What red flags did hi-profile prospects see last time?

Posted on: November 2, 2018 at 08:36:05 CT

Matt Campbell signed a contract with Iowa State before even interviewing with Missouri after his name was publicly listed as a leading candidate even before the Arkansas game. Other candidates declined to interview as well. What red flags did those coaches see?

- the protests were a huge red flag for a lockerroom culture problem. I'm not debating the issue itself but the reality is we had D1 P5 athletes more interested in politics than football. That's admirable for the Ivy League but not for D1 P5 programs and coaches with aspirations.
- we had a weak and unimpressive AD. Rhoades couldn't even get an interview with the guy he hired at his previous job. The word was out.
- a shaken fanbase, an alienated alumni population and disgruntled boosters. Three years of leadership by division, strife and intimidation under Wolfe and BowTie had split faculty, alumni and CoMo community support. The grumbling had spread to Jeff City and STL and KC.
- Finally, the overall talent level had dropped under Pinkel while character issues had risen. From DGB to Mauk to J'Drop S'Moore, it was obvious from the outside that players at MU weren't totally focused on the product on the field and that product was suffering in Pinkel's last 2 seasons despite the team somehow winning the East on smoke and mirrors in 2014.

Those were all red flags that warned off attractive candidates.

So now, three years later, after Odom looks to have fixed the culture problem while turning around the talent direction and largely eliminating the character distractions, all while improving the competitive level of the team, you're going to fire the Alum of the Program because he got the team to a bowl in Year 2 but didn't return the team to 9 or 10 wins in Year 3 in a season we played both UGA and Alabama?

And you don't think that will send red flags to the candidate pool?

The AD leadership problem has largely been solved, the state is slowly returning to the U in the form of students and alumni support, moral on campus is turning, the home-grown guy has turned the rudder and the program is at least reversed from its stall and decline, and you don't think firing that guy will raise flags?

The reality is the most fierce critics will be happy with nothing less than a proven D1 P5 Head Coach -- and guess what? You have that guy in the job right now and he's under 40 and in just his 3rd year as a Head Coach. Is he proven that he can win Championships at MU? No. Has that ever been done in the modern era? No.