Mizzou Football: Barry Odom might be coaching for his job vs Arkansas

COLUMBIA, MO - NOVEMBER 16: Missouri Tigers head coach Barry Odom jogs back to the locker room during the game between the Missouri Tigers and the Florida Gators on Saturday, November 16, 2019 at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, MO.(Photo by Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Win or lose on Friday, Mizzou football won’t be going to a bowl game this year, as their suspension was upheld. The main storyline with this game will be the future of Barry Odom in Columbia.

The Missouri Tigers‘ 2019 season hasn’t gone according to plan, especially considering they got Kelly Bryant to come to Columbia after he was replaced at Clemson. Bryant hasn’t been good, but the losing streak isn’t all on him. A lot of the failures this year have been as a result of poor coaching.

Mizzou has failed to win a game on the road this year and have gotten embarrassed away from Columbia. Their road losses have come against Wyoming, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Georgia. Out of all of those, the Tigers were the better team in all but one game. Coaching played a huge role in those losses.

The Tigers started the season at 5-1 and looked to be well on their way to contending for the SEC East. Since then, however, they’ve dropped five straight games and now sit at 5-6 with one game remaining in the season.

As mentioned above, even if the Tigers do win on Friday, is that enough for Barry Odom to keep his job as the head coach of Mizzou football? This team had all of the potential in the world and could, at best, end the season at 6-6.

Even if MU does win on Friday, would that 6-6 record be enough to merit keeping Odom around? Friday’s game is important for one reason only and it’s to see how Missouri finishes this season.

They won’t be playing in a bowl game either way now, but can Odom still get his guys motivated enough to win this game? The Tigers are winless on the road this year and are about to face the worst team in the SEC in Fayetteville.

If Missouri loses to Arkansas, then yes, Odom should be fired. Even if they blow the doors off the Razorbacks, would that be enough for Odom to keep his job? I guess we’ll have to wait and see how MU responds after a week of hearing rough things about their head coach. Will they fight for him or slack off against one of the SEC’s worst?

This is arguably the biggest game in Barry Odom’s coaching career and not for a good reason. It could potentially be his final game as the head coach of Mizzou football.

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