Eliah Drinkwitz halfway to assembling his Mizzou staff; Odom official at Arkansas
Missouri Tigers coach Eliah Drinkwitz is halfway to assembling his assistant coaching staff.
Mizzou officially announced the hiring of Brick Haley and Casey Woods, as five of 10 available positions are filled. The other three assistants are special teams coordinator Erik Link, associate head coach Charlie Harbison and defensive assistant D.J. Smith.
As part of his contract, Drinkwitz has $5.2 million to assemble his assistant coaching staff.
Haley is the first Drinkwitz hire who worked for former coach Barry Odom. He spent the past three years at Mizzou, coaching the defensive line. Under Drinkwitz, his role will stay the same.
While Mizzou athletic director Jim Sterk was on the coaching search, Haley was the interim coach and hit the recruiting trail.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue at Mizzou and I’m excited to work with Coach Drink and his staff,” Haley said in a release. “Our family loves Mizzou and being part of the Columbia community, so we’re thrilled to keep stakes in the ground here and I’m looking forward to getting to work on doing great things.”
Two coaches from Odom’s staff who could remain are Ryan Walters and David Gibbs. They have yet to be officially announced as part of Drinkwitz’s staff.
Woods joins Mizzou after three seasons at Alabama-Birmingham, where he was recently tight ends coach. He’ll be an offensive assistant under Drinkwitz. Woods also served as run game coordinator and recruiting coordinator at UAB. He and Drinkwitz were on staff at Auburn and Arkansas State at the same time from 2010-12.
“My family and I are real excited to come to Columbia and be a part of a great tradition at Mizzou,” Woods said. “Coach Drinkwitz and I have known each other for almost a decade now, and I know that he has great vision and he is a tireless worker and incredibly smart. I am really looking forward to being under his leadership and to be back in the SEC — it’s the best of the best.”
Official at Arkansas
Odom was officially announced as Arkansas defensive coordinator Monday. Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman confirmed on Dec. 13 on the Paul Finebaum Show that Odom was joining his staff.
“I am ecstatic,” Pittman said on the show. “I felt like I needed a guy on my staff that had been a head coach. One that I could lean on and talk to. There’s really not a better person out there and finer coach, finer man than Barry Odom. I’m just blessed he’s in his car coming down here.”
The HawgBeat reported Odom is set to make $1.2 million at Arkansas. As part of his contract with Mizzou, the salary would offset his buyout, which was nearly $3 million.
That would put the former Mizzou coach as one of the top-paid assistants in college football, according to a USA Today database. Former Hogs defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson made $1.5 million in 2019.
While Odom was speculated to be in consideration for the Memphis head coach opening — he spent three years as defensive coordinator there — they went with an in-house hire with Ryan Silverfield.
Odom was fired after four years at Mizzou and a 25-25 record. Odom succeeded former coach Gary Pinkel before the 2016 season after spending one year as Mizzou’s defensive coordinator. His Tigers went 6-6 in 2019, enough victories for a third straight bowl appearance, though the NCAA denying Mizzou’s infractions appeal meant a postseason ban.
The 2019 season also included a collapse amid a five-game losing streak before Odom defeated Arkansas in the season finale.