Despite coming off a 4-8 debut season, Missouri head coach Barry Odom sounds confident about his team’s ability to bounce back and make some noise heading into 2017. The learning curve for a first-time college head coach is steep at any level but doing so in the SEC compounds the challenge of learning on the job.

During a recent interview at Winghaven Country Club for the Mizzou Tiger golf club event with The Hardline on 590 The Fan, Odom spoke very openly regarding his first year on the job, the senior leadership the Tigers have shown this offseason and his confidence heading into Year 2 as Mizzou’s head coach.

On the radio program, Odom was asked if he felt the difference heading into Year 2 as opposed to Year 1:

“Somebody asked me on the (golf) course earlier, ‘Hey, are you feeling any pressure?’ Hell yeah I’m feeling pressure, you feel it every day, that doesn’t change,” Odom said on the air. “They said, ‘You seem way more relaxed,’ well, we have a long ways to go, and we’ve made a lot of progress, but don’t confuse that with being where we need to be. I’ve got a lot of things to do and a lot of things to accomplish, I know that we are going to get there. I have comfort in our staff… I’m in a lot better spot than I was a year ago.”

Known for his expertise on the defensive side of the ball, Missouri’s defense was shockingly bad for much of Odom’s first season as head coach. Once Odom took over the unit, the defense performed better down the stretch but still surrendered too many big plays to opposing offenses. Odom was asked about his role with the unit moving forward.

“As a head coach, I’m not very good at standing back and just evaluating and taking it all in,” Odom said. “I’m going to be more active on that side of the ball, calling the defense and working with the staff to put together a gameplan which we think will be successful for our kids.”

As for the leadership on the team, Odom likes what he has seen this offseason and even revealed some intimate moments he and his players shared after the disappointing 2016 season.

“The senior class asked for it as soon as the Arkansas game was over,” Odom said. “Last year, the juniors rising seniors came in, and we had a lot of really difficult conversations that would good for both sides — for me as the coach and them as the players, on what they wanted to accomplish, on what they wanted to get done and how to get there.

“Marcell Frazier has done a great job, A.J, Logan, Eric Beisel, Anthony Sherrils, really those four guys on that side of the ball have done a great job on leading our team from last November until today. On offense, J’Mon Moore has done a great job, Ish Witter who has played a lot at tailback the last couple of years and Jason Reese. Alec Abeln that has come on up front, kinda leading that group. So really, we have a really strong core group of leaders that will be seniors that have played a significant amount that care deeply about the University of Missouri.”

While Year 1 certainly didn’t go as expected, there is reason for optimism in Columbia. If Odom can help correct the defensive issues which existed for much of the season and the offense continues to thrive under OC Josh Heupel, Mizzou could prove to be a sleeper in the East. Something not lost on Odom.

“I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I’m very confident in what we are going to do,” Odom said. “I like our team, I like our locker room, and I like the direction we are going.”