Ex-Missouri Tiger Phil Pitts joins Gary Pinkel’s staff as defensive analyst

Missouri’s Gary Pinkel on Wednesday added another former player to his staff, hiring former offensive lineman Phil Pitts as a defensive analyst.

Pitts, who played 40 games with the Tigers from 2001-04, spent the last four seasons as the head coach at Helias High School in Jefferson City.

Pitts went 40-15 with four district championships and a Missouri Class 4 runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2013. He was an assistant at Helias for six seasons before that.

“We’re excited to have Phil join our coaching staff,” Pinkel said in a release from the department. “Here’s a guy who came through our program during our building phase, and he demonstrated great leadership in some difficult times, and clearly had a passion for the game of football. He’s done great things at a first-class program like Helias, and we are looking forward to Phil adding his skills to our team.”

Pitts’ role in the newly created defensive analyst position will be to assist first-year defensive coordinator Barry Odom.

“My time at Helias has truly been amazing and the people I have met, coached, and worked with will forever have a special place in my heart,” Pitts said. “Coaching college football has always been a dream of mine and I am so excited to join coach Pinkel and his staff at Missouri.

“Mizzou has always been home to me and I couldn’t be happier to be a Tiger. I have the utmost respect for the entire program and I can't wait to get started.”

Odom, who played at MU under Larry Smith, was hired in late December to replace Dave Steckel, who left to become the head coach at Missouri State on Dec. 14.

Soccer adds goalkeepers coach

Missouri also announced Wednesday that Molly Schneider was returning to the women’s soccer team as goalkeepers coach.

Schneider, who had been working for Sporting KC as manager of camps and special projects, is a former All-Big Ten goalkeeper at Minnesota. She served on Tigers coach Bryan Blitz’s staff in 2007 and 2008.

Missouri added Don Trentham as associate coach last week.

Trentham is a former head coach at Montana State, but most recently served as an assistant at Colorado and Wyoming.

This story was originally published January 21, 2015 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Ex-Missouri Tiger Phil Pitts joins Gary Pinkel’s staff as defensive analyst."