(AP) -- Suspended Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel says he "failed miserably" as a role model after his recent drunken-driving arrest and guilty plea.
Pinkel publicly discussed his Nov. 16 arrest and subsequent conviction for the first time Monday, meeting with reporters at his attorney's office.
Pinkel did not coach during Missouri's win over Texas Tech on Saturday as part of a one-week unpaid suspension.
He says he watched the game on television with friends at a Lake of the Ozarks condominium, calling his absence for the final home game of his senior players "gut-wrenching."
Pinkel plans to return to work on Thanksgiving as the Tigers prepare to face Kansas on Saturday.
He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of drunken driving two days after his arrest and received a 30-day suspended sentence along with two years' probation.
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