Barry Odom

Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Maysville, Okla.
High School:
Ada

Missouri's defensive leader who'll play on the strong side of the formation this year after occupying the weakside position the last two seasons ... with 249 career tackles ranks among the top-15 MU defenders of all-time and will move high into the top 10 this season ... has started every game the last two years ... has twice battled back from reconstructive knee surgery, once after his senior year of high school that delayed his entrance to MU, and during a four-month period prior to the 1997 campaign during which he made a remarkable recovery and went to to start every game and ranked second on the team with 103 tackles ... even with the injuries he has sustained, is the most athletic of Missouri's LBs, running the 40 in 4.5 seconds, posting a vertical jump of 35.5 inches, a 460-lb. push press, 430-lb. power clean, 500-lb. bench press and a 700-lb. squat.

1998 – Third-team all-Big 12 by the league coaches ... played in a three linebacker rotation and was the one man who could play both the "Sam" and "Will" positions ... high tackle games came back-to-back with 10 against Oklahoma and 11 at Nebraska ... shared MU's defensive "player of the week" award with DG Justin Wyatt in Tiger win at Iowa State when he made five solo tackles and intercepted the second pass of his career ... was the up back on the Mizzou punt team and took a short snap and ran six yards for a first down at Ohio State ... got the MU season started on the right foot when he recovered a fumble on Bowling Green's first play of the game in the season opener.

1997 – Worked daily with trainer Rex Sharp to rehabilitate a torn ACL (suffered in April) and returned in time to start all 12 games ... earned the Big 12 defensive player of the week award for his nine tackles and first career interception in win over Tulsa ... earned honorable mention all-Big 12 Coaches' award ... was MU's defensive player of the week against Nebraska after making 17 tackles ... earned the same award for his 11-tackle performance against Ohio State ... broke up four passes and got the third QB sack of his career ... shared MU's defensive MVP award with Marquis Gibson ... with a team-best nine weekly selections, earned '97 Champions Club award ... totaled 58 tackles during MU's five-game stretch run to close out the season.

1996 – Joined the Tigers in January after spending extra time after the completion of his high school career to rehab following knee surgery ... showed good football instincts and the ability to cover a lot of ground ... played in 10 games, with four starts, and ranked fifth on the team with 72 tackles ... that total ranked him third among the true freshmen in the Big 12 Conference ... in his first career start, made 18 tackles at Iowa State ... followed that up with 11 stops at SMU ... also recorded a pair of sacks and forced a fumble ... named to the "Champions Club" three times.

HIGH SCHOOL – Led the Ada High Cougars to a 14-0 state championship season in 1994, rushing for 1,570 yards ... scored 39 touchdowns and also led the team in tackles ... all-state selection and the Oklahoma TD leader ... in track, was a two-time state champion in the 400 meters.

PERSONAL – Grew up in Maysville, Okla., but moved to Ada for senior year ... major - general agriculture ... made MU's Academic Top-Ten list in Winter '96 semester with a 3.25 GPA ... member of National Honor Society and Fellowship of Christian Athletes in high school ... has an older brother, Brad, who played on an NAIA national championship football team at East Central University in 1993 ... younger brother Brian will be a senior athlete at Ada this year ... has been joined at MU by another Ada product, redshirt freshman linebacker Josh O'Neal ... enjoys fishing and spending time with his family ... parents - Bob and Cheryl Odom, both school teachers ... high school coach - Larry McBroom ... born Nov. 26, 1976, in Lawton, Okla.