Pinkel, Ray and Murphy get awards from coaches

COLUMBIA - A trio of Missouri Tigers received individual awards in voting by Southeastern Conference coaches released Wednesday.

Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel was selected as the SEC Coach of the Year. Pinkel led the Tigers to a 10-3 record and an East Division championship this season. Missouri was voted to finish fourth in the division in preseason polls this year.

The Tigers have won or shared division titles in five of the last eight seasons under Pinkel, tied with Alabama and Florida State for the most in the country in that span.

Pinkel was also selected as the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2007, sharing the honor with Mark Mangino of Kansas. He is the first Missouri coach to win conference coach of the year two times. Other Missouri winners include Al Onofrio (1972), Warren Powers (1983) and Larry Smith (1997).

Missouri junior defensive end Shane Ray added to his haul of postseason honors after being selected the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Ray also received that honor in voting by the Associated Press.

Ray set a school record with 14 sacks and totaled 21 tackles for loss this season. His sack total leads the SEC and is third in the country, while his tackles for loss total is second in the conference and sixth in the nation.

Ray joins Jeff Gaylord (1981) and Michael Sam (2013) as Tigers to earn a conference defensive player of the year award.

Marcus Murphy of Missouri was selected the SEC Special Teams Player of the Year. He is the only player to score in four categories - rushing, kickoff returns, punt returns and receptions - this season.

Missouri is back in action Jan. 1 against Minnesota in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

Other SEC award winners included:

• Alabama receiver Amari Cooper as the SEC Offensive Player of the Year.

• Georgia running back Nick Chubb as the SEC Freshman of the Year.

• Georgia receiver Chris Conley as the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year.