COLUMBIA | If Missouri coach Gary Pinkel were in Bill Snyder&#8217;s shoes, he&#8217;d stay retired. Besides, Pinkel confirmed Monday, he&#8217;s quite happy being rehired by Missouri.</p><p>&#8220;My contract goes in front of the curators for a vote,&#8221; Pinkel said. &#8220;That&#8217;s supposed to happen in the next couple of days. After that, I would sign the contract.</p><p>&#8220;I want to stay here at Missouri and continue to build the program.&#8221;</p><p>That Pinkel will do that &#8212; for a reported $2.5 million a year (up from $1.85 million) with an extension that could run for six or seven years &#8212; has been viewed as a mere formality. It is.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve come to a verbal agreement,&#8221; Pinkel said.</p><p>As for Pinkel&#8217;s initial reaction to Monday&#8217;s announcement that 69-year-old Bill Snyder was returning to the coaching sidelines with Kansas State?</p><p>&#8220;First of all, I&#8217;ve got great, great respect for Bill Snyder,&#8221; said Pinkel, who is 56. &#8220;But I told some of my staff, if I do that when I&#8217;m 69, I hope somebody comes and takes me out.&#8221;</p><p>Pinkel knows Snyder, of course. Missouri was the victim of a Kansas State comeback victory in what was supposed to be Snyder&#8217;s last game as K-State head coach before the failed experiment with Ron Prince.</p><p>&#8220;I know (Snyder) well enough to know that he has a great love for Kansas State,&#8221; Pinkel said. &#8220;He has a lot of pride in what he built there.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got a great coach back in the Big 12.&#8221;</p><p>Pinkel &#8212; 58-39 in his eighth season at Missouri with two straight Big 12 North titles &#8212; said he rebuffed interest earlier this season from the University of Washington to become its head coach.</p><p>&#8220;My attorney had a conversation with Washington,&#8221; said Pinkel, who served as an assistant coach for 12 years and a coordinator for seven under former coach Don James during the Huskies&#8217; heydays. &#8220;I have great respect for that university.</p><p>&#8220;But I did not want to get involved with it if I really didn&#8217;t want to do it. So I made a decision.</p><p>&#8220;I was never offered a contract. But I made a decision that I didn&#8217;t want to pursue it or have the conversation go further.&#8221;</p><p>Pinkel also said he hoped members of his staff whose names have been linked to possible head coaching openings (offensive coordinator Dave Christensen to Wyoming and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus to Toledo) could realize their dreams to be head coaches.</p><p>&#8220;I hope they both find the right place that they want to go,&#8221; Pinkel said. &#8220;I want my staff to advance. It opens up opportunities internally (at MU). I think it&#8217;s healthy.&#8221;</p><p>No assistant coach has left Pinkel&#8217;s staff in his eight seasons at Missouri.</p><p>Pinkel&#8217;s players are simply glad he is staying.</p><p>&#8220;This says something about loyalty,&#8221; sophomore wide receiver Jeremy Maclin said.</p><p>From Pinkel &#8212; and from Missouri.