Brian Odom - Inside Linebackers - Football Coaches

Brian Odom

Title:
Inside Linebackers

• An Oklahoma native and member of the Sooners’ 2000 national championship team, Odom joined the Oklahoma staff in January 2019 as inside linebackers coach.

• In his two years in Norman, has helped OU make major improvements in total defense (453.8 ypg in year before his arrival to 350.6 in 2020), scoring defense (33.3 ppg to 21.7), opponent yards per play (6.1 to 5.2), rushing defense (159.8 ypg to 105.1), interceptions (6 to 16), sacks per game (2.1 to 3.4) and pass efficiency defense rating (151.9 to 112.9).

• Coached first-team All-Big 12 selection, AP second-team All-American and first-round NFL Draft pick Kenneth Murray in 2019 as the Sooners improved dramatically in overall defense from 2018. OU jumped from 114th in total defense in 2018 (453.8 ypg) to 38th in 2019 (356.4 ypg).

• Spent the 2017 and ’18 seasons at Missouri as the Tigers’ outside linebackers coach. Odom’s linebackers played a big role in the Tigers’ defensive improvement in 2018 that helped pave the way to an eight-win season and a berth in the Liberty Bowl.

• Helped the Missouri defense make huge strides from 2017 in a handful of statistical categories. Mizzou jumped from 58th nationally in rushing defense in 2017 (159.6 ypg) to 22nd in 2018 (122.9), from 97th in scoring defense (31.8 ppg) to 43rd (24.4), and from 82nd in total defense (414.1 ypg) to 54th (379.0).

• Under Odom’s guidance, senior linebacker Terez Hall had 69 tackles and led the team with a career-high 5.0 quarterback sacks in a season where his impact on ball games went well above the stats he produced. Fellow senior linebacker Brandon Lee also was a key contributor, ranking fourth on the team with 40 tackles despite missing time with an elbow injury.

• Odom’s influence in 2017 was also important as Hall and Brandon Lee both turned in career years. Hall finished second on the team with 85 tackles and with his 12.5 tackles for loss (ranked eighth in the SEC). Lee established himself as a starter and big-play contributor, logging 42 tackles, four pass breakups and two quarterback pressures, while also notching his first career interception at Vanderbilt which he returned 42 yards for a touchdown to key a 45-17 win that clinched bowl eligibility.

• Served as defensive quality control assistant at Washington State for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He was instrumental in WSU’s defensive turnaround, working under defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, who assumed the same title at OU in January 2019.

• Joined Grinch’s Washington State defensive staff prior to the 2015 season, a year after the Cougars went just 3-9 overall and ranked 97th or worse out of 124 FBS schools in six different major statistical categories. In the short span of two seasons, the WSU defense went from last in the NCAA in 2014 in turnovers gained (eight) to 34th in 2015 (24) and 38th in 2016 (23). It also went from allowing 38.6 points per game in 2014 (ranking 114th in the NCAA) to allowing 26.4 points in 2016 (ranking 50th). Despite winning just three games in 2014, the Cougars strung together 9-4 and 8-5 seasons in 2015 and 2016, respectively, while playing in bowl games in consecutive seasons (2015 Sun Bowl, 2016 Holiday Bowl) for only the third time in school history.

• Odom spent three years (2012-14) running the football strength and conditioning program at Houston.

• Also spent seven years (2005-11) working with the football performance program at Arizona (2005-11). Additionally, for five seasons (2006-10), he assisted UA’s football operations director by coordinating advance travel arrangements for all away games.

• Began his career in athletics as an administrative and defensive graduate assistant on Gary Pinkel’s 2005 Missouri staff.

Accomplishments as a Player

• An all-state prep running back in his hometown of Ada, Okla., Odom was named the Tulsa World Oklahoma High School Player of the Year in 1999.

• Attended OU for two years and was a redshirt on OU’s 2000 national championship team that went 13-0 and beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl. That same year, he won the team’s Iron Man Award for his performance in the weight room.

• Lettered for the Sooners in 2001 on special teams.

• Transferred to Southeastern Oklahoma State where he was a three-year starter at tailback (2002-04), earning first-team Lone Star All-Conference honors as a senior in 2004.