FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas plans for defensive coordinator Barry Odom to serve as interim head coach for the Razorbacks' scheduled game at No. 6 Florida on Saturday.
Odom would be Arkansas' fourth interim to coach a game since the Razorbacks joined the SEC. Joe Kines coached 10 games in 1992, Reggie Herring coached the Cotton Bowl at the conclusion of the 2007 season and Barry Lunney Jr. coached two games last season.
John L. Smith coached Arkansas for seven months leading up to and during the 2012 season, but was not classified as an interim at the time. Taver Johnson served as the Razorbacks' interim coach for a two-week period following the firing of Bobby Petrino and the hiring of Smith in the spring of that year.
Excluding Smith, Odom differs from Arkansas' past fill-in coaches because he has past head coaching experience. He was 25-25 in four seasons at Missouri, where he went 2-2 in games against Florida.
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said Wednesday one of the reasons he hired Odom last December was because of his background as a head coach. Pittman is quarantined this week and will not travel to Florida because of two positive tests for covid-19.
"It’s going to be an easy transition for us because (Odom) has been there," Pittman said. "He's played Florida."
In 2018, Odom recorded arguably his biggest win as the Tigers' head coach with a 38-17 victory over then-No. 13 Florida on the road. Florida defeated his Missouri team 23-6 last season.
“I have a lot of respect for Barry,” Florida coach Dan Mullen said Wednesday. “I think he’s a great coach. He did a great job as a head coach as well.”
Mullen said he thinks Odom will be able to communicate with Arkansas’ players and continue the “message” from Pittman.
“Having been a head coach before, he has the experience to do that,” Mullen said of Odom. “It’s not like this is his first time to ever act as a head coach on the sideline….He’s going to be experienced enough to handle the situation.”
Pittman said he will speak to the team Friday via Zoom, then let Odom be in charge on game day. Pittman said Odom will move from the press box to the sideline for the game, and the Razorbacks have requested for defensive quality control coach Michael Scherer to be designated as a 10th assistant coach for the game.
"We’ve got a great group of coaches," Pittman said. "I don’t want to make a mountain of a molehill. I talk to them every day. The pregame speech, Barry will do a hell of a job with it."
Arkansas has a 3-9-1 record in games coached by interim coaches Kines, Herring and Lunney.
Odom has been there for two of those games, including the most recent one last November when Odom's Missouri team defeated the Razorbacks 24-14 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Odom was fired by Missouri the following day and hired as Arkansas' defensive coordinator less than three weeks later.
Odom was also on the field for the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day 2008 when Missouri defeated Arkansas 38-7 in the game coached by Herring. Odom was the Tigers' director of football operations at the time.