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The question with Pinkel was never whether or not he was better than Larry Smith. RoyIII could do a better job than Larry Smith. The question with Pinkel, that has existed for a long time, is if he can elevate the program beyond top 25-40 status.
With the geographic advantages Missouri has, along with its donor base, there is no reason that this can't be a year-in-year-out contender in CFB. I don't think it's fair to expect it to be Alabama or USC with a competent coach, but there is little reason why it can't build a program that is consistently equal to, if not better than, Georgia and South Carolina.
The issue with Pinkel is that his greatest successes depended upon finding diamonds in the rough. How often can you keep finding Chase Daniel, 'Spoon, William Moore, Danario Alexander, and now, Michael Sam or L'Damian Washington?
The team has never recruited as well as it should, especially in-state, and there have been several occasions where he has been de-pantsed by inferior teams with better X's and O's.
Those are legitimate criticisms, especially when the team has these three win totals in successive years:
10-8-5.
It's fun to apply revisionist history, but it's not especially accurate or intellectually honest.
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"When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”--Abraham Lincoln
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