Missouri Football: Fans talk of moving on from Barry Odom

Following the Missouri Tigers’ recent loss to South Carolina and a prior loss to Georgia, a number of fans are cropping up to say Barry Odom must go.

Pulling the trigger on a coaching change is never a sure bet. Even from a fan’s perspective, there is much to weigh when pining for a new head coach or the ousting of a current head coach.

Sure, Alabama has done quite well with Nick Saban; Ohio State has done well with Urban Meyer, and Penn State seems to be getting along fine with James Franklin, but they are a rare breed of coaches.

This is not an attempt at being an apologist; if a coach is not living up to expectations, and mails in losses every week or more often than not, then something has to give. The clear-cut answer is change.

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As a number of you have, I’ve also been a fan of a number of teams, and have seen changes – good and bad – and have been among the masses calling for a coach’s job. In one instance, the change was, fortunately, good, but that’s no guarantee.

So the question I pose, is where’s the line in the sand to start calling for head coach Barry Odom’s job? Statistically, Odom’s teams have not performed well against programs with a winning record – games which result in a loss. To his credit, Odom led the Tigers to enough (ugly) wins, as well as blowouts against lesser opponents, to put the Tigers in a bowl game in 2017.

The other thing we have to remember, is Odom inherited a program in turmoil – self-inflicted turmoil from outside sources. After he was named the head coach, Missouri’s Athletic Director left shortly after.

The first sign of stability within the program was when current Athletic Director Jim Sterk extended Odom’s contract, both out of necessity and in a show of good faith. That show of stability is paramount to recruiting and hopefully stabilizing the program and allowing for growth.

At this point, firing Odom would do little in stabilization. Fans want four- and five-star recruits. With a head coach losing his job, and more uncertainty of who’s next in line to become head coach, those recruits will look elsewhere, because “Mizzou can’t keep itself together.”

I agree; the waters are rough, right now. There are areas of the team that look downright awful and ill-prepared on game day. Lack of preparation reflects on the coaching staff, but we’re also in year three of Odom’s tenure as head coach.

I’m not content with the job being done right now, either, but I also believe there is ample talent on the team to win enough games to go “bowling,” and there are talented recruits coming to Missouri, as well – talent that Odom and his staff are bringing to Columbia. The problem that has grossly plagued the Tigers, is failure to execute.

Next. Tigers collapse in Columbia. dark

Perhaps “now” isn’t the time to call for Odom’s job. Furthermore, Odom is only in the first year of his new contract, and as we all know, Sterk will not make a coaching change until the end of a season. So for now, Missouri has no other choice, than to roll with the current coaching staff, and ride until the wheels fall off.

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