The University of Missouri dismissed football coach Barry Odom after four seasons, the school said on Saturday. "This was a tough decision to make, but it was necessary," said Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk in a statement. The Tigers recently finished a 6-6 season with a win against Arkansas yesterday. They were expected to be among the best teams in the Big 12 this year.
Odom's salary was $1 million per year. He had a 20-32 record at Mizzou.
Barry Odom was hired by Mike Anderson before the 2005 season. He replaced Dave Logan who was fired after one season at Mizzou. Anderson went 11-21 during his two years at Mizzou and left for East Carolina where he is now the head coach.
Before coming to Missouri, Odom was the offensive coordinator at Miami (OH). He was also the quarterbacks coach for the Hurricanes from 2001-03. In 2004, his only season as the team's head coach, he led them to an 8-4 record. Before that, he served as the passing game coordinator and receivers coach for the Buffalo Bills from 1997-2001. He joined the staff as a graduate assistant in 1995.
Odom was born on December 4, 1965 in Charleston, South Carolina. He graduated from New Boston High School in 1983 and then attended Duke for two years before dropping out to play quarterback for Clemson.
O'Brien, Bill Bill O'Brien was dismissed by the Houston Texans on Monday, making him only the third coach in the last decade to be sacked before Week 5. John Fox was fired by the Chicago Bears earlier this year after they lost their first four games.
The other two coaches who were let go before their fifth game were Jim Mora of the Seattle Seahawks and Gary Kubiak of the Denver Broncos. Mora was dismissed after a 28-24 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and Kubiak was shown the door following a 26-21 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It's been an ugly start to the season for both teams with Houston losing its first four games and Denver failing to win any of its opening outings. The Texans are 1-3 while the Broncos are 0-4.
In addition to being sacked, O'Brien has also been fined $200,000 by the team for publicly criticizing his superiors. He was quoted as saying that he is "not going to put up with" certain practices such as using Jake Matthews as a defensive tackle or playing Braxton Miller at quarterback.
A.J Robinson, the beleaguered former Gophers wrestling head coach for the last 30 years, was dismissed Wednesday after a University of Minnesota inquiry found flaws in his treatment of an alleged prescription drug problem among more than a dozen student-athletes on his team. The investigation was conducted as part of a larger review of Robinson's handling of allegations of academic misconduct by former athletes during his tenure at the school.
Robinson, who has been accused of mishandling dozens of cases of student abuse while at the university, was placed on administrative leave without pay on Feb. 6. At that time, athletic director Norby Savage announced that he had appointed former president Eric Kaler to lead an independent review of Robinson's actions. The findings of that review were made public today.
"After careful consideration and evaluation of all the information presented to us, we believe this is the right decision for the program at this time," said Savage in a statement. "We look forward to seeing A.J. continue his career in some other capacity."
Robinson, who has coached the Gophers to eight NCAA tournaments over two decades, was hired by the school in 1989. He has a 220-150 record at the UMN and is one of only three coaches in Gopher history to reach 100 wins. However, he also ranks first in losses (230) among current coaches.
Herman was sacked by the school on Saturday, capping off a run of four consecutive winning seasons punctuated by what-was-that moments from the head coach himself. Herman had a 32-18 record at UT but did not win the Big 12 championship. He moved on to Georgia where he will be paid $750,000 a year.
He replaced Mack Brown who left for Texas after winning 100 games in nine years. The Longhorns went 8-4 this season and missed out on a bowl game for just the second time under Herman's leadership. He also lost his job at Houston when former Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy was hired away last month. Gundy will be paid $6 million over five years.
Herman came into college football with no experience but had an impressive run at Florida while he was there as well as at Houston. He has had three seasons without a losing record and is one victory away from 500 career wins. He is expected to become the highest-paid coach in Georgia history when his contract is up in 2021.
In other news, Florida State president John Thrasher has resigned after being accused of sexual harassment. A statement released by the university said that interim president Jim Davis will lead the search for Thrasher's replacement.
Thrasher has denied all allegations against him and says he plans to fight them.
Kansas dismissed football coach Les Miles after the public learned of a 2013 investigation into complaints of inappropriate behavior by Miles while at LSU. Jeff Long, the athletic director who hired Miles to coach the Jayhawks, has also resigned.
In November, it was reported that three women had accused Miles of sexual harassment while he was the head coach at LSU. One woman claimed that he grabbed her buttocks during a meeting in 2003 when she was an assistant on his staff. Another said that he made sexually suggestive comments to her over the phone and once sent her a text message with a photo of himself naked from the waist up. The third woman said that he pushed her against a wall and kissed her without consent during an incident in 2009.
Miles denied all allegations of misconduct and says he's not guilty of any crime. He told ESPN's Andy Katz that he plans to "defend my reputation vigorously" and will do so "with facts."
In December, it was announced that Oklahoma City University president David Boren has signed a contract to hire Kansas' former offensive coordinator for the Jayhawks. Mark Mangino was expected to be offered the position before he was fired by Big XII Conference members Texas A&M in 1999 after compiling a 16-30 record over two seasons. However, he was arrested on charges of driving under the influence several months later and was forced to resign.
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