Mizzou's Pinkel: Recruiting Has Never Been Better, Believes Kansas Game Will Return

By Abby Lemons

Missouri HC Gary Pinkel appeared on our 3HL radio show today and was positively giddy about the impact of the SEC on his team’s recruiting.

Pinkel says that joining the league had brought very positive feedback on the recruiting trail. "Recruiting right now is going as well as it has ever gone for us," Pinkel said.

Pinkel said that some of the benefits could be related to the consistency of the Mizzou program over the past few years, but that the majority of it could be credited to joining the SEC. In particular, Pinkel said, "has been a tremendous plus for us, even more so than I could have imagined." He also felt strongly about the recruiting of the nations' number one recruit, Dorial Green-Beckham.

Pinkel confirmed that DGB has been on campus for the past two weeks and is already working out with the team. Pinkel stated, "Green-Beckham comes in with extremely high expectations, more expectations than any player that I have ever coached."

Another major question for Mizzou is the health of quarterback James Franklin. Mizzou's Franklin has been battling a shoulder injury similar to Drew Brees, whose injury was worse, recovered after five months.  Per Pinkel, Franklin “is throwing a nerf ball right now and is doing very, very well.” Pinkel says that if all goes well, he is expected to be ready to play in the first game against Southeastern Louisiana.

With leaving the Big 12, fans may have been concerned with losing one of the biggest rivalries each year against Kansas. Pinkel indicated that he is very hopeful that in the next few years, the rivalry will remain on their non-conference schedule.

“I think it will,” Pinkel said, discussing the return of the Kansas rivalry.

How does being in the SEC feel after all the uncertainty in the Big 12?

“It’s refreshing,” says Pinkel on his new home in the SEC, “and you can see why they’re as successful as they are.

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Clay Travis is the founder of the fastest growing national multimedia platform, OutKick, that produces and distributes engaging content across sports and pop culture to millions of fans across the country. OutKick was created by Travis in 2011 and sold to the Fox Corporation in 2021. One of the most electrifying and outspoken personalities in the industry, Travis hosts OutKick The Show where he provides his unfiltered opinion on the most compelling headlines throughout sports, culture, and politics. He also makes regular appearances on FOX News Media as a contributor providing analysis on a variety of subjects ranging from sports news to the cultural landscape. Throughout the college football season, Travis is on Big Noon Kickoff for Fox Sports breaking down the game and the latest storylines. Additionally, Travis serves as a co-host of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, a three-hour conservative radio talk program syndicated across Premiere Networks radio stations nationwide. Previously, he launched OutKick The Coverage on Fox Sports Radio that included interviews and listener interactions and was on Fox Sports Bet for four years. Additionally, Travis started an iHeartRadio Original Podcast called Wins & Losses that featured in-depth conversations with the biggest names in sports. Travis is a graduate of George Washington University as well as Vanderbilt Law School. Based in Nashville, he is the author of Dixieland Delight, On Rocky Top, and Republicans Buy Sneakers Too.