MU board approves Barry Odom’s contract, worth $2.35 million annually

Barry Odom officially is Missouri’s 32nd football coach.

The Tigers’ athletic department released the details of Odom’s contract Friday after a memorandum of understanding was approved by the University of Missouri System Board of Curators during a regularly scheduled meeting on the Missouri-St. Louis campus.

Odom’s five-year contract includes $2.35 million in annual guaranteed compensation. He received $625,000 last season as defensive coordinator, so the new contract nearly quadruples his salary.

Odom, in a release, thanked athletic director Mack Rhoades, MU chancellor Hank Foley, interim university system president Mike Middleton and the curators.

“Through this process they have shown an unwavering commitment to provide us with the resources we need to attract and retain an elite staff and support our student-athletes in order to compete at the highest level,” Odom said.

Odom will receive a $450,000 base salary plus $475,000 each for radio appearances, television appearance, the team’s apparel contract and for other “public relations and stewardship appearances.”

He also is a due a $100,000 annuity payment each year at the end of the contract, giving him an additional $500,000.

Odom’s contract also includes up to $1.5 million in incentives relating to academic and social goals for the players, on-field success and other recognition such as conference or national coach of the year awards.

The details of those incentives haven’t been finalized, but they will be released when the fully executed contract — which runs through Feb. 28, 2021, and includes a two-year mutual option — is finalized.

Missouri and Odom will decide whether to pick up the option during a review in December 2017, according to the binding memorandum of understanding.

Odom receives a one-time automatic $250,000 raise if Missouri wins a conference championship. He receives the same pay bump if the Tigers make a New Year’s Six bowl game (Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose or Sugar Bowl).

There are also some fairly standard incentives, granting Odom access to two university automobiles, spousal-travel reimbursement, a country club membership and complimentary tickets for football, men’s basketball and postseason games.

According to the memorandum, Odom must provide written notice if he intends to seek a different job in the college ranks or the NFL.

If Odom leaves before Feb. 28, 2019, he owes MU $2.35 million. That buyout drops to $1.175 million before Feb. 29, 2020, and $587,500 by Feb. 28, 2021.

Missouri’s announcement didn’t include any details about the salary pool for assistant coaches, but that was expected to increase as well, a source told The Star.

Odom, 39, succeeds Gary Pinkel, who announced Nov. 13 that he had follicular lymphoma and would resign after the season.

Rhoades introduced Odom on Dec. 4 at Mizzou Arena, one night after Missouri announced his hiring. Odom, who played linebacker for Larry Smith’s teams from 1996-99 and ranks seventh on the program’s career tackles list, served as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator last season.

Odom’s annual salary ranks 13th among the 13 public Southeastern Conference universities. Vanderbilt, a private school in Nashville, isn’t required to release contract details to the public.

Alabama’s Nick Saban in the highest-paid coach in the nation at more than $7 million annually, according to the USA Today coaches’ salaries database.

South Carolina recently hired former Florida coach and Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp to a five-year contract with a $3 million base salary that increases $100,000 per season. Georgia will pay Kirby Smart $3.75 million per year for the next six seasons.

Pinkel’s salary last season, which USA Today reported at $3,768,889, ranked 11th in the SEC and 20th in the nation.

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 2:52 PM with the headline "MU board approves Barry Odom’s contract, worth $2.35 million annually."