Former Missouri coach Gary Pinkel among 2022 inductees into College Football Hall of Fame
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The winningest Missouri head football coach of all time is being awarded one of college football's highest honors.
Gary Pinkel, who led the Tigers to 118 wins and 10 bowl games from 2001-2015, will be an inductee in the 2022 class of the College Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation announced Monday.
Pinkel plans to speak with members of the media Tuesday morning about his selection.
He will be officially inducted in December.
Pinkel's enshrinement will be the first for an MU coach or player since cornerback Roger Wehrli was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
Pinkel will join Don Faurot, Frank Broyles, Bill Roper, Dan Devine and Jim Phelan as former Missouri coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame. Pinkel is the 13th former Tigers coach or player to be inducted.
Pinkel will enter the College Football Hall of Fame alongside Colorado Heisman Trophy winner and running back Rashaan Salaam, Oklahoma State running back Terry Miller, Oklahoma defensive back Roy Williams and Florida State linebacker Marvin Jones, among others.
More: Remembering the good times: The top 10 wins of the Pinkel era
The National Football Foundation last June released the College Football Hall of Fame ballot, which included Pinkel and former Missouri star receiver Jeremy Maclin.
Maclin was one of 11 All-American selections under Pinkel, as Maclin earned the honor in 2007 and 2008.
The 2022 ballot included 78 players and seven coaches from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, as well as 99 players and 33 coaches from the NCAA divisional and NAIA ranks.
At Missouri, Pinkel helped the Tigers win five conference division titles, and his teams finished in the top 25 five times, including top-five finishes in 2007 and 2013.
Combined with his prior stint at Toledo, Pinkel compiled a head coaching record of 191-110. His record at Missouri was 118-73.
Pinkel was named the 2007 national coach of the year by FieldTurf, 2007 Big 12 coach of the year and 2014 SEC coach of the year. He earned MAC coach of the year honors in 1995 and 1997.
Pinkel compiled a 6-4 bowl record while at Missouri, winning the Citrus Bowl in 2015 and Cotton Bowl titles in 2007 and 2013. He coached college football for 25 seasons before retiring in November 2015 to undergo treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
"I love Mizzou. I've had coaching opportunities, but I felt we could achieve our goals here," Pinkel said during his retirement press conference in 2015. "We have our problems. We communicate, we talk, and the University of Missouri becomes better and better as we go."
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mizzou's Gary Pinkel among inductees to College Football Hall of Fame
