Gary Pinkel: Pinkel wouldn’t resign if not for cancer

Then it occurred to Pinkel: The Tigers’ game against Tennessee on Saturday will be the last time he steps inside Memorial Stadium and onto the Faurot Field sideline as their coach.

“I decided at that time I was going to embrace the healthy times and battle in the tough times”, Pinkel said.

After the Tigers played Vanderbilt on October 24, Pinkel had a scheduled PET scan on October 26 for reassessment.

When Pinkel took over, he inherited a Tigers program that had two winning seasons in the last 17 years.

Now, in the wake of Pinkel’s announcement, Missouri must find someone to replace the consistent head coach in what will be a crowded market-jobs are already coming open at USC, South Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech, Maryland and IL.

“I want to make very clear that I’m not doing poorly, and that this is a manageable disease, but it’s one that will never go away”, Pinkel said. Sam went on to become the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team, though he is now out of professional football. “I’d rather die on a beach”.

Pinkel supported his players’ decision to take a stand, a decision that drew mixed reactions from MU’s fan base.

“I was an emotional wreck”, Pinkel said. It was really, really hard. “I do not know the reason for that, but it seemed like we turned it on a little bit in the second half. But I am so proud of them with all the distractions”. As the news spread of his resignation, former players began to reach out to him on social media.

Kansas City Chiefs backup quarterback Chase Daniel said he couldn’t even begin to express all emotions that he was going through. “I know he will fight”, Daniel expressed on Twitter. “Both teams played hard and it was a fun game”. “He really lives for his players”.

“There’s no cure for it”, Pinkel said. “There’s a lot of people who have cancer that’s a whole lot worse than the cancer I’ve got”.

His record includes 117 wins and five division titles in 15 seasons. I love him. I appreciate him. I have had coaching opportunities. They’ve said a few of the nicest things to me.

“That is a flawless picture of Gary Pinkel and his legacy”, Rhoades said.

Prior to Pinkel’s arrival at Mizzou, the football program only had one 10-win season in previous 110 years.

“This is an unbelievable institution with great leadership”.

“We knew they were going to come out with a lot of energy”, Mangum said. “A few penalties and turnovers at the wrong time”, said BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall. He will finish his career as the winningest coach in school history and his 190 career wins is now the 19th-most in NCAA FBS history.

Pinkel was diagnosed with lymphoma earlier this year and will step down after the season.

“I think if it were up to him, we wouldn’t honor him at all (on Saturday)”.

“When you get it, it’s so numbing”, Pinkel said. They can get the other when they play the Vols in what will be Pinkel’s final home game. Obviously, I’m so appreciative to all of my coaches and athletes.

“The most important thing”, Pinkel said haltingly, “is my players”.