Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri's coaching staff has been able to maintain unusual cohesiveness as a staff with no turnover in head coach Gary Pinkel's eight-season tenure.
All nine members of Pinkel's assistant coaches arrived with him at Missouri in 2001. None has left for another job.
"They always joked with us before that nobody else wanted us," Missouri quarterbacks coach David Yost said, chuckling. "Now, Coach Pinkel is keeping us together. We have great coaches and we always won't be together. But as long it as happens, it's a great deal for us."
Yost serves as the recruiting coordinator for the Tigers. The staff's continuity has helped the Tigers becoming an emerging recruiting power in recent years in the St. Louis area and in Texas. It's helped them attract Heisman candidates like QB Chase Daniel from Southlake Carroll High School in suburban Dallas and WR/KR Jeremy Maclin from Kirkwood, Mo.
"It's a great advantage because we've been around each other and know each other so well," Yost said. "People are familiar with us where we're going to after eight years. [Cornerbacks] coach [Cornell] Ford has been recruiting St. Louis for eight years now. It helps him and the rest of us with the relationships we've built."
Tim Griffin joined ESPN.com in February 2008. He has covered the Big 12 since its inception, among a variety of beats during a 24-year career at the San Antonio Express-News. Griffin, a Memphis State University graduate, lives in San Antonio with his wife and son.
