Mizzou's Dennis Gates Speaks on Decision to Hire General Manager

Gates and his staff are joining the club of collegiate programs brining on a general manager to help with recruiting, NIL and more.

Missouri head coach Dennis Gates watches his team face Vanderbilt during the first half at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, March 1, 2025. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — The Missouri Tigers and head coach Dennis Gates are catching up with the times and hiring a general manager.

At this point in college sports, it's hard not to have someone fill this position. It's become too hard to have one. It seems as if these general managers handle those and simply let the coaches build relationships and do the job they were meant to do: coach.

The same could be said for Gates. He wielded many roles and that still may be the case now, but once a manager is hired, his life will be made easier.

“Well, I thought about it after my first year and I just wanted to keep that role as my responsibility because I know what in needed to take place, I needed to leverage some of my personal relationships," Gates said. "But also, now you can add the dimensions of the changing times around us. I think it’s the right time now to do it."

According to Gates, he was doing just about everything there was to do when it came to helping his program from a leadership standpoint. He had no choice but to man the helm of those roles as they were created across college athletics.

"I've also been the president of operations, I've been a general manager," Gates said. "I've been holding these professional titles that speak to the growth of our game."

Now that Gates presumably won't have to do some of the items a general manager normally would, his time will be much freer. It will allow him to spend more time with his team and go back down to more day-to-day operations.

There will also be a person to handle those things that Gates previously handled. With the division of roles, everyone will be able to do what they were meant to do in their original roles.

"It'll allow me to continue to do other things without dividing time. Agent relationships is a real thing. It’s very important throughout the season," Gates said. "It’s very important during the offseason and it frees any staff up and allows guys to really focus on the guys in your program."

The role of being a head coach is also much more challenging now. Before the general manager role, these coaches were the ones dealing with NIL money, recruiting and agents during the recruiting process.

Feb 8, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Dennis Gates talks with referee Pat Adams during the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

"It's never easy and sometimes, we try to make it look easy," Gates said. "But there's a lot of sleepless nights, there's a lot of sacrifices to be a successful coach."

When it comes down to it, there are plenty of people outside of the basketball program itself who have aided in its success. Whether it's higher-up administrators or people donating money, there is a ton of help from outside the basketball program that has gotten them where they are.

"I just thank our support, I thank our administration for being able to allow us to get to these places because it's not done without the resources," Gates said. "It's not done without or alumni, our boosters and the support that we have."

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