Should Barry Odom be Arkansas football's next head coach?
Online fan fiction about the former Razorback DC just won't die
To push myself as a writer, I’ve recently maintained a keen eye for using cliched phrases. Relying on them to convey meaning is just bad writing. However, if we’re talking about the possibility of Barry Odom—not only an SEC retread but an Arkansas one as well—being the next head coach of the Razorbacks, I will lean into the skid.
This post on X that got almost 100k views features John Nabors predicting that if (he makes sure to verify it’s a big if) Sam Pittman gets fired, Odom will be the next hire. He continues his postulation that he thinks Odom would bring Michael Scherer back to Fayetteville as Defensive Coordinator and retain Bobby Petrino as Offensive Coordinator.
That post opened a real can of worms. Practically every person who has reached out to discuss the Hogs with me has asked me if I heard the rumors about Odom. It’s to the point that several people even believe it is a foregone conclusion before Arkansas has even played a down of football.
There’s a lot of meat on that rumor bone. Plenty to gnaw on. For starters, there’s Arkansas’s current coaching situation. On top of that, we have to discuss where Odom would rank if a change were made. The coordinators piece of the rumor is a whole other dog in this fight.
Arkansas football should dance with who brung them
Too many Arkansas fans are putting the cart before the horse here. Pittman is still the head coach of the Razorbacks, and only time will tell if he can win enough games to kiss and make up with the Hog fans who no longer support him.
Everyone involved with Arkansas football was disappointed with how last year went. From Hunter Yurachek all the way down. I have no doubt about that.
Who knows what will happen this year? Maybe Yurachek has a magic “job-saving” number. Maybe Pittman rabbits nine games out of his hat and rides off into the sunset. If I were a betting man (I can’t legally be here in Missouri, so I guess I’m not), smart money says this is Pittman’s last year, but it’s far from a done deal.
But that doesn’t mean Arkansas football should dance with the devil they know
Arkansas Razorback fans love a blast from the past. Let me hit you with a little scenario:
Arkansas is looking for a new head coach, and they’ve been turned down by a few hot coaching names who chose more attractive dance partners. The decision-makers think, “Hmmm…I know we were bad under that head coach, but we were pretty good when a key assistant was here. He was well-liked by fans and boosters. SEC pedigree. Maybe we should just go hire that assistant for the head coaching role.”
Am I describing Odom? Sure. But I’m also describing Pittman.
Odom did well as Missouri's head coach and was a steadying force during his time with the Razorbacks. If Pittman is fired, though, Arkansas needs to use the opportunity to move in a new direction.
Arkansas football needs to find a diamond in the rough
Or, at the very least, a clean slate.
I don’t think Yurachek has me as a pinned chat on his phone. He doesn’t have me on speed dial. I doubt I’m even in his rolodex. He’s not sending a carrier pigeon to St. Charles. Bottom line: Yurachek won’t contact me for my take if a coaching search ensues.
I’ve got thoughts, anyway.
Barring an ability to pull off a huge surprise move like he did with Calipari in basketball (Deion Sanders with a huge NIL investment? Nick Saban pulled from retirement? Lincoln Riley run out of USC?), Arkansas should be looking for someone who can bring in offensive modernization and have a foothold in recruiting hotbeds that matter.
Rhett Lashlee checks both those boxes and more. He’s also an Arkansas grad and would seemingly appease the Malzahn-or-bust money faction.
Texas State’s G.J. Kinne had a fantastic first year and has some Arkansas experience. His recruiting inroads in Texas would be a major plus.
I’d call both of those guys before I considered Odom, if only because they would represent a definitive decision to move in a new direction.
But does Odom have an ace up his sleeve that would make him irresistible to Arkansas football?
Well, yeah, he might actually. Just not the person you think.
If Odom is the next head coach of the Razorbacks, bringing his UNLV offensive coordinator, Brennan Marion, along should be a must. His Go-Go offense is the kind of offensive innovation that’s necessary for Arkansas to be successful. Think Malzahn introducing the Wildcat or Petrino’s first stint. The right offensive architect can vault Arkansas into the national conversation.
Yurachek should only ask Odom one interview question: Are you bringing Marion as OC? An answer in the affirmative definitely increases my buy-in.
If, on a dark and stormy night, Arkansas put all its eggs in the Odom basket against all odds and adds insult to injury by retaining Petrino, I’d be at my wits’ end. I’d have an ax to grind, but at the end of the day, I’d grin and bear it.