FOOTBALL RECRUITING
Woody Wommack caught up with Kelly Bryant this week (https://n.rivals.com/news/grad-transfer-qb-kelly-bryant-recaps-visit-to-missouri-auburn). The competition for Bryant is stiff, but Missouri feels good about its chances. The Tigers made up a lot of ground and effectively sold the opportunity that exists on campus for a grad transfer. Arkansas sources still seem very confident, though one person we talked to after the Missouri visit told us he doesn't think Bryant goes to Arkansas. Auburn, North Carolina and Mississippi State all got visits and Bryant is holding one move OV in reserve.
It's tough to forecast this one right now, but Missouri feels very good about where it's at. Obviously a lot could ride on the coaching situation. If Barry Odom and Derek Dooley aren't here, the ship will sail with Bryant. If they are, the Tigers have a good shot...something we wouldn't have thought when he first announced his transfer.
The other grad transfer, Jonathan Nance, seems much more likely to head to Mizzou. Honestly, we thought it might happen this week. We haven't seen anything on other visits for Nance and he's had his eye on Missouri almost since the minute he decided to transfer. We'd think he ends up a Tiger based on what we're hearing.
- Mizzou recently extended an offer to current Pitt DE/OLB commit Brandon Mack a few days ago and we've been told the coaching staff is trying to get him on campus for an official visit. Mack committed to Pitt back in June after taking an official visit there. After a knee injury ended his junior season early, he is seeing his recruiting process picking up a bit during his senior season. Nebraska is another school that just recently entered the fold. For now, Mack doesn't have any visits scheduled.
- A lot of people have asked about the interest level with Missouri and Chester Graves. The answer has always been no. However, it appears that has changed and the Tigers are expressing interest in the highly-touted JUCO and former Park Hill product. Graves doesn't do many interviews and when he does, he doesn't really talk about recruiting and doesn't really seem to care about it while his season is going on. Missouri hasn't extended an offer to Graves yet, but it wouldn't surprise us to see one extended at some point.
- Earlier this week, Okpala tweeted that he is planning to announce his commitment this week. We've talked to a few sources and it appears to be down to either Illinois or Missouri here. He's been to both schools multiple times so there is a lot of familiarity with each program. The St. Louis product has always kept things close to the vest during his recruiting process so it's tough to get any insight on where he is possibly leaning. Consider this a toss up.
No let's talk about the elephant in the room. What is Odom's future?
Let's start with this: Nobody really knows what Jim Sterk is thinking. While that's always the case with athletic directors, it's more true with Sterk than others I've dealt with. Even if they weren't talking directly to us, there were people who they entrusted with information and you could get a feel for the way things were leaning if you knew the right people. That doesn't really seem to be the case with Sterk. We don't know people in the inner circle because as far as we can tell, the inner circle doesn't really exist. Even people in the athletic department don't really know Sterk or what he's thinking from what we've been told. So it makes things tough to forecast.
One thing seems clear: If Missouri gets to seven wins, Odom is safe. That is the opinion of just about everyone we have talked to. The question marks start at 6-6. Opinions vary on that. We've talked to people who we generally trust to have a pulse on the situation...and gotten both answers. Some have told us at 6-6 they believe Missouri will move on. Others say they're confident Sterk knows Missouri's limitations and thinks Odom is the right guy for the future even if he drops a couple more.
One other thing to think about here: It shouldn't make fans feel any better, but if I'm Odom, when the year end review comes up, if Sterk wants to let me go at 5-7 or 6-6, my first question is "Would you want to keep me if we'd won one more game? Because we were ahead of Kentucky 14-9 with no time left on the clock before a flag that at best was incredibly questionable and at worst was an outright miscarriage of justice."
That's why it doesn't come down to a win total. It comes down to what Sterk believes. And, as we said above, nobody can say for sure what Sterk believes. We are confident he will be prepared if he deems it necessary to move on, but it's not a decision that has been made in any way at this point in time.
The staff is certainly continuing to recruit, but there hasn't been a whole lot of movement in the last week or two. We'd expect perhaps a few official visitors for Vandy, but honestly, the crowd isn't going to be great and it's an 11 am game, so that may be a weekend Mizzou sits out on officials and tries to bring kids in after the season. We'll certainly keep you posted on any official visits.
Woody Wommack caught up with Kelly Bryant this week (https://n.rivals.com/news/grad-transfer-qb-kelly-bryant-recaps-visit-to-missouri-auburn). The competition for Bryant is stiff, but Missouri feels good about its chances. The Tigers made up a lot of ground and effectively sold the opportunity that exists on campus for a grad transfer. Arkansas sources still seem very confident, though one person we talked to after the Missouri visit told us he doesn't think Bryant goes to Arkansas. Auburn, North Carolina and Mississippi State all got visits and Bryant is holding one move OV in reserve.
It's tough to forecast this one right now, but Missouri feels very good about where it's at. Obviously a lot could ride on the coaching situation. If Barry Odom and Derek Dooley aren't here, the ship will sail with Bryant. If they are, the Tigers have a good shot...something we wouldn't have thought when he first announced his transfer.
The other grad transfer, Jonathan Nance, seems much more likely to head to Mizzou. Honestly, we thought it might happen this week. We haven't seen anything on other visits for Nance and he's had his eye on Missouri almost since the minute he decided to transfer. We'd think he ends up a Tiger based on what we're hearing.
- Mizzou recently extended an offer to current Pitt DE/OLB commit Brandon Mack a few days ago and we've been told the coaching staff is trying to get him on campus for an official visit. Mack committed to Pitt back in June after taking an official visit there. After a knee injury ended his junior season early, he is seeing his recruiting process picking up a bit during his senior season. Nebraska is another school that just recently entered the fold. For now, Mack doesn't have any visits scheduled.
- A lot of people have asked about the interest level with Missouri and Chester Graves. The answer has always been no. However, it appears that has changed and the Tigers are expressing interest in the highly-touted JUCO and former Park Hill product. Graves doesn't do many interviews and when he does, he doesn't really talk about recruiting and doesn't really seem to care about it while his season is going on. Missouri hasn't extended an offer to Graves yet, but it wouldn't surprise us to see one extended at some point.
- Earlier this week, Okpala tweeted that he is planning to announce his commitment this week. We've talked to a few sources and it appears to be down to either Illinois or Missouri here. He's been to both schools multiple times so there is a lot of familiarity with each program. The St. Louis product has always kept things close to the vest during his recruiting process so it's tough to get any insight on where he is possibly leaning. Consider this a toss up.
No let's talk about the elephant in the room. What is Odom's future?
Let's start with this: Nobody really knows what Jim Sterk is thinking. While that's always the case with athletic directors, it's more true with Sterk than others I've dealt with. Even if they weren't talking directly to us, there were people who they entrusted with information and you could get a feel for the way things were leaning if you knew the right people. That doesn't really seem to be the case with Sterk. We don't know people in the inner circle because as far as we can tell, the inner circle doesn't really exist. Even people in the athletic department don't really know Sterk or what he's thinking from what we've been told. So it makes things tough to forecast.
One thing seems clear: If Missouri gets to seven wins, Odom is safe. That is the opinion of just about everyone we have talked to. The question marks start at 6-6. Opinions vary on that. We've talked to people who we generally trust to have a pulse on the situation...and gotten both answers. Some have told us at 6-6 they believe Missouri will move on. Others say they're confident Sterk knows Missouri's limitations and thinks Odom is the right guy for the future even if he drops a couple more.
One other thing to think about here: It shouldn't make fans feel any better, but if I'm Odom, when the year end review comes up, if Sterk wants to let me go at 5-7 or 6-6, my first question is "Would you want to keep me if we'd won one more game? Because we were ahead of Kentucky 14-9 with no time left on the clock before a flag that at best was incredibly questionable and at worst was an outright miscarriage of justice."
That's why it doesn't come down to a win total. It comes down to what Sterk believes. And, as we said above, nobody can say for sure what Sterk believes. We are confident he will be prepared if he deems it necessary to move on, but it's not a decision that has been made in any way at this point in time.
The staff is certainly continuing to recruit, but there hasn't been a whole lot of movement in the last week or two. We'd expect perhaps a few official visitors for Vandy, but honestly, the crowd isn't going to be great and it's an 11 am game, so that may be a weekend Mizzou sits out on officials and tries to bring kids in after the season. We'll certainly keep you posted on any official visits.
