Jack's Smack: Gary Pinkel is overmatched in the SEC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Gary Pinkel haters must be in all their pristine glory these days.

They can thank this uncontrollable creature called the internet. Anybody and anything is fair game in cyberspace.

Even those neophytes in their makeshift man-cave – other words: their parents’ basement – can lash out through social media.

Look, Gary Pinkel is easy prey.

That happens to coaches who lose and even some who win, but still get canned. It’s not about the student/athlete. It’s about massaging the egos of those rich and influential alumni who control every major university, and in essence, do the hiring and firing of most coaches.

Pinkel, who just several years ago turned down the job that Brady Hoke took at Michigan, fails to realize it’s what you’ve done lately.

That’s all that counts in coaching – no one’s safe.

Check with Gene Chizik at Auburn. Two years ago, national champ, Today, on the beach; no job.

Pinkel did a lousy job this year at Missouri. His teams were ill prepared. He didn’t have enough talent to play with the big boys. You simply cannot get by with walk-ons in the SEC.

Pinkel complained about injuries. That’s a cop out. Everybody has injuries. The secret: you must have depth. Missouri does not have that luxury.

Pinkel’s downfall will be his defiant attitude. He still thinks he can with a MAC coaching staff in the SEC. He still thinks the jet sweep hand-off will work in the SEC. Wrong.

If Pinkel couldn’t win with all those NFL first round draft picks, I don’t like his chances in the best collegiate football league in America. Gary Pinkel is overmatched in the SEC.

That’s a fact.

And that’s Jack’s Smack.