Gary Pinkel
Followed Larry Smith. Gary Pinkel raised Missouri from Regional Program II to Power Program III.
Career arc
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached Power Program in his 18th career season — faster than 1% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #390 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
21–13 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Herb Deromedi.
His own effect, isolated
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Coaching career
3rd-best Missouri tenure of 12 by the numbers.
Underperforms his recruiting talent on offense and outperforms his recruiting talent on defense.
Followed Larry Smith (1994–2000) · succeeded by Barry Odom (2016–2019).
| Season | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||||||||||
| Record | 4–7 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 5–6 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 12–2 | 10–4 | 8–5 | 10–3 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 12–2 | 11–3 | 5–7 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | W bowl | — | |
| Recruiting rank | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | #37 | #25 | |
| Style — pass rate | ||||||||||||||||
| Pass rate | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 43.5 | 48.4 | |
| Coordinators | ||||||||||||||||
| OC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Josh Henson | Josh Henson | |
| DC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Dave Steckel | Barry Odom | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||||||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 62 | 4 | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 82 | 93 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 42.6 | 43.3 | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 44.6 | 43.8 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 23.9 | 15.0 | |
37 NFL Draft picks: Justin Smith (2001), Justin Gage (2003), Keith Wright (2003), Atiyyah Ellison (2005), Damien Nash (2005), C.J. Mosley (2005), Brad Smith (2006), Tony Palmer (2006) + 29 more
8th-best Toledo tenure of 13 by the numbers.
Followed Nick Saban (1990–1990) · succeeded by Tom Amstutz (2001–2008).
3 NFL Draft picks: Darren Anderson (1992), Dan Williams (1993), Clarence Love (1998)