It's hard to believe, but this fall will mark Gary Pinkel's 11th season on the sidelines as the University of Missouri football coach.
Pinkel sports a 77-49 record at Mizzou and has guided the Tigers to seven bowl games and two trips to the Big XII championship game.
Those numbers got me thinking back 15-20 years ago and where the Missouri football program was at that time. It wasn't pretty.
What has made the last decade so much better? Why is Pinkel having so much more success than his predecessors? Why all of a sudden is the Missouri football program recognized more for its on-field success as opposed to ill-fated fifth downs and kicked balls in the end zone?