‘Public embarrassment is your punishment:’ How Barry Odom quizzes his Mizzou players

Emanuel Hall has begun preparing for a looming test. During Missouri’s football training camp, the senior wide receiver has approached random teammates and asked them where they are from, just in case he one day needs to share this information.

Eventually, Hall figures, Mizzou coach Barry Odom will call on him to participate in what has become a post-practice ritual for the Tigers. The wide receiver and another teammate will stand in front of the Missouri team, and they will each have to share what they know about the other person — beyond what position they play.

“That’s a scary sight,” said Hall, who still has more research to do. “There are 120 people on this team.”

This almost-daily exercise consists of each player mentioning everything he knows about the other. Football facts aren’t enough.

This practice helps generate closer relationships among the Tigers, especially the ones who might not otherwise interact. That’s why Odom recently selected backup quarterback Jack Lowary and defensive lineman Walter Palmore to share what they know about one another.

“He’s trying to make that point that everyone should get to know each other,” senior offensive lineman Kevin Pendleton said of Odom’s selection process. “Everyone should be brothers, because everybody is going to be counting on everybody.”

Drew Lock thinks it’s inevitable football players will fail to properly meet each of their teammates, and the MU quarterback said Odom jokes with the Tigers that he will find these problematic pairings. But when Odom called upon Pendleton, he was ready. The senior from Lee’s Summit is an outgoing man and a leader of the team, so he figured to be prepared. It also helped, he admitted, that Odom picked a running back to be his partner.

Pendleton and Jerney Jones, a sophomore, stood in front of the team after one practice. Luckily, Jones is a roommate of one of Pendleton’s fellow starting offensive linemen, center Trystan Colon-Castillo. Pendleton sometimes plays NFL Street 3 at Jones’ apartment, so the two were able to easily rattle off enough biographical facts.

Pendleton’s only regret is he forgot the exact name of the small Missouri town Jones is from, Republic.

“I’m from Kansas City, so that’s a bad look I didn’t know,” Pendleton said.

Still, Jones and Pendleton put on a satisfactory performance, as did offensive tackle Paul Adams and safety Finis Stribling IV, whom Odom called on Wednesday. They both grew up in the Nashville area, so Adams knew plenty about his partner, including the high school he attended, how many younger brothers he has and that he drives a Honda.

There have been a couple of embarrassingly poor moments during training camp, though. Pendleton guessed the Tigers have two strikes against them for these, and he’s not sure what will happen if they earn another. Hall said he heard another school employs this practice, and when teammates fail to know enough about one another, the entire team must run.

For now, the Tigers don’t have to worry about that.

“The public embarrassment is your punishment,” Hall said. “Some guys go up there and are like, ‘I don’t know anything.’ ”

That’s enough of an incentive for the Tigers to meet one another. Linebacker Cale Garrett feels a reason to talk to players he might not have before, men he admits he might have had one conversation with in two years. In the lunch room, odd pairings are forming. Kickers are sitting with defensive linemen.

“Once you get to know somebody, you kind of feel a responsibility,” Pendleton said. “You have a duty to protect them and care for them. … Guys just start caring about each other. We’ll see how far it takes us.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 6:07 PM.