‘Football Became Secondary,' Mizzou Coach Says of Boycott

The coach of the University of Missouri football team, whose players boycotted games and practice because they felt that the school's president wasn't properly handling allegations of racism on campus, said Monday that supporting the players was the right thing to do and that he'd "do it again," NBC News reported.

Coach Gary Pinkel said at a press conference that he backed the boycott, which ended earlier Monday when University President Tim Wolfe resigned. Members of the football team said they wouldn't play, in support of a graduate student who started a hunger strike over hateful speech and actions, canceling practice Sunday.

"Football became secondary," said Pinkel, who referred to the players as student leaders. He tweeted a photo Sunday of the entire team standing together in a show of unity.

Later Monday, R. Bowen Loftin, chancellor of the system's flagship campus in Columbia, announced his resignation, effective at the end of the year.

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