Missouri Head Coach Stepping Down At End of 2015 Season.

Gary Pinkel has announced that he will step down from his role as Missouri head football coach at the end of the 2015 season. Pinkel cites health reasons for his decision.



In a press release from the school's athletic department, Pinkel announced that he was diagnosed with lymphoma in May of this year.

Pinkel said in a statement from that he had decided to continue coaching following the diagnosis, but had decided to "reassess" his future during Missouri's bye week, which followed its Oct. 24 game against Vanderbilt.

"After we played Vanderbilt (Oct. 24), I had a scheduled PET scan on Oct. 26th for reassessment, and then visited with my family and came to the decision on October 27th that this would be my last year coaching. 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," he said."

Pinkel points out he is "not doing poorly" health wise currently, but that while lymphoma was a "manageable disease," it was also "one that will never go away."

"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. "So many people have bigger struggles with other forms of cancer and other serious diseases, and I feel blessed that I've got something I can fight and still enjoy a good quality of life. I don't know how many years I have left, but I want to turn my focus to life outside of the daily grind of football," he said."

The decision comes at a time that the national spotlight has been focused on the University of Missouri, as student protests over the handling of racial issues and relations on campus led to the resignation of the University's president, Tim Wolfe. Protesters were joined by members of the school's football team, who had threatened to boycott Saturday's game against BYU.

Pinkel is 117-71 at Missouri, with an overall record of 190-108-3. He coached the Tigers to a share in the Big-12 North title three times, and to two straight SEC East titles in 2013 and 2014. 

(via ESPN)