Sunday Chat is a weekly feature appearing in The Blade’s print and digital platforms each Sunday.
When the University of Toledo needed a football coach to replace Nick Saban following the 1990 season, it looked about as far away as possible.
Gary Pinkel was a veteran University of Washington assistant, considered by many to be among the best offensive coordinators in the country. But Pinkel was an Ohio native and former Kent State tight end. He left the Pacific Northwest and set up shop in northwest Ohio for a decade, leading the Rockets to an undefeated season, and a one-loss season en route to becoming the program’s winningest coach.
Pinkel went 73-37-3 in 10 seasons at Toledo.
He also became the winningest coach at Missouri, leading the Tigers to two appearances in the Big 12 and SEC championship games and two top-five finishes, solidifying his Hall of Fame resume.
The Blade caught up with Pinkel this week to discuss his highlights at UT.
The Blade: You’re an Ohio native and went to college at Kent State, so you were familiar with the MAC. But when the Toledo job opened you were the offensive coordinator at Washington, one of the top programs in the country. Did you have immediate interest?
Pinkel: We beat Iowa in the Rose Bowl that year. And it was just a big win. Nick [Saban] gave me a call, and he said, “Listen, this is what’s going to happen. I’m going to be leaving. I can get you an interview if you’re interested.” And I said, “Well, sure. Toledo’s pretty well respected within that conference.” And he goes, “Yeah, there’s a lot of assets here. There’s a lot of good things.”
I talked to the AD [Al Bohl], and then they flew me in. It was a great opportunity at a really good school within that league, probably the top three, and I’m not sure who the other two would be. Nick got me in the door, and I decided I was going to take it.
The Blade: As far as the city, the university, what was your immediate reaction to Toledo? And was it a place you embraced quickly?
Pinkel: I’m from Ohio, so I knew a lot about it. I knew a lot of different people associated with it. So I made a couple phone calls to get some thoughts. But at the end of the day, I considered it a very good job. I’m not a guy that looks for jobs. There was no goal to get a better job. It was to build a program. And that's what my emphasis was.
The Blade: When you look back at the 1995 season, do you recall thinking that going undefeated was a possibility? How fun was that year? Toledo has the Chuck Ealey years, but 1995 is almost like the marker. Ever since then, Toledo’s been consistently good every year.
Pinkel: I had a great staff. I ran our program the way coach [Don] James did. He was my mentor.
I knew operationally, the attention to detail, how to handle people, how you develop young men, how you’re entrusted. That ’95 team was really, really good and they were talented. We had a tie in there, but we were undefeated. Very fortunate be one of the coaches in that situation.
I thought we could build a real good team because I believed in how to change and create with the Don James background. I just followed that process and had a bunch of great kids, and we had a lot of fun.
The Blade: You guys played in the first-ever overtime game that season. Do you have any memories from that?
Pinkel: I had a new coach on my staff who came from I-AA, where they had overtime. So that was a tremendous asset for us. We worked [overtime] with it being a possibility of happening. And the rest is history. We were so well prepared for it, and it was a good win.
The Blade: The Penn State game is still one of the biggest wins in program history. Beaver Stadium. Joe Paterno. Penn State. And you guys completely dominated. Is that a win that stands out against the others in your career?
Pinkel: Yeah. I certainly have some at Missouri, some in Toledo. But that one, we had a heck of a football team. I’ll just never forget that. I got the captains. And I’m real consistent how I do things, but I had to find out from my captains how the team was. Was the team anxious? I had to be able to have a good feel for the team. And they felt the team was right. And I knew that if they played well, they would have an opportunity to win it because it was that good a team.
With six minutes left, I got a notepad and started making scratch marks every minute. I thought, we’re going to win this game. I’m trying to stay focused, so I’d mark each minute as it went by. I vividly remember a bunch of the seniors coming over and hugging me. After that, I got in line and went to see coach Paterno, and my whole football team was lined up to shake his hand. The whole team was lined up. So I got in the back of the line.
The Blade: Jason Candle will more than likely become the all-time wins leader at Toledo this season. What does that record mean to you?
Pinkel: I was very fortunate. It was a good job. It was a good fan base. Nice stadium and facilities.
He hasn’t had too much of a dropoff year to year. He’s done a really good job. The baton’s handed to him now. When it happens, I’ll give him a call. I’m happy for him. I’m surprised Toledo hasn’t gotten a call from somebody.
The Blade: You were the ultimate program builder at Toledo and Missouri.
Pinkel: When I got to the University of Missouri, they had three winning seasons in the last 18 years. I didn’t know. I never got that stat from anybody.
The Blade: What was the No. 1 thing — other than having good players and good coaches — in building a program? What’s the top thing that needs to be instilled to have success and to maintain success?
Pinkel: Commitment. History a lot of times dictates what you’re getting into. It was significant at Toledo because they had won championships before. Missouri had not.
First Published September 29, 2024, 11:00 a.m.