deSDS will look at new assistant coaches around the SEC, highlighting their accomplishments, achievements, history and tough tasks ahead of them. Today we’ll examine Missouri defensive coordinator Barry Odom.

BARRY ODOM, MISSOURI DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR

Coaching History

  • 2015 Missouri defensive coordinator/linebackers coach
  • 2012-14 Memphis defensive coordinator/linebackers coach
  • 2009-11 Missouri safeties coach
  • 2007-08 Missouri assistant athletic director/director of football operations
  • 2006 Missouri director of football operations
  • 2004-05 Missouri director of football recruiting
  • 2003 Missouri administrative graduate assistant
  • 2001-02 Rock Bridge (Columbia, Mo.) High School head coach
  • 2000 Ada (Okla.) High School assistant coach

Barry Odom must love Tigers. For the second time in his career, Odom has traded one hat with a big ‘M’ for another.

The former Mizzou standout linebacker (1996-99) also served on coach Gary Pinkel’s staff in some capacity from 2003-11 before accepting a job as the defensive coordinator at Memphis.

But when Dave Steckel accepted a head coaching job, Pinkel almost immediately asked Odom to trade blue for black-and-gold and return to his alma mater.

The Memphis job was Odom’s first big-time gig. In real estate terms, he inherited a fixer-upper with a Tigers defense that allowed a whopping 491 yards per game, good for 117th nationally. Odom systematically improved on that standing, improving the team to the nation’s 12th-best rushing defense in his second year in 2013.

By the end of the regular season in ’14, Memphis claimed an American Athletic Conference title with the nation’s fifth-ranked scoring defense (17.1 points per game) heading into bowl season. The Tigers even played Ole Miss tough for nearly four quarters thanks in large part to a stingy defense. By the third year, Odom had introduced some 3-4 to best leverage the athletes on the team, and Memphis held nine opponents to 20 points or less.

At Missouri, Odom inherits a defense that played a huge role in leading the Tigers to an SEC East title in 2014, though he’ll have to deal with the losses of defensive ends Shane Ray and Markus Golden and safety Braylon Webb, among others.

Still, his biggest challenge, at least from an outsider’s perspective, may be managing his relationships with the other defensive assistants. Defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski and cornerbacks coach Cornell Ford have worked on Pinkel’s staff since his Toledo days, and both reportedly wanted the job. Pinkel promoted from within the three previous instances he replaced a coordinator at Mizzou. After Pinkel hired Odom, Kuligowski nearly left for a co-defensive coordinator position at Illinois.

Odom, though, has proven himself as an FBS defensive coordinator. He gives the team a triumvirate of proven teachers and recruiters on the defensive side of the staff. And Odom had become a coveted asset, mentioned during coordinator searches at Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas A&M and others in the last two years.

Pinkel called Odom the most experienced, most qualified candidate.

“He’s smart. He knows what he’s doing — his attention to detail — everything we talk about in coaching that you want,” Pinkel told the Columbia Tribune. “He’s got all of those things. I think he’s a very, very good communicator. I think he’s very sincere to players. They gravitate to him and his leadership.

“He brings an awful lot to it. Anybody that knows him, his personality fits perfect. The players who don’t know him, they’ll find out he’s a great guy to be around.”

With defensive lineman Terry Beckner Jr. a part of a huge incoming class, both in talent and size, the Tigers have some excellent fits for a 3-4 defense along the defensive line. (Josh Augusta would make a great nose tackle, while Beckner Jr., Harold Brantley and Rickey Hatley are textbook 3-4 defensive ends.)

The team struggled in its brief experiments with three-man fronts the last two seasons, and the linebackers are better suited for a 4-3 look. So for now, most expect Odom to retain the 4-3 that’s worked so well for Mizzou, especially along the defensive line.

At Memphis, his teams excelled up front against the run with big, physical defensive lineman who won at the point of attack, something that fits well within the trench-centric SEC.

This time Odom isn’t bailing water out of a sinking ship. His biggest challenge will be ensuring the team is maximizing its individual talents, and channeling some of the strong teachers on the staff toward the most pressing needs.

At 38 years old, Odom has a chance to become a head coach if he succeeds in this post at Mizzou. The Tigers would love it if that happens someday, as it likely would mean good things for the team’s defense the next several years.