited and Saturday was a Chamber of Commerce day.”

Drinkwitz quickly transformed back into coach speak but was appreciative of the kind words.

“It’s certainly powerful to have people believe in you, so I appreciate Mary Jo and her comments,” Drinkwitz said about the comment. “But we also understood in this profession, in this day and age, it’s a day-to-day business. You can’t get caught up in the praise. You can’t really get caught up in the criticism. Just stay focused on what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Not everyone feels the same way about Drinkwitz, however. In typical “Finebaum Show” banter, there was a counterpoint to the Mary Jo’s comments.

“Yeah, I don’t know what that woman from Missouri’s smoking,” Terri from Arkansas reacted. “She thinks that about him because they’re going to be thinking different when the Razorbacks roll in there and pound the snot out of the later in the season because we’re fixin’ to get it all going, and we’re going to win out and go to a bowl game.”

Strong words from Terri as the Razorbacks are reeling after a 7-3 over the weekend to Mississippi State to fall to 2-6 overall and 0-5 in the conference.

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.