In final days of Odom’s Mizzou tenure, near unanimous support from players, coaches
Leading up to the Missouri Tigers’ last game of the season, rumblings were palpable about former coach Barry Odom’s job security.
Mizzou athletic director Jim Sterk fired Odom last Saturday, dismissing him after a 25-25 record in four years. The decision came one day after a 24-14 victory at Arkansas that snapped a five-game losing streak.
In Odom’s final days, his players and coaches supported him. Even when the losses piled up, players backed Odom, placing a bulk of the blame on themselves.
The Tigers held a players-only meeting on Thanksgiving in part to talk about playing for the coaches. Linebacker Nick Bolton said they knew that should they lose to Arkansas, the coaching staff would likely be gone.
While the win helped, it ultimately wasn’t enough to save Odom’s job. Sterk said he made his final decision 24-48 hours before he fired Odom on Saturday morning.
Here’s what some players and coaches said of Odom ahead of his firing.
Wide receiver Barrett Banister: “He loves his players. He makes that known. He gets us prepared. I would do anything for him. He’s given me everything and he’s given me a chance to go be what I want to be. I’m so thankful to him, just thankful to be playing for him.”
Defensive coordinator Ryan Walters: “Every year, there’s something out there, naysayers, negativity. He doesn’t waver at all. That is why the team doesn’t waver. Doesn’t listen to outside noise. It’s football. Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. You’re going to get hit with injuries or suspensions or whatever.”
Center Trystan Colon-Castillo: “Majority of the team, if not all, has really, really deep bonds with the coaches. You build that relationship over the last few years. Obviously, the last thing you want to see is to see them go. … Be able to fight for somebody, because they’re fighting for their jobs. They got their jobs on the line. That’s what we want to be able to do for them.”
Offensive coordinator Derek Dooley: “Coach Odom is awesome. He believed in me when he hired me and I’ll always be grateful for that. He’s just been a phenomenal head coach to work for. He’s given me a lot of ownership of what we’ve done. I try to build everything around his philosophy of how he wants to win football games.”
Nick Bolton: “We can’t really tell the future. Whatever happens, happens. But I know people in the locker room, they want Coach Odom as their head coach. We play hard for him.”
After Mizzou fired Odom, those in and around the program also reacted. Sterk is officially on his first football coaching search, looking to replace Odom.