Former Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel honored during Georgia game
Nobody did what Gary Pinkel did at Missouri. Even outside of Columbia, the former head coach’s name is synonymous with one of the most successful periods in Tiger football history.
On Saturday, Pinkel was back on campus, honored during the first quarter of Missouri’s game against Georgia to celebrate his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.
“Coach Gary Pinkel transformed Missouri into a perennial winner, and he boasts the most victories in school history," National Football Foundation President and CEO Steve Hatchell said in a statement. "We are thrilled to honor him.”
During the first break in the action, Pinkel took the field. He received a framed certificate commemorating his hall of fame achievement, and his name was revealed as part of Missouri's ring of honor at field level.
Multiple times, the crowd at Faurot Field roared in appreciation of all the former coach did for the Tiger football program.
"It’ll be quite an emotional moment for Gary Pinkel,” the former coach said of the ceremony before Saturday’s game.
Pinkel was joined on the field by some of his former players, including quarterback Brad Smith, who was also in charge of banging the Big Mo drum during Saturday’s game. Pinkel said he had asked that any of his players who showed up not be relegated to the seats surrounding Faurot Field.
He wanted them on the field with him.
"We tried to make our young men better people,” Pinkel said of his coaching philosophy. “We tried to demand excellence.”
Pinkel took the head coaching job at Missouri before the 2001 season. He said he accepted the job despite the advice of his peers, including his former Kent State teammate and current Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
He had been a successful coach at Toledo for over 10 seasons there. In his final season, the Rockets went 10-1 and defeated Penn State on their way to winning the MAC West.
He credited former Missouri athletic director Mike Alden for getting him to Columbia.
"I told Mike, ‘I’m going to need your help on this, this is going to be difficult,’” Pinkel said. “And it was. It was honestly so much more difficult than I thought it was going to be, because you’re changing the culture, you’re changing how people think.”
Pinkel made good at MU. He took the team to new heights, leading the Tigers to three Big 12 North titles, including the 2007 run to a Cotton Bowl victory.
After that, he helped lead Missouri into a new era, playing in the SEC. In that first season, 2012, things were rough for the Tigers.
Then, MU figured it out, winning the SEC East twice in a row in 2013 and 2014. Pinkel retired before the 2016 season after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
“I’m just glad that when I came to Missouri, I left it a lot better place then when I got here,” Pinkel said.
Pinkel’s tour of honors started earlier this season when he returned to Toledo for a similar ceremony. It will continue with a celebration on Nov. 4, put on to support the GP Made Foundation, which Pinkel started after his retirement to help children in difficult situations.
Tickets for the event, which will be held at The Atrium on 10th street in Columbia, are available from the foundation. Special guests for the evening include Alden and Smith.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football: Gary Pinkel honored during Georgia game
