Barry Odom named new coach of Missouri

Hiring from within, Missouri announced Thursday that defensive coordinator Barry Odom will replace the retiring Gary Pinkel as head coach.

Odom reportedly received a five-year contract.

"We are extremely excited to announce Barry Odom as the new leader of the Mizzou football program," Missouri athletic director Mack Rhoades said in a press release. "We had the opportunity to visit with a number of excellent coaches throughout our search. At the conclusion of that process, Coach Odom was the clear choice to serve as our next coach."

Missouri will hold a press conference to introduce Odom on Friday.

Odom joined Pinkel's staff this year after three years as defensive coordinator at Memphis. When Memphis head coach Justin Fuente left last week to take the same job at Virginia Tech, Odom was viewed as a front-runner for that position. However, multiple media outlets reported that negotiations broke down.

Pinkel, 63, officially stepped down after the Tigers' season finale last week due to a battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer. He is Missouri's all-time winningest coach with a 117-73 record in 15 seasons, though the Tigers finished 5-7 this year.

Odom was a Missouri linebacker in the late 1990s. He began his college coaching career as a Missouri graduate assistant before moving up to other positions with the program. He became Memphis' safeties coach in 2009, then took over as defensive coordinator there in 2012.