Mizzou Links, 5-31-11

Mizzou Football Links

So there has been a lot of semi-understandable teeth-gnashing regarding the fact that Gary Pinkel is successful and from Ohio, and therefore a potential candidate for the Ohio State job that opened up yesterday morning.  The good news is, as long as Urban Meyer, Jon Gruden and Bob Stoops are out there, we won't have to deal with Pinkel's name being constantly part of the next six months of speculation.  But what do I think about the potential of Pinkel to eventually become a candidate?

Honestly, I almost talked myself into getting worried about this at one point yesterday, then I realized four things:

1. Pinkel turned down Michigan, decided his heart was at Missouri, and then signed a contract extension that is expected to potentially be the last contract he ever signs. He will be 65 when that contract ends, and odds are decent that he will then retire.  It's not a guarantee (lord knows coaches go past 65 all the time ... if they're good enough not to get fired, anyway), but that's the general thought.
   
   
2. Pinkel would certainly be a solid hire for Ohio State, but they're naturally going to try to hit a home run first, be it with Meyer, Stoops, Mark Stoops, whoever.  Pinkel will not be on that A-list.  And honestly, the only way they don't land somebody on their A-list is if the NCAA hits them very hard with USC-level sanctions.
   
   
3. If they get hit with USC-level sanctions and face a lengthy period with scholarship limitations and the like, they might have to go with a B-list candidate.  If this is the case, they will almost certainly not go with somebody who will be 59 years old at the end of this season and would be probably in the neighborhood of 62-65 when the sanctions are over.  They're going to want somebody younger.  Maybe not 'Lane Kiffin' young, but younger than 60.  (Honestly, if he does even reasonably well this year, I could see Luke Fickell, their 37-year old interim coach, getting a long look in the face of major sanctions.)
   
   
4. Even if Ohio State did want to go with Pinkel in the face of major sanctions ... he turned down talks with Michigan a few months ago, and Michigan's not facing any sanctions.  At this point, he's a Mizzou lifer, and I think that's the way he wants it.

So basically, Ohio State's not going to want him, and if they do, he's not going to sacrifice the rest of his career to basically hold the fort for the next Ohio State coach to come in and succeed when sanctions end.  So there you go.

• Tressel
  SI.com: Sports Illustrated investigation on Jim Tressel, Ohio State
  The Trib (Dave Matter): Will Buckeyes target Pinkel?
  Post-Dispatch: Pinkel seems like to stay at Mizzou

  But among others who could become prominent on OSU's radar is Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel, an Akron native who went to Kent State, was the head coach at Toledo for 10 years and has whisked MU to 40 wins the last four seasons with scarce off-field issues.

  But just because Pinkel makes some sense for Ohio State doesn't mean he'd serve if called. In fact, Pinkel, 59, has given every indication by word and deed that he will be at Missouri until the end of his career.

  Most recently, he canceled in January a scheduled meeting with Michigan after what he called "an awful 36 hours" of emotional grinding about the notion of leaving MU for the winningest program in college football history.

  Ultimately, he decided he shouldn't interview if he wasn't going to take it. And he wasn't going to.

  "My heart just was in Missouri," Pinkel said in April after he signed a contract extension through 2017.

  Between that and previously resisting overtures from Washington, a job he once considered his dream because of spending 12 years there under mentor Don James, Pinkel repeatedly has suggested he intends to finish his career in Columbia.

  ESPN.com (Bruce Feldman, $): Potential Jim Tressel replacements for Ohio State Buckeyes
  Dr. Saturday: Can Ohio State woo Urban Meyer out of retirement?
  MGoBlog: Dear Diary: For the Good of the Nation
  Burnt Orange Nation: Jim Tressel Resigns: Why He's Gone, What It Means
  

Other Football Links

• Football Study Hall: Coaches, Stats, Turnovers and Turnaround (self-share!!)
  

Other Mizzou Links

Congrats to Aaron Crow.  He's come a long way very quickly, and now he's going to be in the spotlight even more.

• Mizzou Baseball
  The Missourian: Royals ready to put in former MU pitcher Aaron Crow as closer
  Fangraphs.com: Eating (Aaron) Crow
  
  Big 12 Sports.com: VIDEO: Jersey Found in Joplin
• Mizzou Softball
  Post-Dispatch: MU softball seeks breakthrough in Women's College World Series
• Mizzou Golf
  The Missourian: Jace Long first Missouri men's golfer to compete in NCAA Championship in over 20 years

Other

• Spin Magazine: The Death and Resurrection of Conscious Rap
  

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And for those interested in donating to the Ozarks Red Cross in the wake of the brutal Joplin storms, you can go here.