Barry, You’re a Rich Man

♪Barry, you’re a rich man

Barry, you’re a rich man

Barry, you’re a rich man too

You keep all your money in a big brown bag

Inside the ‘Zou, what a thing to do!♪

(Sorry, I was typing up the header, and I couldn’t resist.)

It’s true, Barry Odom is a rich(er) man. Yesterday, the University of Missouri’s board of curators approved a new contract for the man fresh off leading Missouri to an 8-win season and landing the most coveted grad transfer of the 2018 season.

The new deal will move Odom’s salary [$3.05 million per year] from last in the Southeastern Conference to 11th in the 14-team league, pending other contractual changes around the league... Starting with the 2019 season, for every year the Tigers win nine games, Odom’s contract is extended one more year. Also starting next season, every year the Tigers qualify for a bowl game, Odom’s guaranteed salary increases $150,000.

I personally had thought the contract would be in the neighborhood of $3.5 million, but it seems as if the included stipulations were enough for Odom to feel secure in his position. The 9-win clause is especially interesting since Missouri will be in position to win 9 games as soon as (checks news from the past few days) next year!

Odom didn’t take much time to celebrate, though. Just hours after the announcement, he was conducting an in-home visit.

Congratulations on the new contract, coach! Here’s to many more extensions and salary raises in the future!

Reminder: Kelly Bryant is coming to Missouri

Missouri doesn’t get this kind of good recruiting news too often, so it feels like an ample opportunity to remind y’all that Kelly Bryant committed to Missouri!

The news is big enough that it generated lots of #content in its second day (spoiler: it’ll probably be in the news cycle at least for a week.) As usual, Gabe DeArmond’s thoughts are worth exploring.

Missouri is never going to recruit with the SEC’s big boys. Not by the numbers or the rankings... Bryant has been the biggest free agent on the market for nearly three months now. The fact he chose Missouri will be headline news in Columbia, Fayetteville, Starkville and Auburn.

Alex Schiffer wins the award for, “Earliest 2019 Position Previews,” after he previewed the entire offense after the commitments of Bryant and Johnathan Nance. Reading all the names on that list is enough to get Tiger diehards salivating. The book hasn’t even closed on Missouri football’s 2018, and it seems like 2019 can’t come soon enough.

Other football notes

• Sean Williams covered Missouri’s recruit and player reactions to the Kelly Bryant news.
• Ben Frederickson also covered what the Bryant commitment means for Missouri football, including how it could affect future recruiting.

Yesterday at Rock M

• Study Hall: Mizzou 65, UT-Arlington 45
• Barry Odom gets his payday

More Links:

• Dave Matter broke down Missouri basketball’s win over UT Arlington and why the three is factoring heavily into the Tigers’ success.
• Cameron Teague Robinson wrote about the Bracey siblings, who coach together on Robin Pingeton’s staff. It’s a really good story, and you should read it.
• Kameron Misner is high on a lot of lists for next year’s MLB Draft. The program is still trying to find its footing in the SEC, but they’re certainly cranking out a fair share of great players.

• STUDENTS. If you want to go to the Liberty Bowl for free, get on that right now! I went to the Cotton Bowl when I was at Mizzou, and it’s one of my fondest sporting memories ever. I can’t guarantee the game will be as good this time, but you’ll never know if you’re not there. (Also, if you want to be nice and buy a ticket for a student, that’s an option too.)