5 examples of risk taking by Odom.

Posted on: November 1, 2016 at 15:40:22 CT

1. He gladly moved to LB after being recruited to MU as a TB. He could have easily transferred elsewhere. Staying and buying in was a risk.

2. As a small town kid, he left a coaching job in his hometown in Oklahoma to move back to Columbia to coach a bad high school team. Leaving home for a low paying coaching and teaching job at a school with a down football program was a risk.

3. After he had turned around the RBHS program he took a low level job on Gary Pinkel's staff. Newly married, leaving the safety of his now established coaching job for the highly volatile world of college football, for a position that didn't even carry benefits, was a risk.

4. After establishing himself as a respected and valued position coach at MU and starting a family in Columbia, he left all that for a job at a lower level Memphis program. His family loved Columbia and there was no guarantee he'd ever be back. Once on staff at MU, he could have easily stayed and worked his way up the Pinkel ladder, much like Andy Hill. Leaving all that was a risk.

5. He essentially fired the player's best friend Pat Ivey and the player's favorite coach Craig Kulgowski and then put in a whole new offense and defense with a whole new staff. The easiest thing to do would have been to keep everyone in place from Pinkel's staff and keep on going business as usual. It was a HUGE risk to change all that.