Video and my story are on the front. Brian's working on photos. Grade card and 3-2-1 will be tomorrow.
The story is obviously Barry Odom's post-game. Call it a tirade, a rant, a message, whatever you want to. But that's the story. And to some degree, I think that's how Odom wanted it. We're all talking about that, so nobody's really talking about a third straight blowout loss in which the Tigers looked uncompetitive for the vast majority of the night. This is not a new tactic. Coaches do it all the time. Put the focus on me so you don't focus on my players not playing well.
It was more than that too. First of all, Odom is clearly a guy who knows what is said, written, posted, etc. Gary Pinkel wasn't. I truly believe Pinkel when he said he didn't read that stuff. I'm not sure Gary ever read a word I wrote while he was coaching. He even wrote in his book that he had no idea some of the stuff that was out there and how much people talked and wrote about the team until he retired. Odom is different. That's not to say better or worse, just different. He knows what's out there and he knows the pulse of the fanbase.
This was a message to the fans: We know what we're doing.
It was a message to the media: We know what we're doing.
It was a message to his players: I've got your back. Stick with me.
And it was a message to his boss: This isn't gonna happen overnight. If you give me time, I'll get it done. Don't be reactionary and cut me off before I have a chance.
You don't have to like any of that. I know you won't. As I've said many times, losing coaches can't say anything fans will like. If you want Odom gone, you will see that press conference as more proof it has to happen immediately. If you don't, you'll love the passion and say you know he'll get it turned around.
The only thing I'll say about it really is this: I thought his answer to my question was genuine and important. "I'm tired of not being me. This is me." And he's right. I've known Barry a long time. He's got a ton of intensity and a ton of passion. Nobody is more pissed off than he is about this. I don't say that for you to feel sorry for him or anything, it's his job, but just to let you know, the guy that talked tonight, that's him. I've seen a lot of talk that maybe the guys like him too much, maybe he's too soft, etc. That's not it. Dude is INTENSE. And that was him tonight. I heard Pinkel say a few times he got better when he quit trying to be Don James and started trying to be Gary Pinkel. Maybe Odom's been trying to be what he thought a head coach was supposed to be instead of just being himself, which is what put him in position to be here to begin with. If that's true, I'd say it's a positive. Again, I'm not saying this fixes anything. It doesn't fix any more than a players only meeting fixes. Ultimately, only playing better fixes anything.
I haven't read much on the board, but I would imagine the big debate is "Is this really a total rebuild?" And I'm not sure on that. Was it a rebuild to some extent? Yes. They were 5-7 in Pinkel's last year and the locker room was a train wreck. And so was the whole University. I REALLY don't want to dredge it all up again and turn this thread into a discussion about it, but it's true. And there were major issues off the field on this team when he took over. One person told me there were probably 15 guys who simply aren't good enough to be on the field in the SEC at the start of last year. Another told me there were probably 15-20 that were just bad presences in the locker room. Those numbers are lower this year. But they aren't zero.
The message Odom HAS to sell is this: We took over a bad situation. We know what it takes to win here. I know what it takes to win here. But you have to give me time.
But to do that, he's got to be good enough to get to that next step. The AD didn't hire him. And if he sees four wins then two wins, including multiple blowouts against average teams (Auburn is good, Purdue is okay), then I don't know that he'll get that time. My thought all along was that they just have to be good enough to earn him that chance to show if he can win big here. They don't have to win ten. I don't even think they have to win six. But they have to win some. I think tonight was Odom getting out in front of that and trying to make it about something other than the final score or the final win/loss count.
Will it work? A lot of it depends in part on the next eight weeks. Beat UCONN and Idaho for sure. Find a couple in the SEC. Then he'll get year three and we'll see if he's right. Don't do that and I truly don't know.
The story is obviously Barry Odom's post-game. Call it a tirade, a rant, a message, whatever you want to. But that's the story. And to some degree, I think that's how Odom wanted it. We're all talking about that, so nobody's really talking about a third straight blowout loss in which the Tigers looked uncompetitive for the vast majority of the night. This is not a new tactic. Coaches do it all the time. Put the focus on me so you don't focus on my players not playing well.
It was more than that too. First of all, Odom is clearly a guy who knows what is said, written, posted, etc. Gary Pinkel wasn't. I truly believe Pinkel when he said he didn't read that stuff. I'm not sure Gary ever read a word I wrote while he was coaching. He even wrote in his book that he had no idea some of the stuff that was out there and how much people talked and wrote about the team until he retired. Odom is different. That's not to say better or worse, just different. He knows what's out there and he knows the pulse of the fanbase.
This was a message to the fans: We know what we're doing.
It was a message to the media: We know what we're doing.
It was a message to his players: I've got your back. Stick with me.
And it was a message to his boss: This isn't gonna happen overnight. If you give me time, I'll get it done. Don't be reactionary and cut me off before I have a chance.
You don't have to like any of that. I know you won't. As I've said many times, losing coaches can't say anything fans will like. If you want Odom gone, you will see that press conference as more proof it has to happen immediately. If you don't, you'll love the passion and say you know he'll get it turned around.
The only thing I'll say about it really is this: I thought his answer to my question was genuine and important. "I'm tired of not being me. This is me." And he's right. I've known Barry a long time. He's got a ton of intensity and a ton of passion. Nobody is more pissed off than he is about this. I don't say that for you to feel sorry for him or anything, it's his job, but just to let you know, the guy that talked tonight, that's him. I've seen a lot of talk that maybe the guys like him too much, maybe he's too soft, etc. That's not it. Dude is INTENSE. And that was him tonight. I heard Pinkel say a few times he got better when he quit trying to be Don James and started trying to be Gary Pinkel. Maybe Odom's been trying to be what he thought a head coach was supposed to be instead of just being himself, which is what put him in position to be here to begin with. If that's true, I'd say it's a positive. Again, I'm not saying this fixes anything. It doesn't fix any more than a players only meeting fixes. Ultimately, only playing better fixes anything.
I haven't read much on the board, but I would imagine the big debate is "Is this really a total rebuild?" And I'm not sure on that. Was it a rebuild to some extent? Yes. They were 5-7 in Pinkel's last year and the locker room was a train wreck. And so was the whole University. I REALLY don't want to dredge it all up again and turn this thread into a discussion about it, but it's true. And there were major issues off the field on this team when he took over. One person told me there were probably 15 guys who simply aren't good enough to be on the field in the SEC at the start of last year. Another told me there were probably 15-20 that were just bad presences in the locker room. Those numbers are lower this year. But they aren't zero.
The message Odom HAS to sell is this: We took over a bad situation. We know what it takes to win here. I know what it takes to win here. But you have to give me time.
But to do that, he's got to be good enough to get to that next step. The AD didn't hire him. And if he sees four wins then two wins, including multiple blowouts against average teams (Auburn is good, Purdue is okay), then I don't know that he'll get that time. My thought all along was that they just have to be good enough to earn him that chance to show if he can win big here. They don't have to win ten. I don't even think they have to win six. But they have to win some. I think tonight was Odom getting out in front of that and trying to make it about something other than the final score or the final win/loss count.
Will it work? A lot of it depends in part on the next eight weeks. Beat UCONN and Idaho for sure. Find a couple in the SEC. Then he'll get year three and we'll see if he's right. Don't do that and I truly don't know.
