Former Missouri coach Barry Odom looks set to take over as Arkansas' defensive coordinator
It looks like Barry Odom will face his alma mater and former employer in the final week of the 2020 season.
The former Missouri coach is set to take over as Arkansas’ new defensive coordinator. Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said on the SEC Network Friday that Odom was heading to Fayetteville when he was asked about reports that Odom could be his defensive coordinator.
Odom was fired as Missouri’s head coach a day after the Tigers beat Arkansas on Nov. 29 to finish the season at 6-6. Pittman said he was “ecstatic” that Odom was heading to Fayetteville.
We welcomed @CoachSamPittman to the show and he confirmed that defensive guru Barry Odom is on his way to Fayetteville...literally. pic.twitter.com/1nAZ4H8esJ
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) December 13, 2019
“I felt I needed a guy on my staff who’s been a head coach and one that I can lean on and talk to and there’s really not a better person out there, finer coach, finer man, than Barry Odom and I’m just blessed he’s in his car coming down here,” Pittman said.
Arkansas hasn’t made an official announcement about hiring Odom, but Pittman’s comments sure sound like an agreement has been reached.
Pittman was hired over the weekend to take over in Fayetteville after serving as Georgia’s offensive line coach. He replaced interim coach Barry Lunney Jr. who was named acting head coach when Chad Morris was fired during the season. Earlier in the week, Morris joined Auburn as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator. Add in former Colorado State coach Mike Bobo’s hire as South Carolina’s offensive coordinator and Odom will be the third head coach fired in 2019 to take over in the SEC as a coordinator in 2020.
Missouri and Arkansas have a permanent SEC cross-division rivalry and play each other on an annual basis.
Odom was 25-25 at Mizzou
Missouri was an even .500 in Odom’s four years. The former Tiger linebacker took over after Gary Pinkel retired following the 2015 season.
It was Odom’s first college head coaching job after he was a defensive coordinator at both Memphis and Missouri. He was the Tigers’ DC in Pinkel’s final season as Missouri allowed just 16 points per game. Arkansas allowed nearly 37 points per game in 2019. Just six of 130 teams at the top level of college football allowed more.
Odom would be the fifth defensive coordinator at Arkansas since the start of the 2013 season and would replace former Texas A&M and LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis, who came to Fayetteville when Morris was hired at the end of the 2017 season.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports
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