Barry Odom reverts to last season’s scheme to fix leaky defense

Conventional wisdom is that familiarity breeds contempt, but first-year Missouri coach Barry Odom is banking on familiarity to fix a struggling defense.

Odom announced last week he was taking on a bigger role with the defense and would assume play-calling duties during games. The reason became apparent when the Tigers took the field against Kentucky.

“We went back to the majority of some of the things we had done previously last year,” said Odom, who served as defensive coordinator in 2015 before he was promoted after Gary Pinkel retired. “It was a very basic game plan.”

It’s also one that had the full support, at least publicly, of new defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross despite the fact Odom’s increasing role with the defense serves to diminish his own role.

“We needed a spark,” Cross said. “We needed to have something, and nothing was going.”

The situation was exacerbated by injury. The staff felt things would only get worse as it relied more on players down the depth chart after key injuries to senior linebacker Michael Scherer and sophomore defensive tackle Terry Beckner Jr., among others.

“I’ve had great expectations for myself and this defense from day one, so for us not to get the production and the play that we wanted and I’ve wanted, it has been disappointing,” Cross said. “But it hasn’t discouraged me from trying to get the next win against the next opponent.”

Mizzou’s defense ranked in the top six nationally in scoring, total and passing defense under Odom last season, but it’s become a sieve, especially against the run.

The Tigers are allowing 30.4 points per game, which is the program’s worst mark since 2000 during Larry Smith’s final season, and 475.6 total yards, which ranks 117th in the Football Bowl Subdivision and is the most since 1991 under Bob Stull.

Mizzou is also giving up 240 yards per game on the ground, the worst for the program since 1994 — oddly enough, Cross’ first year as a player at MU.

As a result, Odom, in consultation with his defensive staff, decided to scrap much of the new read-and-react scheme it installed during the last 10 months under Cross.

It’s a bold midseason change, requiring a switch in terminology and putting strain on Mizzou’s players to learn a new system with limited practice reps.

It also simplifies things for many players — including junior linebacker Eric Beisel, who made his first career start last week at middle linebacker, and junior safety Anthony Sherrils, who flourished in Odom’s scheme last season.

Last season’s holdovers, including junior defensive end Charles Harris and senior defensive tackle Rickey Hatley, feel more comfortable with what Sherrils calls the “new old defense” and were able quickly to pick it up again.

“I wasn’t on edge as much,” Sherrils said. “You know the defense — it’s the same stuff you’ve been doing for four years. I wouldn't say thinking a lot (in the new scheme), but I wasn't being sure.”

With fewer checks and reads, Sherrils felt more comfortable and was freed up to make plays. That was particularly true for the defensive line.

“Up front, some of the calls have allowed some of those guys to feel a little more relaxed and play a little bit faster without analyzing or overthinking certain things, so I think it’s helped the front four for sure,” Cross said.

Unfortunately, the results weren’t immediate.

Missouri was gashed for 582 yards, including 377 yards rushing, against Kentucky. It’s the first time in program history the defense has allowed 500-plus yards in four consecutive games, but the Tigers profess faith.

“It’s our natural defense — well, I’m not going to say natural defense — but it’s something we’ve been doing forever, so it wasn’t too foreign … ,” Harris said. “This was just the first try, the first go-round with it. It can definitely get better. I feel like it will be a lot better this weekend. There’s just a lot of small, minute details we’ve got to get back to knowing and doing.”

BY THE NUMBERS: MIZZOU’S PRECIPITOUS DEFENSIVE DROP

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Barry Odom reverts to last season’s scheme to fix leaky defense."