COLUMBIA, Mo. • There were 24 million reasons for Gary Pinkel to keep coaching at Missouri and add to his unprecedented collection of victories.
John Caponigro knows this well. Just seven months ago Pinkel’s agent for more than 20 years negotiated the contract that put Pinkel’s salary over the $4 million threshold. The deal was good for another six years. A month later, Pinkel was diagnosed with follical lymphoma. In late October, he decided this season would be his last.
“Obviously if you take a look at the contract we completed earlier this year, he leaves a lot of money on the table,” Caponigro said this week.