Dave Christensen, the architect of the offense that vaulted Missouri back to national prominence and helped make quarterback Chase Daniel the school's first Heisman Trophy finalist, is the new head coach at Wyoming.
Christensen agreed to terms Sunday on a five-year contract with a base salary of $180,000 and a total package that could exceed $750,000 per year, and the school announced the deal Monday night.
"We are thrilled to be able to attract a coach with the experience that coach Christensen brings to our program," athletic director Tom Burman said in a statement on the university's Web site. "He is one of the great offensive minds in college football.
"With Dave leading Cowboy football, I believe our program will make dramatic progress in the coming years and return to a position of prominence in the Mountain West Conference."
Interestingly, Wyoming and Missouri will play for the first time in a two-game home-and-home series in 2011 in Columbia, Mo., and 2012 in Laramie, Wyoming.
Christensen, who transformed Missouri's offense by bringing in the spread in 2005, is the first assistant to leave Pinkel's staff since he was hired in 2001. He actually has been with Pinkel much longer than that, serving as his offensive line coach for four years and offensive coordinator for another four at Toledo.
"It's a great state and it has rich football tradition," Christensen said. "They've got a lot of great kids, blue-collar kids that work extremely hard and are extremely dedicated.
"They've got the resources to be successful and I think it's an appealing job."
Pinkel said Christensen would remain with the 19th-ranked Tigers through the Big 12 championship game Saturday against No. 3 Oklahoma and whatever bowl game they play in, although he'll devote some time to hiring a staff and recruiting for Wyoming.
"He'll finish his responsibilities. That's his desire," Pinkel said.
Christensen said it was the right thing to do.
"I have an obligation to the university, to our players, to this program," Christensen said. "It's very, very important to me to make sure everything's finished out at Missouri and I give my absolute best to help this team win the next two games."
Christensen's offense at Missouri ranked fourth in the nation with a 45-point average and was also fourth in passing (344 yards per game) and sixth in total offense (509 ypg).
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