I married a girl from Missouri, so I've followed Mizzou a bit more than I otherwise would have. What's he's done with that program is really nothing short of amazing. They are at least as hamstrung as OM and MSU in their conference, and in the last6 years he's gone to 2 conference championship games (3 division titles or co-titles), had 3 10-win seasons, and gone to six straight bowl games.
A lot of mid-tier programs get a superstar like Chase Daniel (although I'm beginning to believe that Pinkel made him the superstar), and then go away once that player is gone. He's now had Brad Smith, Chase Daniel and Blaine Gabbert--all very good QB's who have led extremely explosive offenses. He's also put a number of DE's and DB's into the NFL.