David Yost explains 'hard decision' to leave Missouri

The Missouri Tigers football program announced on Monday that offensive coordinator David Yost was resigning from his position for personal reasons. Head coach Gary Pinkel said in a statement that he asked Yost to reconsider, but his long-time coaching partner did not.

"There are a lot of factors that played into the process of coming to my decision," Yost said in his own statement. "I feel like I've had a great run here and that it's just the right time to turn it over to someone else. On one hand, it's a really hard decision to make, but on the other hand, I feel good that it's the right decision at the right time for me."

Yost had been part of Pinkel's staff for 17 years dating back to his tenure at Toledo. He eventually became a quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator for Pinkel before the staff joined the Tigers. In 2009, Yost was promoted to the offensive coordinator position and last year had the "assistant head coach" label added.

This year, the Tigers went 5-7 in their first year in the SEC and finished with their first losing season since 2004. While Yost received a heavy dose of criticism for Missouri's struggles this year, he was also instrumental in coaching and producing NFL talents in past quarterbacks Brad Smith, Chase Daniel and Blaine Gabbert.

Senior receiver T.J. Moe told The Kansas City Star he was certain that Yost was not forced out nor bothered by the outside criticism.