Gary Pinkel has more wins (117) in his 15 years as Missouri’s coach than the 115 wins combined by multiple coaches in the previous 25 years. Coach Pinkel is the winningest coach in Mizzou history. We will miss him, and the next head coach has a very tough act to follow, not just on the field but how he conducts himself off the field.
Coach Pinkel has another opponent, one we didn’t know about until yesterday when Coach announced his resignation. The Coach has non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. He says “I still feel good physically, but I decided that I want to focus on enjoying my remaining years with my family and friends. And also have proper time to battle the disease and give full attention to that …….I don’t know how many years I have left, but I want to turn my focus to life outside of the daily grind of football.” I am sure Coach will be successful at doing all that…..it won’t be easy for him for a while, football has been huge to him for most of his life; but if you know anything about Pinkel, he never lets it get bigger than the human element. We witnessed that this past week, when he stood in support of his players boycott. He cared more for them personally than just winning a football game. How many SEC coaches would have done the same……..how many coaches throughout the country?
Coach Pinkel is the most popular and recognized individual on the Mizzou campus. That isn’t any different from most major college football schools, the head coach rules. He is also the most respected, by faculty, coaches and students, no matter what color.
The Tigers have 3 remaining games this season, one against BYU tonight……we’ll see how much fight they have after a rocky week. They should be inspired to lead their coach into retirement with some wins, possibly another bowl trip. Regardless he leaves a winner, and has set the mold for the future with Mizzou.
MIZ-ZOU
ARLIN REPORT...................walking this path together 