Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel To Resign Due To Health Reasons

(CBS) Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel will resign at the end of the 2015 season, citing health reasons for his departure.

In May, Pinkel was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer of the blood in May, but returned to the Tigers after doctors said his treatment would not interfere with his job.

In a statement to the media, Pinkel addressed his situation.

"I made the decision in May, after visiting with my family, that I wanted to keep coaching, as long as I felt good and had the energy I needed," Pinkel said in the statement. "I felt great going into the season, but also knew that I would need to re-assess things at some point, and I set our bye week as the time when I would take stock of the future. After we played Vanderbilt (Oct. 24), I had a scheduled PET scan on Oct. 26th for reassessment, and then visited with my family and came to the decision on October 27th that this would be my last year coaching. I still feel good physically, but I decided that I want to focus on enjoying my remaining years with my family and friends, and also have proper time to battle the disease and give full attention to that."

Pinkel will stay on the job through the end of the year, and could return to Missouri in another capacity with the athletic department. He boasts a record of 117-71 in 15 seasons, which makes him the winningest coach in program history.

Missouri plays BYU this Saturday in Kansas City's Aarowhead Stadium.