SEC Football Head Coach Evaluation: Missouri Tigers’ Gary Pinkel
Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
The Case Against . . .
If you have been following Southbound and Down’s SEC Head Coach Evaluations, you might notice a lot of similarities between Pinkel and a prior subject: Mark Richt. Like Richt, Pinkel has his share of critics. As a result of Mizzou being less of a traditional power, Pinkel’s critics are not quite as boisterous about their complaints.
What are their complaints? Much like Georgia fans with Richt, fans crave the missing big wins.
For all Gary Pinkel has done at Missouri, he has failed to capture a single conference championship.
In fact, aside from a 7-4 record against most hated rival Kansas, Pinkel has done a lot of losing in the biggest games.
Gary Pinkel has had four opportunities to claim a conference championship for Mizzou. He currently sits 0-for in those opportunities. He led the Tigers up the rankings to reach # 1 in 2007 before losing in the Big 12 Championship 38-17 to #9 Oklahoma, and he had a shot at redemption in 2008 when his #19 Mizzou Tigers faced #4 Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship. No fairy tale here, only a devastating 62-21 loss to Oklahoma.
The fighting Pinkels nearly got another shot when they split the north division in 2010. But owning a victory over the Tigers allowed Nebraska to represent the north in the conference championship.
Things looked bright for Mizzou in 2013 when they made the conference championship game in only their second year in the SEC. There Pinkel’s #5 Tigers ran into #3 Auburn and lost 42-59.
Most recently Pinkel led his #14 Tigers to face #1 Alabama in the 2014 SEC Championship Game. The narrative repeated itself, as Mizzou lost 13-52.
Much like in many big games during the regular season, Pinkel’s division champion teams were usually viewed as underdogs in the conference championship games. The difference here, obviously, is Pinkel wins his fair share of games in the regular season where his team has been the underdog.
What is the reason? Recruiting.
Yes. Gary Pinkel is an expert at developing players into NFL ready talent and is adept at finding the diamond in the rough type players.
Yes. Pinkel possibly gets more out his players than any other coach in America.
But recruiting is a part of the gig at the college level. And until Gary Pinkel is able to recruit at an elite level, his Tigers will continue to be snubbed.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Snubbed in preseason rankings. Annual expectations. Conference championships. National championships.
Pinkel’s best class since joining the SEC came in his inaugural year of 2012. That class ranked 31 nationally.
The #31 class was slightly better than his average level of recruiting while a member of the Big 12, where his classes routinely were at least middle of the pack.
That #31 class nationally was good only good for 11th in the SEC.
Extra Points:
Gary Pinkel’s only conference championship was the MAC in 1995 as a head coach at Toledo.
Gary Pinkel led Mizzou to six straight regular season victories to end the 2014 season. Though the Tigers were underdogs in four, this win streak secured their second straight SEC East crown.
Mizzou has won its conference division title in five of the last eight seasons, tied with Alabama and FloridState for the most in that stretch. Pinkel (Toledo and Mizzou) and Steve Spurrier (Florida and South Carolina) are the only two active coaches to be the winningest coach at two different schools.
Next: Final Thoughts and Verdict