SEC Football Head Coach Evaluation: Missouri Tigers’ Gary Pinkel

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SEC football coaches are constantly being evaluated, and we do our part to add to that. This is the fifth in our series of head football coach evaluations for the conference.

SEC Head Coach Evaluation:  Mark Richt
SEC Head Coach Evaluation:  Steve Spurrier
SEC Head Coach Evaluation:  Derek Mason
SEC Head Coach Evaluation:   Jim McElwain

Thus far evaluations have been given for the long tenured (Richt and Spurrier) and relative newbies (Mason and McElwain) of the SEC East.  Before we get to the coaches somewhere in the middle (Stoops and Jones), the coach that defies grouping must be given an evaluation.

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In terms of longevity and success, Gary Pinkel fits best in the long tenured category.  Mizzou, however, has only been a part of the SEC since the 2012-2013 season.  As such, his tenure is much different than his SEC East brethren.

The short version of Gary Pinkel’s story is that he has been at Missouri for 14 seasons and wins.  A lot.  Collecting five division championships and 10 bowl appearances along the way, Pinkel has become the winningest coach in Mizzou history.

The knock on Pinkel has always been the absence of national achievement and lack of elite recruiting success.

With the short version out of the way, the time has come for Southbound and Down’s evaluation of the (alleged) simultaneously most overrated and underrated coach in the SEC East.

Next: Pinkel's Positives