The 100-Yard Journey: A Life in Coaching and Battling for the Win

by Gary Pinkel, Dave Matter

Very few college football coaches earn the distinction of becoming their programs' winningest, but Gary Pinkel has done it twice. From his nine-year tenure at the University of Toledo to his career at the University of Missouri from 2001 to 2015, Pinkel has shown he has the talent and meddle to take his teams to the top.  These remarkable achievements have been met by challenges along the way in Pinkel's personal and professional life, including a DUI and a divorce, a threatened team boycott at Mizzou which dominated national news headlines, and ultimately, a decision to step away from it all following a diagnosis of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.  In The 100-Yard Journey , Pinkel offers a glimpse into the mind of a winner as well as an honest reflection on meeting and overcoming the unexpected. Follow along from the start of Pinkel's coaching career at Kent State, the same program for which he played as a tight end, through stops at Washington and Toledo, and finally, taking over at the helm of Missouri, a program he guided to 10 bowl games in 15 years, a No. 1 AP ranking at the end of the 2007 season, and SEC Coach of the Year honors in 2014. Whether you're a Tigers fan or just interested in what makes a successful head coach tick, anyone can find something to relate to in Pinkel's personal memoirs.

272 pages, Hardcover

Published September 15, 2017

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot more than I expected to. I like reading sports books. They tend to be some combination of amusing, insightful, practical, and inspirational. I live in Missouri but have no particular connection to Mizzou. I like college football but don't follow any one team. I knew very little about Gary Pinkel. I expected a kind of fluffy recap of this coach's career that I would forget the day after I finished reading it. Boy, was I wrong. This is the story of a thoughtful, honest, humble, hard-working man who excelled in his chosen profession. I really enjoyed reading his life journey and have taken away a few nuggets of his guiding philosophy.

(1) His guiding principles when coaching a team are stability, discipline, and attention to detail.
(2) He practices "relentless evaluation".
(3) He treated everyone the same way. Whether it's the star running back or the 5th string offensive lineman, the consequences for breaking team rules were the same.

Many good sports books are also good books on management best practices. Pinkel's book is that. It's also a great behind-the-scenes look at the MAC, PAC-12, Big 12 and SEC conference football: the personalities and the events that unfolded. I highly recommend The 100-Yard Journey.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love coach pinkel