Columbia, Mo., radio station releases ‘All-Gary Pinkel Era’ team

It hasn’t been a spectacular season for Missouri, as a 28-3 loss to Arkansas Saturday left the Tigers with a 5-7 record.

Gary Pinkel, coach at Mizzou since 2001, is retiring because of health reasons, and this year’s issues aside, it’s been quite a run.

Pinkel recorded a 117-71 mark in his tenure and led the Tigers to 10 bowl games. That number would technically jump to 11 if the school receives — and accepts — a bowl game this year.

The popular coach’s departure has sparked a bit of nostalgia among Tiger fans, and KTGR, a Columbia, Mo., radio station, has released the “All-Gary Pinkel Era” team.

Here are KTGR’s Brandon Kiley’s picks for the squad:

QB: Chase Daniel, Brad Smith

RB: Henry Josey, Tony Temple

WR: Jeremy Maclin, Justin Gage

WR: Danario Alexander, T.J. Moe

WR: Dorial Green-Beckham, L’Damian Washington

TE: Chase Coffman, Martin Rucker

LT: Justin Britt, Elvis Fisher

LG: Jayson Palmgren, Connor McGovern

C: Evan Boehm, Tim Barnes

RG: Mitch Morse, Tony Palmer

RT: Dan Hoch, Joel Clinger

DE: Aldon Smith, Markus Golden

DT: Sheldon Richardson, Lorenzo Williams

NG: C.J. Mosley, Ziggy Hood

DE: Shane Ray, Michael Sam

SLB: Sean Weatherspoon, Zaviar Gooden

MLB: Michael Scherer, Andrew Wilson

WLB: Kentrell Brothers, Andrew Gachkar

CB: E.J. Gaines, Kenji Jackson

SS: William Moore, Ian Simon

FS: Pig Brown, Braylon Webb

CB: Aarion Penton, Kevin Rutland

K: Jeff Wolfert, Andrew Baggett

P: Christian Brinser, Corey Fatony

KR/PR: Marcus Murphy

LS: Beau Brinkley

Looks like a team with great skill position options and a fearsome pass rush to me. With eight first-round NFL Draft picks and a slew of other players on NFL rosters, trimming this list down had to be quite a chore.

Kiley explained some of his choices this way:

You’re bound to disagree with some of the players on this list. I went back and forth on Bud Sasser or L’Damian Washington. Plenty will say Kony Ealy should be on the list over Michael Sam. And I could see the logic; Ealy is and probably was the better player, but Sam had one of the best seasons we’ve ever seen at Missouri and he earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors as a result. I can’t leave that guy off the list.

You could debate Will Ebner or Andrew Gachkar at outside linebacker and whether Andrew Wilson or Michael Scherer should be the starter at middle linebacker. I could understand all of that.

So, what do you think Missouri fans? Is anyone on the list that shouldn’t be? Who got snubbed?

Debating lists like this one is a good way to pass the time while the coaching carousel spins round and round.

Randy Capps

Randy Capps is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, South Carolina and Georgia.