It was a wild week in Columbia, Missouri.

On November 9, university president Tim Wolfe and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin resigned after long-standing, on-campus racial tensions ending in a hunger strike by student Jonathan Butler.

Days before, Mizzou's colored players refused to play another game as long as Wolfe would remain president at the university. Within hours, the entire Mizzou football program stood behind #ConcernedStudent1950 including Head Football coach, Gary Pinkel.

In a Tweet, Pinkel showed his support for his players, standing shoulder to shoulder, proving they were united as one. Pinkel has always shown that he cares for his players, but nothing like this has been done by a coach before. The men who play for him respect him, they love him.

Now, not even one week later, Mizzou football entered the national media, but not for the reason many were expecting.

Gary Pinkel, the 15-year coach, who might have single handily saved the Mizzou football program, will walk away from the game he loves at the end of the 2015 season. In a statement made by the university, Pinkel would leave the program due to his health concerns.

In May, Pinkel was diagnosed with Lymphoma and underwent treatment over the summer. While he still feels up to the job, there are more important events for Pinkel to attend than football in 2016, this includes time with his family.

On a bye week and thanks to a PET scan, the coach and his family knew it was time to say goodbye.

"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. "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. 26 for reassessment, and then visited with my family and came to the decision on October 27that this would be my last year coaching," Pinkel said. "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."

The news couldn't come at a worse time for the program. Among the race discrimination charges and President Wolfe stepping down, it will be hard to attract any major-name coach to come to Columbia for 2016. However, Mizzou football must go on without their captain and chief at the helm for his 16th season.

It has been known that Gary Pinkel's legacy at Mizzou is one of the more forgotten tales in college football. Multiple people who I have spoken to over the years barely even recognized that Mizzou had a program. While a joke to some, that is a fact. Mizzou may have had a program, but it wasn't anything special.

That was until Pinkel arrived in Columbia.

For 10 seasons, Pinkel was a well-known name in the Midwest, bringing the Toledo Rockets to a 73-37 record during his span. He won himself a MAC Championship in 1995 along with going to three other MAC Championships with the Rockets. Then in 2000, he was given a chance.

And the Tigers never looked back.

Since 200, the Mizzou Tigers football program has been one of the more consistent in both the SEC and the Big 12. Pinkel was able to lead the Tigers to the Big 12 Championship three times since 2000. Not only that, but his resume of NFL players he has coached over the years is one to brag about to.

He created the Kansas City creature known as Jeremy Maclin, a veteran backup quarterback in Chase Daniel. A top 10 former Heisman contender in Blaine Gabbert. He owned the defensive side of the ball years.

He created a sacking machine in the Big 12 in Aldon Smith and paired him along with Sheldon Richardson. He helped create two SEC defensive end duos in Kony Ealy and Michael Sam in 2013, then Markus Golden, and 2015 first round pick, Shane Ray. While he didn't finish his career in Columbia, Pinkel is responsible for finding 2014 SEC leading receiver, Dorial Green-Beckham.

He was responsible for helping Mizzou find a new home in the SEC. It wasn't an easy path at first, but in the end, Pinkel worked his magic and found a win in one of the toughest conferences in college football. Within two years of joining, Missouri made a trip to Atlanta to face Auburn, and the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship both in 2013 and 2014.

Gary Pinkel's legacy can be described in just two simple words: Mizzou Football. Yet, it is a legacy that will never be remembered due to his name. There will be no big celebrations like when Nick Saban retires. His face won't be plastered across television screens when he coaches his final game. Instead, the Mizzou faithful and his team will say their goodbyes and he will have an office to clean out.

It is tough to imagine football in Columbia without Pinkel at the helm, but they will have to try to live up to his legacy. Luckily for Mizzou, there are multiple qualified head coaches who can come into Columbia and keep the heartbeat of Mizzou thriving. However, it won't be the same.

Pinkel will finish 19th all-time in career wins across coaches in America. His bowl record will either stand at 7-4, or he will add a win/loss to the column. He has been to seven conference championships, winning one.

Gary Pinkel will probably never read this, but full disclosure, I grew up a huge fan of the man. I always wanted to become a journalist, but also a football player, Mizzou seemed like the perfect fit. I used to dream of the day when coach Pinkel would come to my house and let me sign on the dotted line to play for him over a span of four years.

Last year at the SEC Championship, I was able to interview him after the game. I will take that as a consolation prize.

Pinkel's career will stand as one word: underrated. Few people have been able to turn a program around like he did in 15 years for Mizzou. Right now he doesn't need praise, he doesn't need to hear about his past, but rather his present. He doesn't need any of those things.

He needs prayer. Prayer to see the future with his family. His job is far from over when he coaches his possible final game on November 27. He will have a much more important job ahead of him.

Being a husband to his wife, Missy. A father to his three children: Erin, Blake and Geoff. But possibly the most important job: being a grandfather to his granddaughters and watching them grow up.

Former Mizzou wide out TJ Moe said it best:

"To quote Coach Pinkel, 'What do we do when adversity hits? WE FIGHT LIKE HELL!' And that's exactly what he'll do to this lymphoma.'"

Knowing him, he will fight. It won't be easy, and he will struggle to adjust to his new life, but just like his career in football, Lymphoma doesn't know who Gary Pinkel is.

He is underrated...and this time, he will finally win.