Gary Pinkel: Is The Window Closing?

14 seasons is a long time.

That is what we call a “tenure.”

For the Missouri Tigers head coach Gary Pinkel, his 15^th season comes at what some consider to be the pinnacle of both his career and the Missouri Tigers football program in general.

Two straight 11-win seasons, paired with consecutive conference championships—in arguably the toughest conference there is—and there’s a lot of proof that it’s the case.

Pinkel spent years perfecting his two biggest strengths: player development and recruiting efforts. As he did so, the program saw many peaks and valleys. The program has experienced highs, like upsetting No. 1 Oklahoma in 2010 on homecoming, to lows, like losing to two-win Syracuse on home field a season later. The first season in the SEC was a painful one Mizzou fans would rather forget. The ensuing two were milestones for the program.

Sep 20, 2014; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Gary Pinkel calls for timeout against the Indiana Hoosiers during the second half at Faurot Field. The Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Missouri Tigers 31-27. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Everything in between has been a mish mash of trial and error, good times and bad, personal issues, player disciplines and New Year’s Day bowl games.

Pinkel became the winningest coach in Missouri Tigers football history. And now, it’s a 15^th season at the helm. Despite the many lows, his accomplishments have carried him into Mizzou sports folklore, like some kind of wizard with a magical wand that, in his hands, is wildly unpredictable, but is successful when it counts.

With two straight SEC East titles under their belt, the Missouri Tigers look to continue that success in 2015, and under Pinkel’s direction, they certainly should be considered as an SEC Championship contender.

Try telling that to Mizzou fans just three years ago.

But all good things come to an end. Pinkel, who turns 64 next month, has little time to mess with more of the bad stuff in the Missouri’s past under his watch. The window is closing. A national championship must come, and come soon, to cement his legacy.

The time is now for the Missouri Tigers. Pinkel has just a few years left before it will be time to hang up the headset. And who knows where the program will be then? With a boat load of talent on the team, a hype not seen in Columbia in years—and on the heals of yet another outstanding recruiting class—the pieces are in place; the wheels are in motion. This is where Mizzou must lay it all out there. And that means Gary Pinkel must do so too.

For those who long criticized Pinkel for his flaws—such as in-game management, clock management and play calling—it’s been interesting watching the past couple of seasons go the way they have.

Pinkel deserves a ton of credit for the success the team has experienced. At the same time, some can point to certain moments over the course of these two East division-title seasons where if Pinkel had made a better move, we could be talking about a national championship appearance, not just an SEC Championship one.

Take for instance, not calling a timeout in the late moments of the Homecoming loss to South Carolina in 2013. Or the horrible decisions that cost Mizzou the game against lowly Indiana last year.

The difference last year was the two losses– to Indiana and Georgia. These two losses happened first and foremost because of laziness. It can be debated where laziness was on the team, but that goes back to the head coaches shoulders. Lazy can’t happen from here on out.

Pinkel’s window is closing. He doesn’t have time to waste on these blunders anymore.

What Mizzou fans should see out of the Tigers’ head coach in the next few seasons is aggressiveness. It’s time for Pinkel to be bold. By this, we’re not talking about passing deep every down (in fact we mean the opposite really). What we mean is that the Tigers must prepare for each and every game aggressively.

This is a time where Pinkel should stay up late every night, cut down on the booze if he still drinks, and put every ounce of energy into preparing for each game.

Bad preparation has been what has plagued his teams the most in the past. That’s why they didn’t show up to play last year at home against Georgia. If Pinkel wants this, he’ll have to put extra mustard on preparation and maximize his intelligence potential.

Whatever it takes to minimize coaching mistakes (because while few and fare between recently, they are still big each time he makes them, and that cost them in the past two seasons), whether its reworking his playbook, adding more coaches meetings, turning to meditation, whatever he can do to make these next few seasons, the gutsiest, balliest, most hardcore coached season of his entire career, it needs to be done.

Pinkel is already going to be a hero in Mizzou sports history. Some have even suggested they rename the football stadium after him.

But that’s not what Pinkel is after here. He’s after what takes a hero and turns him into a legend.

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