Missouri whiffs on Ayodele Adeoye; Barry Odom to blame?

Missouri football missed out on one of its “Tiger 10” on Sunday, when Ayodele Adeoye announced his intention to play football for Texas.

With the fourth of its wish list announcing his intent to play outside of the borders of Missouri, the Tigers are left with five recruits who they have high potential to land.

The 4-star linebacker from Ritenour made his announcement via a creative Twitter video. While I can’t say that I was thrilled to see his offer from Missouri landing in the fire, had he chosen the Tigers, I wouldn’t have complained, either.

While recruiting has been tough sledding for Missouri, it shouldn’t serve as an indication that head coach Barry Odom’s seat is getting warmer or hotter, depending on where your loyalties lie.

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Many point to the failed efforts at landing the big names as more a reflection upon the protests that occurred on campus in 2015.

While the protests did not help the university’s image, they aren’t the sole reason that Mizzou has struggled with recruiting.

In fact, the protests is a dying argument, considering the amount of success Missouri had this year recruiting for basketball.

The more likely reason that the Tigers have struggled to recruit the big names from within the state, is that the team’s record over the last two seasons has been anything but stellar.

Odom’s primary responsibility lies with wins on the field. If the team can string together a solid season and find itself in a bowl, then the pendulum of recruiting should start to swing the other way.

While the odds of Missouri swinging Adeoye’s decision back to Columbia is a long shot, stranger things have happened. Consider the basketball program as a yardstick for success.

Next: Missouri adds depth at receiver

For now, Mizzou has to focus on recruiting the five or six of the 10 remaining in-state targets, and if there’s no swing from earlier recruits, then at least the Tigers recruiting efforts were honest.