Mizzou Football: Firing DeMontie Cross perplexing move by Tigers
Mizzou football lost to South Carolina on Saturday and head coach Barry Odom decided to part ways with his defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross. The move comes after only two games and the Tigers could be headed down a tough road.
The Missouri Tigers are only two games into the season, but they’re already making headlines. MU fell to the South Carolina Gamecocks this weekend by a score of 31-13 and are 1-1 on the season.
The defense failed to live up to what it used to be known as (one of the best in all of college football), but this loss wasn’t completely on them. That’s why the move of firing defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross is a strange one, especially so early in the season.
Look, I’m not defending the Tigers defense. They’ve been downright garbage in their first two games, allowing over 40 points to Missouri Valley Conference member Missouri State and then allowing 31 points to South Carolina. The defense has to play better, especially against their SEC opponents.
The defense can’t be taking all of the blame here, however, as the offense only put up 13 points this weekend and the special teams was even more embarrassing. Special teams alone cost Mizzou that game on Saturday with missing a chip shot field goal, fumbling a kickoff, getting a stupid penalty, and allowing the opposition to run all the way down the field for a touchdown.
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Barry Odom is already turning heads as the head coach of Mizzou football, but according to Dave Matter of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, this move might not have had to do with play on the field at all.
"One source close to the decision said Cross’ firing has “zero to do with on-field performance.” Odom essentially demoted Cross seven games into the 2016 season when he took over defensive play-calling duties and scrapped some schematic changes made under Cross’ watch. This season, Cross was moved from the sideline to the press box during game days where he watched the game with staff’s graduate assistants and analysts."
It appears from that segment that Cross was already on borrowed time in Columbia, despite playing for Missouri in the 1990s. That’s what makes this situation even more puzzling, is that Cross was an alum of the university.
Barry Odom hasn’t been all that great as the head coach for MU, so maybe this is a last ditch effort to try and get his team motivated and prepared.
If Mizzou football continues to sputter out of control, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Odom let go… maybe before the end of the regular season. That wouldn’t be surprising at all.