Former Mizzou football coach Gary Pinkel enters guilty plea to DWI charge
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Gary Pinkel pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor DWI almost a year after his arrest.
- Court records show Pinkel registered a .128 blood alcohol concentration on July 7.
- The state recommended a $1,000 fine, $119.50 in court costs and $227 recoupment.
Almost a year after his arrest, former University of Missouri football head coach Gary Pinkel has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated.
Pinkel flagged down a Missouri state trooper in Camden County, Missouri, last July 7 at approximately 11:30 p.m. near Camdenton at the Lake of the Ozarks after he stopped his black Cadillac Escalade at a local tire shop, according to court records.
Pinkel had a blown-out right back tire that had been driven on the rim for “a significant distance” and he smelled strongly of alcohol, according to the trooper’s probable cause statement.
Pinkel’s speech reportedly was slurred as he went through field sobriety tests before blowing a .128 blood alcohol concentration level.
On Monday morning, Pinkel entered a plea deal where the state recommended he pay a fine of $1,000, $119.50 in court costs and $227.00 in recoupment.
In 2011, Pinkel faced a DWI charge after he was pulled over just before the final home game of the season against Texas Tech. He pleaded guilty and was put on two years probation.
Pinkel is the winningest coach in Mizzou history, guiding the Tigers to two SEC championship appearances and 113 wins from 2001 through 2015. The 2014 SEC Coach of the Year also has the second most wins in Toledo’s program history.
He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
