Missouri coach Gary Pinkel will resign at the end of the 2015 season due to health reasons, director of athletics Mack Rhoades announced Friday.
Pinkel was diagnosed in May with lymphoma, according to a school news release.
"I made the decision in May, after visiting with my family, that I wanted to keep coaching, as long as I felt good and had the energy I needed," Pinkel said. "I felt great going into the season, but also knew that I would need to re-assess things at some point, and I set our bye week as the time when I would take stock of the future. After we played Vanderbilt (Oct. 24), I had a scheduled PET scan on Oct. 26 for reassessment, and then visited with my family and came to the decision on October 27 that this would be my last year coaching. I still feel good physically, but I decided that I want to focus on enjoying my remaining years with my family and friends, and also have proper time to battle the disease and give full attention to that."
Pinkel, 63, is the winningest coach in school history with record of 117 71 in 15 seasons. Over that time, Mizzou produced 32 NFL draft picks, including seven first-rounders. According to the release, he will remain as coach through Dec. 31 or until a new coach is hired.
He reached the SEC Championship Game for two consecutive seasons in only Mizzou's second and third years in the league. This season, the team's performance has slipped to 4-5 and quarterback Maty Mauk has been suspended for the season. Pinkel's last regular-season game will be at Arkansas Nov. 27; the Tigers can still reach bowl eligibility with a strong finish to the season.
Missouri plays host to BYU Saturday.
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