OSU football: Why David Yost may say no to the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator job
By Anthony Slater – Aslater@opubco.com - @anthonyVslater
News seeped through the Twitterverse on Wednesday morning, linking former Missouri offensive coordinator David Yost to the vacant Oklahoma State job.
Sources told the Columbia Tribune’s Dave Matter that Yost has a standing offer from Mike Gundy, giving him the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator position should he choose to accept.
And immediately (after people got done freaking out over his Quinn Sharp-like hair) the obvious question arose: If there’s an offer on the table, why wouldn’t Yost accept?
We’re talking about an unemployed coordinator being hand-delivered one of the most lucrative landing spots in his profession. A ready-made air raid attack, in need of an offensive mind, that has a track record of ushering those that pilot it onto Division I head coaching gigs. What’s not to like?
For Yost, the drawbacks are complex. And they have nothing to do with the Cowboys or their system.
To understand, you have to go back a couple weeks.
On Dec. 3, Yost resigned after the Tigers went 5-7 in their first year in the SEC. He was not fired and he was not kindly pushed out the door. Yost voluntarily ended his 12-year run at Missouri.
And as Dave Matter revealed in this informative feature on Yost, it wasn’t strictly about the Tigers offensive struggles (although that had something to do with it).
Throughout the 2012 season, Yost began to feel burnt out, according to Matter’s sources. His high-stress job was finally taking a toll on him.
Matter wrote: “The strain of managing three major roles with the Tigers — coordinator, quarterbacks coach, recruiting coordinator — had become too much for Yost and his young family, several sources said”
So Yost told MU coach Gary Pinkel, a guy who he has worked under for 15 years, that he was done. At least for now.
And according to Matter, Pinkel tried to persuade Yost to stay, giving him a few days to reconsider.
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