Former Mizzou head coach Gary Pinkel inducted into NFF Hall of Fame

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Former Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel was inducted into the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame on Tuesday night.

Pinkel, whose coaching career spanned 25 seasons at Toledo and Missouri, compiled a .633 winning percentage. At Missouri, he produced a 118-73 record during 15 seasons in Columbia.

“I was very fortunate to surround myself with a lot of good people, a lot of good coaches,” Pinkel said during a press conference Tuesday night in Las Vegas. “I’ve been surrounded by good people my whole life and our plan worked. I felt really good about it and I felt we cared about our players.”

During his 25-season head coaching career, Pinkel led his teams to seven wins in bowl games.

“It was so important that we wanted our players to become better young men,” Pinkel said. “It was a heck of a lot more than just winning football games.”

Pinkel led Missouri to two Cotton Bowl victories, each coming during seasons in which the Tigers went 12-2 in 2007 and 2013. He retired following the 2015 season.