Odom hires Hargreaves as inside linebackers coach

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Barry Odom's transition from a linebackers coach to a head coach is finally complete, and he turned to someone with family ties to finalize it.

Missouri announced Thursday afternoon it had hired Vernon Hargreaves as inside linebackers coach. Details of his contract have not yet been finalized, and as such have not been released, but Hargreaves earned $300,000 per year in his final two years at Arkansas, where he previously coached inside linebackers.

"I've known Vernon for a number of years and have always respected the way his position plays the game," head coach Barry Odom said in a press release. "He will be a great teacher and mentor for our student-athletes. His experience will be so valuable for our program; I'm excited about Vernon and his family joining our Mizzou family."

Hargreaves and Brian Odom, Missouri's outside linebackers coach, worked together at Houston in 2013-14 and coached against Barry Odom at Memphis.

"I worked with Brian at Houston, and Barry was the defensive coordinator at Memphis when we were there, and he did a great job at Memphis, that's where our relationship started," Hargreaves said in the release. "Having the opportunity to work with him and the defenses that he's been associated with is very exciting, and then of course the familiarity I have with Brian, and then also Brick Haley, who I've known over the years is important to me.

"I'll tell you this too, Ryan Walters (recently promoted to defensive coordinator) is a superstar, he's going to be a big-time college football coach. To be around all of those guys, hopefully to help and to learn and continue to build that defense, it will be a great experience. They've got a lot of young guys who I believe are going to be really good players, and I'm looking forward to being part of it all."

Hargreaves is a veteran linebackers position coach, beginning in the mid-1980s at Connecticut after completing his collegiate career as a UConn linebacker in 1983. He was a two-time All-American with the Huskies and coached linebackers there for more than a decade before taking the same position at Miami (Fla.) in 1998, and was on staff for that dynastic team that won national titles after the 2001 and 2002 seasons.

He then coached linebackers for a year at Florida International before jumping to East Carolina to be the Pirates' defensive ends and special teams coordinator from 2007-09. He took that same job at South Florida from 2010-12, and coached linebackers at Houston in Tony Levine's last two years as head coach.

Hargreaves, 55, coached all linebackers at Arkansas during the 2015 and 2016 seasons and was the Razorbacks' inside linebackers coach this past season. His son, Vernon Hargreaves III, is a defensive back in his second season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was drafted after playing for three years at Florida.

New Arkansas head coach Chad Morris sent letters of termination to eight of nine assistant coaches still on staff dated Dec. 7 and 8, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and Hargreaves was one of them. He and Brian Odom worked together for two seasons in Houston, and that connection helped him land in Columbia.

His initial contract paid Hargreaves $275,000 annually. It was renewed before the start of the 2016 season and increased to $300,000 for his final two years with the Razorbacks. His pay at Missouri will likely be an increase from what he earned at Arkansas. Josh Heupel ($700,000) and DeMontie Cross ($600,000) were the Tigers' highest-paid coordinators at the start of this season, and former offensive line coach Glen Elarbee was paid $360,000. All three are no longer with the program.

Andy Hill makes $417,500 annually, the most of any current assistant, according to the USA Today assistant salary database, followed by Brick Haley ($400,000), Ryan Walters ($375,000, though that will likely increase since he was made defensive coordinator), Cornell Ford (360,500), Joe Jon Finley ($325,000) and Brian Odom (240,000). Missouri was contracted to pay its assistant pool $3,778,000 during the 2017 season, but the final number will be different due to the departures/firings.

At Arkansas, Hargreaves oversaw the development of Brooks Ellis and De'Jon Harris. Ellis finished his career as a Razorback with 290 career tackles, led the team in tackles in 2015 and 2016, and is on the roster of the New England Patriots. Harris was a second-team All-SEC selection after finishing second in the conference with 115 tackles this season. Cale Garrett, who will be a junior in 2018, is a middle linebacker and led the Tigers in tackles (92) and solo tackles (58) this season. He also finished the regular season with nine tackles for loss, three sacks and two interceptions.

Odom now has seven of 10 coordinator positions occupied. Still to be filled are offensive coordinator, offensive line and however Odom decides to use the 10th position coach the NCAA makes available to all D-I programs after the conclusion of the bowl season.