Barry Odom did a solid job of coaching Missouri football under tough circumstances.
But he didn’t advance the program, so he ran out of time. What Eli Drinkwitz has done since then -– raising money, upgrading facilities, winning games, raising the program's national profile -- more than validated the decision to change coaches.
Odom rebounded nicely. After doing nice work at Arkansas as defensive coordinator, he is leading UNLV to football relevance as head coach.
The Rebels are ranked No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches poll, which is the first time the program has cracked either of the major polls.
“Excited for our team, excited for the athletic department,” Odom said. “I did not know it was the first time in the history of the school to be ranked in either of those polls. I think we’ve created some momentum for our team and our program. I think we’ve earned a little bit of respect.
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“We also know that we’ve to go earn it next week and the next week and the next week on down. A lot of season left. There’s 10 weeks left, nine games of regular season. We have a lot of work yet to do. We’re not anywhere close to where we need to be . . .
“The things that we know that we can accomplish in the program, I want that to be a goal, for this to be not uncommon for us to be ranked. I want it to be something to be expected. I know it takes great work to get there.”
UNLV has defeated Houston and Kansas on the road and Utah Tech at home. Odom didn’t get to face Kansas as a head coach at Mizzou, but he has plenty of history with the Jayhawks as a player and as an assistant coach.
“I think on this date in 1998 Devin West had 319 yards rushing against the Jayhawks,” Odom said. “That was on my mind today, too, going into it.”
And . . .
“Forever, because of the conferences those teams were in, it was the oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi,” he said. “I’ve been in a lot of them obviously.”
If Odom keeps the Rebels rolling, he will be in line for another power conference head coaching job. Tipsheet’s advice to Barry: Take your time and pick your spot carefully.
After his tough climb back to head coaching success, he shouldn't rush into a dead end job. We're looking at you, Mississippi State.
THE GRIDIRON CHRONICLES
Here is what folks are writing about college football:
Pete Thamel, : “The way the college football calendar has evolved will work against Florida. After whiffing on a rising coach in Napier, who came from Louisiana, the natural inclination would be to hire the opposite. That would mean an established, big-name, big-brand head coach. Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin will be the speculative favorite, as his affinity for free-flowing thoughts channel Steve Spurrier. His offensive acumen brings some elements of Urban Meyer, who came to Florida amid skepticism that spread offenses could work in the SEC. (They did.) There are other prominent names that will be mentioned along with Kiffin's -- Penn State's James Franklin, Nebraska's Matt Rhule, Missouri's Eliah Drinkwitz, Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, Iowa State's Matt Campbell and Kansas State's Chris Klieman. They are all currently coaching ranked teams that could have a shot at making the expanded College Football Playoff. The new playoff dynamics are an interesting wrinkle to the carousel. The new 12-team College Football Playoff begins on Dec. 20, which would make it hard for a school like Florida to hire a sitting coach who reaches the CFP. The ideal time to bring in a new coach would be late November, as it will take time to evaluate a roster and figure out who is worth what money.”
Shehan Jeyarajah, : “No. 15 Oklahoma hosts No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday in a matchup crawling with storylines. The game marks the first ever SEC conference game for the Sooners, and it's the kind of marquee game OU fans hoped for when they joined the conference. On the other sideline, though, former Sooners national champion quarterback Josh Heupel leads Tennessee. Heupel was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma for years until he was fired by Bob Stoops in 2014 and went through his own transformation. Now, he brings Tennessee into his old stomping grounds as a touchdown favorite. The last two times these programs played was in 2015 when Baker Mayfield led a come-from-behind victory at Neyland Stadium to kick off the Sooners' first trip to the College Football Playoff. The win helped usher in a period of six straight 11-win seasons, pandemic year aside, and elevate the Sooners back to the top tier of college football. Oklahoma's matchup against Tennessee marks one of the highest-profile home games in program history -- but is it a must-win for third-year coach Brent Venables? Oklahoma needed late surges to survive Houston and Tulane in nonconference play behind a battered offensive line. The longtime defensive coordinator is 19-10 in two seasons, but only 10-8 against conference opponents as a Big 12 member.”
Pete Fiutak, College Football News: “Unlike Nebraska, which is probably a good team made to look better by its schedule, Miami has the talent and also has the nicest, easiest schedule humanly possible. The toughest game is at Louisville. Blowing out Florida doesn’t seem like any big deal, and whacking around Florida A&M and Ball State isn’t a thing, but Mario Cristobal put together a great starting 22 that might just get though this regular season 11-1. It’s a Mario Cristobal team; it’ll biff somewhere in mid-November, like at Georgia Tech - and then the hype will be off the charts. Best guess? Miami splits the road games against Louisville and Georgia Tech, narrowly avoids a brain-cramp somewhere - like at Cal or Syracuse - and gets to the ACC Championship where it loses to Clemson, but still makes the expanded College Football Playoff.”
Spencer Davis, Saturday Down South: “Almost immediately after Georgia’s close call in Lexington, a narrative began to form: Winning on the road in the SEC is hard. Head coach Kirby Smart even invoked it during his postgame media hit, recalling previous Georgia teams that struggled on the road at Auburn in 2023 and Missouri in 2022. But the advanced numbers point to this not being a typical Georgia sleep-walking episode. UGA’s offense was below-average in success rate, EPA per play, explosive play rate and plenty of other underlying stats against Kentucky. That just wasn’t the case in the previous games cited. Against Auburn last season, Georgia averaged 9.48 yards per drop-back — a near-elite number. Against Mizzou in 2023, their success rate was in the 86th percentile per GameOnPaper. The issue in the near-misses at Auburn and Mizzou were turnovers, but the Dawgs were actually +1 in the turnover department in Lexington — they just couldn’t move the ball. Smart certainly has earned the benefit of the doubt, but this was Georgia’s worst offensive performance in years — and I’m leaning toward it being more of a harbinger of things to come than another annual aberration.”
Kennington Smith III, The Athletic: “The most notable story of the weekend was Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers’ abdominal strain and Arch Manning’s relief duty, which included five touchdowns in a 56-7 win over UTSA. Naturally, when an injury happens and a highly touted backup shines, some will raise thoughts and questions about what could be done with the backup. But that would be an overreaction. Ewers likely won’t play this weekend, but his injury doesn’t sound serious, which is great news for Texas. There has never been controversy internally about the quarterback conversation, and with three weeks before facing Oklahoma, it feels like Manning will just steer the ship until Ewers returns. If Manning continues to shine, that’s great. Texas fans can get a peek into the future while knowing a quarterback capable of winning the national championship this year is coming back soon. Texas’ in-state rival, Texas A&M, is in a different situation. Manning shared the SEC Freshman of the Week honors with Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed, who filled in late notice for starter Conner Weigman and shined against Florida with three touchdowns. Weigman, talented but not always available, has been a mixed bag to start the season. Reed provided a spark to the offense through the air and on the ground and could raise the ceiling of the offense because of that ability.”
MEGAPHONE
“They’re very well aware of the same people that are giving them praise and showering them with all the good stuff were the same ones throwing dirt on them when things were being built piece by piece.”
Miami coach Mario Cristobal, on his team’s ability to handle media praise.