SEC coaching rankings: No. 12 Barry Odom

With the SEC football season just a few months away, here’s a look at how the conference’s coaches rank in 2016. 

Bio: Barry Odom will face the tall task of replacing the winningest coach in Missouri history, Gary Pinkel, during his first season as the Tigers’ head coach. But Odom already has a familiarity with the program having spent 10 total seasons and two tenures in Columbia.

Odom’s first taste of college coaching came as a graduate assistant at Missouri in 2003. He spent the next two seasons working as the team’s director of recruiting and three more as the director of football operations before taking over as safeties coach in 2009. Odom joined Memphis’ staff as a defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2012 before returning to Missouri last season, serving both positions.

Reason For Ranking: It’s not that Odom is the third-worst coach in the SEC, it’s just hard to know what to expect out of him. He has zero prior head coaching experience, despite his success as a coordinator.

Having said that, Odom doesn’t have the luxury of a loaded roster or huge expectations like Georgia’s Kirby Smart will in his coaching debut. Missouri is, at best, “the little engine that could” of the SEC. Pinkel didn’t sign many four or five-star recruits, yet still managed to win back-to-back SEC East division titles in 2013-14.

It won’t be an immediate turnaround for the Tigers, who dropped to sixth in the SEC East in 2015. Odom will need time to reach his full potential in Columbia. He does, however, have the advantage of familiarity, especially on defense. Perhaps he can exceed expectations in year one, but it’s doubtful.

2016 Schedule: 

Date		Opponent
Saturday Sep. 3		at West Virginia Mountaineers Mountaineer Field, Morgantown, WV
Saturday Sep. 10		Eastern Michigan Eagles Faurot Field, Columbia, MO
Saturday Sep. 17		Georgia Bulldogs Faurot Field, Columbia, MO
Saturday Sep. 24		Delaware State Hornets Faurot Field, Columbia, MO
Saturday Oct. 1		at LSU Tigers Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA
Saturday Oct. 8	—	OFF
Saturday Oct. 15		at Florida Gators Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, FL
Saturday Oct. 22		Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (HC) Faurot Field, Columbia, MO
Saturday Oct. 29		Kentucky Wildcats Faurot Field, Columbia, MO
Saturday Nov. 5		at South Carolina Gamecocks Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC
Saturday Nov. 12		Vanderbilt Commodores Faurot Field, Columbia, MO
Saturday Nov. 19		at Tennessee Volunteers Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN
Saturday Nov. 26		Arkansas Razorbacks Faurot Field, Columbia, MO

2016 Outlook: As noted, Missouri was the second-worst team in the SEC East after coming off consecutive first place finishes. The Tigers struggled to find consistency at quarterback between the troubled Maty Mauk — who has since transferred — and freshman Drew Lock each throwing to a depleted receiving corps.

Lock should show signs of improvement in his second season but, with Russell Hansbrough departing, lacks enough targets to carry Missouri’s offense to relevancy.

The Tiger defense should also see a dropoff at linebacker without FBS leading tackler Kentrell Brothers. However, Missouri’s loaded defensive line returns starters Charles Harris, Marcell Frazier and Walter Brady and could also see a comeback from star defensive tackle Harold Brantley, who missed the entire 2015 season recovering from a car accident in June.

Missouri, at worst, is a bottom-tier SEC team and, at best, in the middle of the conference standings. Unless Odom works some magic, it’ll be difficult for the Tigers to contend in his first season.

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