Gary Pinkel gets raise to $3.1M
— -- Missouri has rewarded Gary Pinkel by making him the latest Southeastern Conference coach to join the $3 million club.
Pinkel, who led the Tigers to the SEC championship game last season, has agreed to an amended contract that will pay him $3.1 annually. His deal runs through the 2020 season. He was previously at $2.8 million a year.
"I'm very honored and proud to be the coach at Mizzou, and I appreciate the opportunity," said Pinkel in a statement. "We will work very hard to continue to build our program and to graduate our players. It's important for our program to keep moving forward and build on a solid foundation. I'm pleased that my assistant coaches continue to get recognized for the work they do. We are fortunate to have a great staff at Mizzou."
One of the most important facets about Pinkel's new agreement and something he'd voiced concern about previously is that he's getting more money for his assistants. Their salary pool is growing from $2.66 million to $3.2 million. That includes $50,000 raises for both offensive coordinator Josh Henson and defensive coordinator Dave Steckel.
"It is important for us to be able to recognize what Gary and his staff have achieved for the University of Missouri," athletic director Mike Alden said in a release. "We're very grateful to the Board of Curators and University leadership for their support of our program, which is among the best in the nation both academically and competitively."
The 61-year-old Pinkel has a career record of 102-63 in 13 seasons at Missouri. He surpassed Don Faurot last season as the school's winningest coach.
From a financial standpoint, the SEC is clearly the place to be if you're a head football coach.
With Pinkel getting his bump, 11 of the 14 coaches in the conference are making $3 million or more per year.
The Tigers finished 12-1 last season, winning the conference's East Division with a 7-1 mark in just their second year in the SEC. After falling to Auburn in the SEC title game, the Tigers beat Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl and finished with a No. 5 ranking in the polls.
Before the 2012 season, Pinkel had directed Missouri to seven consecutive bowl games and hadn't had a losing season since 2004.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
