Mizzou fires defensive line coach Jackie Shipp

Missouri has fired defensive line coach Jackie Shipp with one game left in the season.

First-year coach Barry Odom announced Shipp’s dismissal Wednesday in a statement from the Tigers’ athletic department.

“Jackie Shipp is no longer coaching for us, due to an internal matter where his conduct didn’t meet our expectations for coaches,” Odom said. “We have a very high level of expectation for our student-athletes, and for our staff that applies to an even higher level.”

Shipp, 54, was let go after a confrontation with a player before the Tennessee game, according to reports from PowerMizzou.com and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Shipp did not coach against the Volunteers, didn’t travel back to Columbia with the team and also was not at Tuesday’s practice.

Mizzou, which plays Arkansas in the regular-season finale at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Memorial Stadium, hired Shipp from Arizona State in February. He replaced Chris Wilson, who was hired last December among Odom’s first staff appointments, but abruptly left a few weeks later to become the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive line coach.

Odom opted not to retain long-time defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski when he was hired in early December as Gary Pinkel’s successor. Kuligowski wound up on Mark Richt’s staff at Miami (Fla.).

Meanwhile, Shipp, who also previously coached at Oklahoma, has overseen a defensive line that has made 17  1/2 sacks this season and 28 tackles for loss. As a team, Mizzou ranks 64th in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 23 sacks overall and 78th with 61 tackles for loss.

The defensive line’s lack of production and difficulty adapting to a new defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross’ read-and-react scheme was part of the impetus to reverting back to the 2015 scheme and principles at midseason.

During Kuligowski’s final season with the Tigers, they tied for sixth in the country with 106 tackles for a loss tied for 59th with 27 sacks. Mizzou led the SEC in sacks in 2013 and 2014, finishing in the top 10 nationally both seasons, and became to be known as “D-Line Zou.”

This story was originally published November 23, 2016 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Mizzou fires defensive line coach Jackie Shipp."