Excellence in Crisis Management at Mizzou

Head Coach Gary Pinkel, Athletic Director Mike Alden and the media relations staff at the University of Missouri Columbia should all go have a cocktail and celebrate.   Their handling of the bomb that went off in Columbia late Wednesday evening was a Tiger-Woods-tee-shot kind of perfect.  

I was listening when Producer Joe broke the news on KFNS sometime around 8:30 Thursday morning, and as I sit here Friday evening, the fire is all but out.  Credit the aforementioned for their swift and masterful response.

Embarrassing events like this linger only for as long as there is something new to report or some new angle emerges from which to view the story; therefore the strategy is to accelerate the news cycles and get the story over with as quickly as possible.

In this instance, it seems someone in Columbia has a flux capacitor and a 1.21 gigawatt power source.  Within 48 hours of the police officer lighting up Pinkel's SUV, all of these events....each worthy of a full newscycle....are over and done with.

• Gary Pinkel is arrested on suspicion of DWI.
• The evidence against Gary Pinkel is released.   Officers speak to the press.  BAC is reported etc.
• Gary Pinkel meets with the Athletic Director, then the School Administration and finally his team.
• The aforementioned parties all make issue statements and punishment is doled out.  
• The Athletic Director gets in front of the cameras.
• Finally (and most importantly) the entirety of the legal process.  All of it.  It's done.

Of course there are more stories to come. Saturday's game will obviously be overshadowed by Pinkel's absence.  The press will follow the week of practice during Pinkel's suspension.  His first game back will be a story, and I'm certain that if they go to a bowl game it will be mentioned that Pinkel isn't getting paid for it...but then?  As long as Pinkel stays clear of more trouble (as I'm certain he will) the story shifts back to the football team and the incident Wednesday night will soon be all but forgotten.

Obviously, it helps a lot that nobody was hurt, but the University did everything right from the get go here.

Pinkel fully cooperated from the start, obviously gaining the favor of the arresting officer and the Columbia Police department.  The head football coach at the University was arrested for DWI and the media was kept in the dark for ten hours in this day and age?  But wait, this guy was a lot more than just a head coach.  Most credit Missouri's success under Pinkel to his personal discipline and the manner in which that discipline is reflected by his players and coaches.

Alden immediately imposed severe and inarguably sufficient financial and personal consequences.  This whole thing will cost Pinkel about $300,000 in fines and forfeited pay.  He'll perform community service.  He'll write a full letter of apology to the University, players, students, alumni and fans.  For good measure, he'll even get a demerit in his permanent file. 

Pinkel then wasted no time accepting the punishment and meeting with his players and coaching staff.

Alden was certain to meet privately with all relevant parties at the University before cramming in the full blown news conference right before the evening news.

Then somehow the attorneys managed to wrap up the legal end today.  I'm not an attorney, but I can't imagine that adjudicating DWI's in a day is the norm.  Seems to me it usually would take months, but once again I credit the University here.

This is pure speculation on my part, but it makes sense to me.   Someone ( perhaps Mike Alden, University President Brady Deaton, or an attorney acting on their behalf) made a phone call and brokered a deal.  The University agrees to come down hard on Pinkel.  The Columbia Police Department agrees not create a media circus. The courts and the prosecutor's office agree to move swiftly in imposing whatever the standard penance is, and Pinkel agrees to support all the other institutions in their handling of the matter.

And just like that, the wildfire is contained.  Sure, it will smolder for the remainder of the season but the damage was kept to a minimum.  Nobody will lose a job and the football program shouldn't miss a beat in it's move to the SEC.