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Missouri

Report: Former Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel arrested for DWI

by: Alex Byington07/08/25_AlexByington
NCAA Football: SEC Championship-Missouri vs Alabama
Dec 6, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Gary Pinkel on the sideline against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the first quarter of the 2014 SEC Championship Game at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Former Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel was arrested for allegedly driving while intoxicated late Monday night by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Pinkel was arrested at 11:46 pm CT Monday in Camden County, per the Missouri State Highway Patrol arrest report reviewed by the Post-Dispatch.

The 73-year-old Pinkel was held in the Camden County Jail overnight and then released, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Pinkel, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2022, went 113-73 in 15 seasons in Columbia, where he led the Tigers to back-to-back SEC Championship game appearances in 2013-14. Pinkel announced his retirement late in the 2015 season after revealing a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that while the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s arrest report listed DWI as the charge, online court records do not show any charges for Pinkel as of Tuesday afternoon. Pinkel did not immediately return calls for comment from the Post-Dispatch.

Gary Pinkel previously pled guilty to 2011 DWI as Mizzou coach

Monday night isn’t Pinkel’s first DWI arrest. While at Mizzou, Pinkel pled guilty to driving while intoxicated following a 2011 arrest in which a Boone County Sheriff deputy stopped the then-Tigers head coach in Columbia, according to the Post-Dispatch. Pinkel reportedly told deputies he drank two ‘jumbo’ glasses of win and declined a field sobriety test, per the Post-Dispatch.

Pinkel, who was suspended one game and fined for the arrest, received a 30-day suspended jail sentence and two years of probation for the original DWI arrest.

“I’ve taken full responsibility for my lack of judgment and poor decision,” Pinkel said during a 2011 news conference, per the Post-Dispatch. “I’ve hurt and disappointed a lot of people. … Now, it’s up to me to begin earning everyone’s trust and respect back. This will never, ever happen again.”

Pinkel had recently been a member of the College Football Playoff selection committee last season, but opted to step away from those responsibilities after just one year apart of the 13-member committee.