COLUMBIA, Mo. — Coaching at the high altitude of Division I college football is only partly about football. It requires a deep hike into regions controlled by state politicians and high-rolling boosters and alumni, not to mention an occasional grapple with society’s most intractable problems.
In this world, the University of Missouri’s football coach, Gary Pinkel, has taken on the appearance of an accidental revolutionary.
After a prolonged student campaign to force the resignation of the president of the university system, Mr. Pinkel’s football players made it happen in a matter of hours by threatening to boycott their next game.