Brian Odom - Football Coach - University of Missouri Athletics

Brian Odom

Title:
Outside Linebackers
Email:
odombr@missouri.edu
Joined Mizzou:
2nd Season
Hometown:
Ada, Okla.
Alma Mater:
Southeastern Oklahoma, 2004

Brian Odom, who is in his second season as outside linebackers coach for Mizzou, is actually in his second tour of duty with the Tigers. He began his career in athletics as an administrative and defensive graduate assistant coach on Gary Pinkel’s staff at MU in 2005. After moving on to other opportunities, Odom came back to Mizzou from Washington State, where he was the defensive quality control assistant for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. At WSU, Brian was instrumental in the Cougars’ defensive turnaround, working under Defensive Coordinator and former Mizzou assistant coach Alex Grinch.

The 2018 season saw Odom's linebackers play a big role in the defensive improvement that helped pave the way to an eight-win season and a berth in the 2018 AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Thanks in no small part to Odom's pupils, the Tiger defense made huge strides from a year ago in a handful of significant statistical categories in 2018. Mizzou ranked 22nd nationally in rushing defense (122.9 avg.), up from 58th in 2017 (159.6), and also improved to 43rd in scoring defense in 2018 (24.4 avg.), up from 97th in 2017 (31.8 avg.), while also making a big jump in total defense, ranking 54th nationally in 2018 (379.0 avg.), up from 82nd in 2017 (414.1 avg.).

Under Odom's guidance, senior LB Terez Hall had 69 tackles and led the team with a career-high 5.0 quarterback sacks in a season where his impact on ball games went well above the stats he produced. Fellow senior LB Brandon Lee also was a key contributor, ranking fourth on the team with 40 tackles, despite missing time with an elbow injury.

In 2017 at Mizzou, his influence was important as junior WLB Terez Hall and junior SLB Brandon Lee both turned in career years for the Tiger defense. Hall finished second on the team with 85 tackles, and his 12.5 tackles for loss were also second on the team, and eighth-best in the SEC. Lee established himself as a starter and turned into a big play contributor, with 42 tackles, four pass break ups and two quarterback pressures, while he also notched his first career interception at Vanderbilt, which he returned 42 yards for a touchdown that keyed Mizzou’s 45-17 win that clinched bowl eligibility.

Prior to Washington State, Brian spent three years running the football strength and conditioning program at the University of Houston (2012-14), after spending seven years working with the football performance program at the University of Arizona (2005-11). Additionally, for five seasons (2006-10), he assisted UA’s football operations director by coordinating advance travel arrangements for all away games.

“I am extremely grateful this opportunity, and I’d like to thank Coach Odom and his staff and Director of Athletics Jim Sterk for giving me the opportunity to come back to Mizzou,” said Brian Odom. “I’m excited to get my family back to the great town of Columbia and be part of a school that I’ve followed closely for over 20 years now. I’m really excited about the future of the program and it’s an honor to coach in such a prestigious league as the SEC and represent the state of Missouri. I’m looking forward to doing great things with this outstanding staff,” he said.

Brian joined Grinch’s defensive staff prior to the 2015 season, a year after the Cougars went just 3-9 overall and ranked 97th or worse out of 124 FBS schools in six different major statistical categories. In the short span of two seasons, the Wazzu defense went from dead last in the NCAA in 2014 in turnovers gained (eight) to 34th in 2015 (24) and 38th in 2016 (23). They also went from allowing 38.6 points per game in 2014 (ranking 114th in the NCAA) to allowing 26.4 points in 2016 (ranking 50th). The Cougars were just 3-9 in 2014, but strung together 9-4 and 8-5 seasons, respectively, in 2015 and 2016, while playing in bowl games in consecutive seasons (2015 Sun Bowl, 2016 Holiday Bowl) for only the third time in school history.

Following his time at Mizzou, Brian joined the Arizona athletic performance staff in July of 2005 and immediately assisted with football, as well as with other UA programs. He was promoted to associate director in January of 2007, and worked with football before running his own football strength program under coach Tony Levine at Houston from 2012-14. His work with the football teams helped lead to five bowl game appearances, including three at Arizona and two at Houston.

An all-state prep running back in his hometown of Ada, Okla., Brian was named the Oklahoma High School Player of the Year in 1999 by the Tulsa World. He attended Oklahoma for two years, and was a redshirt on OU’s 2000 national championship team. That same year, he won the team’s Iron Man Award for his performance in the weight room. He lettered for the Sooners in 2001 on special teams, and then transferred to Southeastern Oklahoma State, where he was a three-year starter at tailback (2002-04), earning first-team Lone Star All-Conference honors as a senior in 2004. He earned his bachelor’s degree from SEO in December of 2004.

Brian and his wife, Mackenzie, have a son, Benjamin.

Brian Odom File

Coaching History: