COLUMBIA, MO. • He kept checking his watch.
It’s time for pregame meal, he thought. That means kickoff is a few hours away.
Except Saturday’s kickoff was 700 miles east in West Virginia. Gary Pinkel was in Columbia, by himself. What does a newly retired coach do on game day with no game to coach?
He gets coffee.
Pinkel has spent the last 46 autumns playing or coaching college football. Now, with another season about to kick off, he was out of the game. Gone, just like that.
With company coming over to watch Mizzou play West Virginia, Pinkel left the house for some coffee.