Missouri Promotes Barry Odom from DC to Tigers Head Coach

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

Not all college football hires will be “sexy” additions but some are more fundamentally sound than others. News broke Thursday night that the University of Missouri has found a replacement for Gary Pinkel naming Barry Odom their new head coach.

Missouri fans could not ask for a stronger tie to the program. Odom was a linebacker for the Tigers from 1996-1999 ending his career fifth on the all-time tackles list. In 2000 Odom began his coaching career returning to his former high school, Ada High School in Ada, Oklahoma. The call back to Columbia was quick with Odom heading to Rock Bridge High School from 2001 to 2002 before serving as a graduate assistant under Pinkel in 2003.

Odom moved into an office role becoming the director of football recruiting from 2004-05, the director of football operations (2006), and then took an assistant athletic director role and director of football operations position with the Tigers from 2007-08. Finally, in 2009 Odom was back on the field with a whistle in hand coaching safeties for Missouri. After the 2011 season, Odom headed to Memphis as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach until 2014. Pinkel brought Odom back to Columbia for the 2015 season as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach replacing Dave Steckel who took the Missouri State head coaching job.

Missouri athletic director Mack Rhoades released a statement regarding Odom’s hiring reading, “We are extremely excited to announce Barry Odom as the new leader of the Mizzou football program. We had the opportunity to visit with a number of excellent coaches throughout our search. At the conclusion of that process, Coach Odom was the clear choice to serve as our next coach. He is a man of high integrity and possesses all the qualities you look for in a successful head coach. He has an undeniable passion for Mizzou, a strong track-record of success at each level of his career and a clear vision to mentor our student-athletes and lead our program to even greater heights.”

Odom has big shoes to fill after the recent success of Pinkel. In 15 seasons with the Tigers, Pinkel posted a record of 181-73 in 191 games winning back-to-back SEC East titles in 2013-14 going 12-2 and 11-3 respectively. Missouri’s defense was tough once again in 2015 but the offense faltered concluding with a 5-7 season. The Tigers did have the No. 9 ranked total defense allowing just 302 yards per game.

Reports have Odom signing a five-year deal. His formal announcement is expected to take place on Friday.

Photo credit: kansascity.com; Barry Odom takes the field as the Tigers DC (2015).