Reporting by KBIA's Sarah Redohl used in this report.
MU head football coach Gary Pinkel held a press conference with his lawyers this afternoon to apologize for his DWI arrest Wednesday night. Pinkel says he is sorry for letting down his players and fans.
"When you’re wrong, you’re wrong," Pinkel said. "I had to stand up to them and tell them how I felt and how I’d failed them."
Pinkel is serving a week-long suspension from Missouri athletics, and was not allowed to attend Saturday’s game. He watched the game with friends at his condo at the Lake of the Ozarks. Seeing his team win, he says, was one less burden to bear.
"You don’t do what I did to a team 48 hours before a game, you don’t do that, " Pinkel said. "To have your team be able to get themselves together with the great coaching we have, and the leadership. It’s just remarkable that they could do that."
Pinkel pleaded guilty to the charge, and agrees with his punishment of a week-long suspension and loss of $300,000 of pay. He will rejoin his team Thursday.
