Gary Pinkel Deserves to Be Remembered for Making Missouri Football Relevant

Even for Missouri's standards, the past week has been unlike anything the university has experienced in a long time. Maybe ever. 

On Monday, university President Tim Wolfe and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin resigned in the wake of long-standing, on-campus racial tensions culminating in the hunger strike of student Jonathan Butler. The resignation announcements came one day after the university's football team showed support for a student group, #ConcernedStudent1950, protesting Wolfe's inaction toward racial unrest on campus. 

The lasting image of that motion of support was a tweet sent out by head coach Gary Pinkel: 

Now, five days later, Missouri football is in the headlines again for completely different reasons.

On Friday, Pinkel announced he is retiring at the end of the 2015 season for health reasons. In a statement released by the university, it was revealed Pinkel was diagnosed with lymphoma in May and received treatment during the next two months. Following a scheduled PET scan on Oct. 26, Pinkel and his family came to the decision this would be his last season as a head coach. 

"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 said in the statement. The coach also took to Twitter to express his thanks: 

The news is gut-wrenching, and all thoughts and prayers should be with Pinkel and his family. That's the only relevant thing to do at this time. 

Eventually, though, Missouri will have to move forward. The university statement claims Pinkel "will remain as Mizzou's coach through December 31, 2015, or until a new head coach is in place." Whoever succeeds Pinkel will be succeeding a man who single-handedly made Missouri football relevant. 

Pinkel has been with the Tigers program for 15 seasons and amassed a record of 117-71. His 190 career wins (including his time at Toledo) are 19th all time in Football Bowl Subdivision history. He's won five divisional titles spanning Missouri's time in the Big 12 and SEC (2007, '08, '10, '13 and '14). 

To put it another way, he won divisional titles over Nebraska, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee among others. Think about that for a minute. 

The teams Mizzou faced in conference championships were often at the top of college football at the time. In '07, the Tigers were one win away from playing for a national championship but fell to a 10-2 Oklahoma team. The following year, Missouri faced a Sooners team in the Big 12 title game that would go on to play for the BCS national championship. 

L.G. Patterson/Associated Press

It was a similar story in the SEC in '13 and '14. In Mizzou's first appearance in the SEC title game, the Tigers played an Auburn team that would go on to play for the BCS national championship. Last year, Missouri played against an Alabama squad that would make the first College Football Playoff. 

Pinkel may have never been able to defeat college football's best in conference championship games, but he got within striking distance several times. His teams often overachieved. 

Pinkel also showed the ability to transition Missouri's style of football. In the Big 12, the Tigers thrived on being a wide-open offense with offensive stars such as quarterback Chase Daniel, receiver Jeremy Maclin and tight end Chase Coffman. In the SEC, however, Missouri became known as a more formidable defensive team. In '13 and '14, the Tigers led the SEC in sacks. Defensive ends Michael Sam and Shane Ray earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors in those years, respectively. 

Above all else, however, Pinkel is beloved by those he worked with and coached. Dieter Kurtenbach of KNBR summed up Pinkel as well as anyone could have: 

Already, the outreach of former players on Twitter speaks volumes for what Pinkel did for Missouri football and how inspirational he was:

"

To quote Coach Pinkel, "What do we do when adversity hits? WE FIGHT LIKE HELL!" And that's exactly what he'll do to this lymphoma.

— T.J. Moe (@TJMoe28) November 13, 2015"

Pinkel's legacy will also be tied to his support for minority students at Missouri. Though Pinkel would later distance himself from #ConcernedStudent1950, his connection to his players has resonated with recruits. Speaking to B/R's Damon Sayles, Missouri commit DaRon Davis talked about the Tigers program as a family that sticks together:

"

Hearing that my old high school teammate Anthony Sherrils and Coach [Gary] Pinkel supported the protest meant a lot, especially Coach Pinkel. That shows that he really cares about his players. It made me want to go to Mizzou even more. You always want to have a coach who supports his players; you want to be with someone who you trust will take care of you. 

When I visited, you could tell Coach Pinkel and the other coaches are like father figures for the players. They told me they're always going to be there for me. Seeing them back that up with their actions and how everybody had each other's backs throughout the ordeal, that's what I love about Missouri.

"

A man's legacy is not defined by only one thing, but Pinkel will be remembered for his time at Missouri for being an outstanding, loyal coach who cared deeply for his players. College football will miss him dearly.  

Moving forward, Missouri should have several suitable candidates from which to choose. As B/R colleague Barrett Sallee notes, there are plenty of solid options from the Mid-American Conference. Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com adds Memphis' Justin Fuente, Temple's Matt Rhule and Houston's Tom Herman to the discussion as well: 

But there will be time—more than enough of it—for Missouri to decide in what direction it should go next. For now, though, the stunning news of Pinkel's retirement should be a sobering reminder that what's most important in life is how we treat others.

Because, ultimately, it's the others we depend on when we need the most help in our lives. Right now, Gary Pinkel needs that. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand.