Missouri football: 5 replacements for Barry Odom at Missouri

Missouri football needs a new head coach after firing Barry Odom after four years. With Odom out, here are five candidates who could be the Tigers’ new man.

After winning the Battle Line Rivalry over the cross-divisional rival Arkansas Razorbacks in Little Rock, the Missouri Tigers have reportedly parted ways with head football coach Barry Odom. Odom played his college ball at Missouri and was on Gary Pinkel’s staff before taking over for him in 2016. However, Odom went just 25-25 (13-19) in his four years as Missouri’s head coach.

Missouri went 6-6 this year, but never managed more than an eight-win season during Odom’s four years on the job. He was unable to win a bowl game and never seemed to get his program to compete with the likes of the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators in the SEC East since taking over for his predecessor. Pinkel won two division titles shortly after Missouri joined the SEC.

Overall, it seems that Missouri hit its ceiling very quickly under Odom in that the Tigers were good enough to reach a bowl game, but not much more than that. Missouri will probably look to go with an outside hire after promoting from within after Pinkel’s retirement yielded this. With presumably big plans for the 2020s, here are five potential replacements for Odom in Columbia as head coach.

Eli Drinkwitz, Appalachian State Mountaineers head coach

If Missouri wants to go with an up-and-coming head coach, the Tigers might want to pry Eli Drinkwitz away from the Appalachian State Mountaineers while they can. Drinkwitz took over for Scott Satterfield in Boone this season and has the Mountaineers poised to win the Sun Belt and finish in the top-25 in the final College Football Playoff Rankings.

He has worked at Auburn, Arkansas State, Boise State and North Carolina State before taking over at Appalachian State. Drinkwitz may not be the home-run hire folks in Columbia may hope for, but he is clearly one of the best young coaches in the college game today. We can’t reasonably expect him to state at Appalachian State into his 40s. Missouri may want to get out ahead of this.

Josh Heupel, UCF Knights head coach

Though not technically an in-house hire, Missouri is very familiar with Josh Heupel as an offensive coach. He was the Tigers’ offensive coordinator on Odom’s staff from 2016 to 2017 before taking over the UCF Knights two years ago once their former head coach Scott Frost opted to take over his alma mater Nebraska Cornhuskers’ football program.

UCF made it to the Fiesta Bowl last year under Heupel as the Group of 5 champion. Though not a great team this year, Heupel has shown he can win roughly 10 games annually in Orlando. He made the offense hum at Missouri and could look to do the same as the Tigers’ next head coach.

Lane Kiffin, Florida Atlantic Owls head coach

If the Tigers want to make a splash hire and really make a dent they never really have before in the SEC, then Missouri should seriously consider prying Florida Atlantic Owls head coach Lane Kiffin away from Boca Raton before someone else does. The former disgraced USC Trojans and Tennessee Volunteers head coach has been revitalized in the last half-decade. He’s ready now.

Kiffin is one of the most creative offensive minds out there and would make Missouri relevant because of his polarizing and high-profile nature. He should be able to build a great staff and could dominate in recruiting both in Greater Kansas City and Greater St. Louis. Kiffin might have what it takes to have Missouri challenging Georgia and Florida in the SEC in the next few years.

Mike Leach, Washington State Cougars head coach

As with Kiffin, hiring a guy like Mike Leach away from his remote outpost in Pullman with the Washington State Cougars could do wonders for this perception of the Tigers program. Leach is one of the founders of the Air Raid offense and has had tremendous success at Washington State and with the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Big 12 before that.

Leach may not have the pedigree of what we want to expect out of an SEC coach, but keep in mind that he made the Kentucky Wildcats the best passing offense in the late 1990s with Tim Couch playing for Hal Mumme. Since he can get the most out of his players without recruiting at a high level, Leach would be an ideal fit at a school like Missouri. Otherwise, he might go to Arkansas.

Brent Venables, Clemson Tigers defensive coordinator

If there is any Power 5 coordinator that could come to Columbia, it might as well be Clemson Tigers defensive coordinator Brent Venables. Sure, Venables can stay at Clemson and win a bunch of games as a coordinator at a dominant program. However, he should believe that he’s ready for a new challenge, such as taking over a middling Power 5 program that he could make relevant again.

Venables might be a defensive coach, but he can recruit at a very high level, as shown by how much Clemson destroys the competition in the ACC. He’ll need a strong offensive mind to pair himself with, but Venables might have what it takes to make the Tigers a team capable of hanging with Georgia and Florida in the SEC East in the early 2020s should he be a successful head coach.

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