2:11 PM UPDATE: Reports are out that Barry Odom has been offered the Memphis head coaching job. This is not news to you guys. You've known for a week or so it would likely be his job to turn down. The question is, now that it's out, does he take it or does he wait and see what Missouri is going to do? Does he go to Mack Rhoades and say "It's time to make the call?" As we said this morning, it's expected and been reported that Odom is going to have another interview with Rhoades. That could happen as soon as this afternoon. But does the news of the Memphis offer change that?
By the way, I see that Memphis has a 4:30 press conference. I fully expect the AD to come out and say they have offered the job to no one and it has been open for only 24 hours, so they wouldn't even have had time to do so. Does that make it true? I don't know. But that's what I'd expect them to say.
*On the Missouri side, I have confirmed with another source that Mizzou admins are in Pennsylvania today meeting with Matt Rhule as we originally reported last night. A source told me they thought it was a late morning/early afternoon meeting, so it may already be over. We're going to be seeing if there is anything returning to Missouri from PA this afternoon, but honestly it will be tough because AD's know we can track flights and they do a lot of things to circumvent that.
Knowing that Mizzou is out talking to Rhule tells me he's their top guy right now. Nobody has told me that, but it makes sense. Do you go out there if he's not? I think he's the leader.
Now, this is all opinion on my part: Matt Rhule's name has been on the list since day one. It never made a ton of sense to me or people I talk to. He may be a great coach, but there's just no ties here whatsoever. But if they think he's the guy, go get him by all means.
The question to me is the timetable. People know you're talking to him. The news isn't going to stay quiet for a week. Now, a story can come out and everybody can deny it till next Sunday or Monday, but that's going to be tough. In addition, you're bringing in a guy with no ties to the area on December 8th and giving him less than two months to save/assemble a recruiting class. That's a tough sell.
Money won't be an issue. Temple pays him about 1.3 million. Even at the upper end, they maybe can get to 2.5. If Missouri wants Rhule, it will likely get him. If he's not the coach, it tells me he's not the top choice here, or that he just isn't comfortable moving out to the Midwest and could take an East coast opening (Syracuse, Maryland, Virginia).
Here's how I would currently rank things in order of likelihood:
1. Missouri hires Matt Rhule
2. Rhoades has somebody in his back pocket we don't know about, the last two days have been nothing but a giant elaborate diversion and they announce a surprise hire (I'd include Herman as a surprise because there is simply no information saying Mizzou has any sort of a shot with him).
3. Missouri hires Barry Odom
We'll keep you updated throughout the day. Things are not done I'm sure.
Okay, we're going to kind of start at the end and work backwards here. Here's where we stand as we wake up this morning (which is different than where we stood when we went to sleep last night):
Matt Campbell is the head coach at Iowa State:
Missouri, as first reported on this site last night, is interviewing Matt Rhule today. It is also expected to interview Barry Odom (again?) soon:
I have heard repeatedly in the last 24 hours that Missouri will have a coach in place this week some time...and perhaps as soon as Monday.
Okay, so that's where we are, but let's go through how we got here.
*On Friday, FootballScoop reported that Campbell and Odom were the top two candidates for the job. Early on Saturday, Sports Illustrated reported that Campbell was the leader at Iowa State and would finalize a deal with the Cyclones within 48 hours.
This report came out a couple hours after I began to get indications Campbell and Mack Rhoades were meeting on Saturday evening. Over the next few hours, that information didn't waver. I had a few people indicate to me (not confirmed, but it makes sense) that Campbell's camp leaked the Iowa State info to force Missouri to respond. In other words, Campbell had the ISU offer, but would certainly take a Missouri offer over that. If he meets with Rhoades and doesn't get that offer, he goes to Ames. That's what happened.
The cynical among you will say that's spin and will want to scream about how Iowa State beat Missouri for a head coach. I'm just telling you it didn't happen. About an hour before the Campbell to ISU news broke, I had two people tell me they were hearing Rhule would be Mizzou's choice. I don't have any verification of that at this point, but to me, it's pretty clear that Campbell was behind Rhule in the pecking order if he took the ISU job last night (either that or he wasn't a clear leader and didn't want to wait around and possibly lose the chance at that job as well).
I've seen some state that Campbell taking the ISU job means he didn't meet with Rhoades last night. It doesn't mean that at all. I stand by our report (FootballScoop reported the same) that Campbell and Rhoades were meeting last night. In fact, I think the fact he took the ISU job strengthens that. He wasn't going to take the Iowa State job without hearing what Mizzou had to say.
*As far as Rhule, here is his response when asked about his Sunday meeting with Mizzou after Temple's win on Saturday night over UCONN:
Hardly a denial. So I fully expect that meeting to take place.
*Which leaves where things stand with Barry Odom. He's met with Rhoades and others at Missouri this week. Was it a formal interview? I don't know, but certainly Mizzou knows where he stands and what his approach is. This is merely opinion, but it doesn't seem to me that momentum is headed in Odom's direction in this thing. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how it seems to me.
Odom will interview with Memphis this week. I don't know when at this point in time. I am fairly confident he wouldn't take the Memphis job before he knew where Missouri stands. But if he has a Memphis offer, it could be a way to accelerate the timetable on a decision. Similar to what Campbell did, Odom could tell Rhoades, "Listen, I've got this on the table, I need to know what you're going to do." As we've repeatedly reported (and others including the Memphis Commercial Appeal) are reporting as well, the Memphis job is Odom's if he wants it. So Mizzou is going to have to decide if it wants Odom or wants to let him walk. And the current feeling I have is they're willing to let him walk unless things change.
*Here's the interesting thing in where we stand (which, again, seems to be with Matt Rhule as a clear favorite right now): Temple plays in the AAC title game next Saturday. I can't imagine any scenario in which Rhule will be okay with being announced as Missouri's head coach days before his team plays a conference championship game. So does Mizzou want Rhule enough that it's willing to hold off until next Sunday or Monday on an announcement? And to give up that week on the recruiting trail (because if Rhule is the coach it's tough to imagine more than maybe one current assistant remaining on staff)? Sure, that's absolutely possible. I mean, if you think he's the guy today, why wouldn't you think he's the guy next Monday? But I do think the delayed timetable is at least a consideration. And I can't imagine if it is Rhule that it would be announced before that game.
*The one possibility we've not yet talked about is something I considered last night: What if these interviews are all a front for something we don't know about? It's possible. I mean, even if you know who you're hiring, you look at some other options along the way. It's just smart. So you do four or five interviews no matter what. Is there a chance that somewhere along the way (credit Rhoades, we still don't know exactly WHERE he interviewed Campbell) that he's meeting with someone else? Could he have met with someone else last week? Sure. Is there a wild card out there? I'm definitely not going to say it's impossible. I mean, I haven't had anyone say that they know Tom Herman has said no. I've had some indications this week that Missouri's search could go to Denver, which would tell me Troy Calhoun is in play (or, something I have no proof of but was suggested to me on Twitter that I kind of liked, what about former UGA coordinator and current Colorado State coach Mike Bobo?). So, yeah, there could be others involved. But as of today, it looks like Matt Rhule as a likely clear-cut leader with Barry Odom still in the mix if it doesn't work out.
*We'll update this post throughout the day as things unfold.
By the way, I see that Memphis has a 4:30 press conference. I fully expect the AD to come out and say they have offered the job to no one and it has been open for only 24 hours, so they wouldn't even have had time to do so. Does that make it true? I don't know. But that's what I'd expect them to say.
*On the Missouri side, I have confirmed with another source that Mizzou admins are in Pennsylvania today meeting with Matt Rhule as we originally reported last night. A source told me they thought it was a late morning/early afternoon meeting, so it may already be over. We're going to be seeing if there is anything returning to Missouri from PA this afternoon, but honestly it will be tough because AD's know we can track flights and they do a lot of things to circumvent that.
Knowing that Mizzou is out talking to Rhule tells me he's their top guy right now. Nobody has told me that, but it makes sense. Do you go out there if he's not? I think he's the leader.
Now, this is all opinion on my part: Matt Rhule's name has been on the list since day one. It never made a ton of sense to me or people I talk to. He may be a great coach, but there's just no ties here whatsoever. But if they think he's the guy, go get him by all means.
The question to me is the timetable. People know you're talking to him. The news isn't going to stay quiet for a week. Now, a story can come out and everybody can deny it till next Sunday or Monday, but that's going to be tough. In addition, you're bringing in a guy with no ties to the area on December 8th and giving him less than two months to save/assemble a recruiting class. That's a tough sell.
Money won't be an issue. Temple pays him about 1.3 million. Even at the upper end, they maybe can get to 2.5. If Missouri wants Rhule, it will likely get him. If he's not the coach, it tells me he's not the top choice here, or that he just isn't comfortable moving out to the Midwest and could take an East coast opening (Syracuse, Maryland, Virginia).
Here's how I would currently rank things in order of likelihood:
1. Missouri hires Matt Rhule
2. Rhoades has somebody in his back pocket we don't know about, the last two days have been nothing but a giant elaborate diversion and they announce a surprise hire (I'd include Herman as a surprise because there is simply no information saying Mizzou has any sort of a shot with him).
3. Missouri hires Barry Odom
We'll keep you updated throughout the day. Things are not done I'm sure.
Okay, we're going to kind of start at the end and work backwards here. Here's where we stand as we wake up this morning (which is different than where we stood when we went to sleep last night):
Matt Campbell is the head coach at Iowa State:
Missouri, as first reported on this site last night, is interviewing Matt Rhule today. It is also expected to interview Barry Odom (again?) soon:
I have heard repeatedly in the last 24 hours that Missouri will have a coach in place this week some time...and perhaps as soon as Monday.
Okay, so that's where we are, but let's go through how we got here.
*On Friday, FootballScoop reported that Campbell and Odom were the top two candidates for the job. Early on Saturday, Sports Illustrated reported that Campbell was the leader at Iowa State and would finalize a deal with the Cyclones within 48 hours.
This report came out a couple hours after I began to get indications Campbell and Mack Rhoades were meeting on Saturday evening. Over the next few hours, that information didn't waver. I had a few people indicate to me (not confirmed, but it makes sense) that Campbell's camp leaked the Iowa State info to force Missouri to respond. In other words, Campbell had the ISU offer, but would certainly take a Missouri offer over that. If he meets with Rhoades and doesn't get that offer, he goes to Ames. That's what happened.
The cynical among you will say that's spin and will want to scream about how Iowa State beat Missouri for a head coach. I'm just telling you it didn't happen. About an hour before the Campbell to ISU news broke, I had two people tell me they were hearing Rhule would be Mizzou's choice. I don't have any verification of that at this point, but to me, it's pretty clear that Campbell was behind Rhule in the pecking order if he took the ISU job last night (either that or he wasn't a clear leader and didn't want to wait around and possibly lose the chance at that job as well).
I've seen some state that Campbell taking the ISU job means he didn't meet with Rhoades last night. It doesn't mean that at all. I stand by our report (FootballScoop reported the same) that Campbell and Rhoades were meeting last night. In fact, I think the fact he took the ISU job strengthens that. He wasn't going to take the Iowa State job without hearing what Mizzou had to say.
*As far as Rhule, here is his response when asked about his Sunday meeting with Mizzou after Temple's win on Saturday night over UCONN:
Hardly a denial. So I fully expect that meeting to take place.
*Which leaves where things stand with Barry Odom. He's met with Rhoades and others at Missouri this week. Was it a formal interview? I don't know, but certainly Mizzou knows where he stands and what his approach is. This is merely opinion, but it doesn't seem to me that momentum is headed in Odom's direction in this thing. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how it seems to me.
Odom will interview with Memphis this week. I don't know when at this point in time. I am fairly confident he wouldn't take the Memphis job before he knew where Missouri stands. But if he has a Memphis offer, it could be a way to accelerate the timetable on a decision. Similar to what Campbell did, Odom could tell Rhoades, "Listen, I've got this on the table, I need to know what you're going to do." As we've repeatedly reported (and others including the Memphis Commercial Appeal) are reporting as well, the Memphis job is Odom's if he wants it. So Mizzou is going to have to decide if it wants Odom or wants to let him walk. And the current feeling I have is they're willing to let him walk unless things change.
*Here's the interesting thing in where we stand (which, again, seems to be with Matt Rhule as a clear favorite right now): Temple plays in the AAC title game next Saturday. I can't imagine any scenario in which Rhule will be okay with being announced as Missouri's head coach days before his team plays a conference championship game. So does Mizzou want Rhule enough that it's willing to hold off until next Sunday or Monday on an announcement? And to give up that week on the recruiting trail (because if Rhule is the coach it's tough to imagine more than maybe one current assistant remaining on staff)? Sure, that's absolutely possible. I mean, if you think he's the guy today, why wouldn't you think he's the guy next Monday? But I do think the delayed timetable is at least a consideration. And I can't imagine if it is Rhule that it would be announced before that game.
*The one possibility we've not yet talked about is something I considered last night: What if these interviews are all a front for something we don't know about? It's possible. I mean, even if you know who you're hiring, you look at some other options along the way. It's just smart. So you do four or five interviews no matter what. Is there a chance that somewhere along the way (credit Rhoades, we still don't know exactly WHERE he interviewed Campbell) that he's meeting with someone else? Could he have met with someone else last week? Sure. Is there a wild card out there? I'm definitely not going to say it's impossible. I mean, I haven't had anyone say that they know Tom Herman has said no. I've had some indications this week that Missouri's search could go to Denver, which would tell me Troy Calhoun is in play (or, something I have no proof of but was suggested to me on Twitter that I kind of liked, what about former UGA coordinator and current Colorado State coach Mike Bobo?). So, yeah, there could be others involved. But as of today, it looks like Matt Rhule as a likely clear-cut leader with Barry Odom still in the mix if it doesn't work out.
*We'll update this post throughout the day as things unfold.
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