Gary Pinkel will step down as Missouri football coach at the end of the year due to health reasons.
Pinkel was diagnosed with lymphoma in May and has coached the entire season with the diagnosis.
“I made the decision in May, after visiting with my family, that I wanted to keep coaching, as long as I felt good and had the energy I needed,” Pinkel said in a statement released by the university. “I felt great going into the season, but also knew that I would need to re-assess things at some point, and I set our bye week as the time when I would take stock of the future. After we played Vanderbilt (Oct. 24), I had a scheduled PET scan on Oct. 26th for reassessment, and then visited with my family and came to the decision on October 27th that this would be my last year coaching. 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.”
Pinkel has coached the Tigers for 15 years and is the winningest coach in the program’s history. He led the team to national prominence, particularly in 2007 and 2013, when he coached the team into contention for a national title.
Pinkel was in the news this week for supporting the Missouri football team’s role in the campus protests.
