After going through 'low places,' Alex Ofodile happy to be back in hometown
Following a standout high school career at Rock Bridge in Columbia, Alex Ofodile went nearly as far away from his hometown as he could get, to the University of Oregon. But a reminder of Columbia was always in sight. Ofodile has the city’s telephone area code, 573, tattooed on his right bicep.
Ofodile said Saturday that Columbia is special to him because of the community of family and friends he has in the city. During his three years at Oregon, that community continued to look out for him, even when he was about 2,000 miles away. Shortly after Ofodile arrived in Eugene, he broke his foot, the first of a series of injuries that kept him from seeing regular playing time. He credits the support system from his hometown for helping him overcome the injuries.
After graduating from Oregon last spring, Ofodile transferred back to Columbia, where he’s eligible to play for Missouri this season.
“I was in some low places,” Ofodile said. “But just having the support of my family and just everybody back in Columbia, it’s kind of gotten me through it. Just happy to be back here around those people.”
Ofodile graduated from Rock Bridge a semester early and enrolled at Oregon in January of 2015, but during a practice that spring he broke his foot for the first time. The injury forced him to redshirt the 2015 season. The following spring, he broke his foot again. In between and since the two broken bones, he’s battled nagging hamstring injuries. He didn’t return to full health until midway through this past season — and by then, he had been passed over on the depth chart.
When Ofodile graduated from Oregon and thus became eligible to transfer without having to sit out another season, Missouri became an obvious choice, and not just because it allowed him to return to his hometown and play under his father, A.J. Ofodile, who coaches the Tiger wide receivers. Due to Missouri’s lack of experience at wideout, Alex has an opportunity to see the field regularly this season for the first time since high school.
A.J., who also coached Alex at Rock Bridge, said that after catching just four passes for 31 yards during his career at Oregon, Alex entered fall camp a bit overeager to prove he deserves more time on the field.
“He’s very anxious,” A.J. said. “Maybe too anxious. That’s one of the things with him and one of the things we work on with all our guys, but particularly him, is just being patient, not trying to win the Super Bowl in one day, just taking it one play at a time.”
Alex admitted that he’s been eager to make a good impression during the first few days of camp, but he said he’s confident he can recapture the success he experienced in high school. He’s back to feeling 100 percent healthy. That has resulted in part from losing weight — at 205 pounds, he’s actually lighter than he was as a senior at Rock Bridge, which should help minimize the chances of re-injuring his foot. He envisions himself as an ideal compliment to deep threat Emanuel Hall.
“Emanuel, he can kind of take the top off, but … you need guys who can do other things,” Alex said. “I feel like I can do all those other things, whether it be short, intermediate, screen game.”
The fact that he’s being coached by his father helps as well — not because A.J. treats him any differently, Alex was sure to point out that he gets no special treatment, but because A.J.’s laid-back coaching style suits his son.
“He doesn’t overcoach,” Alex said of A.J. “He kind of lets you go out there and have fun and just corrects you as you go. So that’s nice to have.”
Perhaps the biggest difference between his situations at Oregon and Missouri for Alex is that he’s back to living a couple minutes away from his friends and family in Columbia, as opposed to being halfway across the country. Alex said his parents were able to come visit him just twice in Oregon, “and I have some great parents.” Even though A.J. joked that the 21-year-old Alex “has better things to do than hang out with me” when they’re away from the football field, Alex said being closer to his family makes it easier to escape when he gets a break from football.
“Going home, eating my mom’s food, just being around my parents,” Alex said when asked about the perks of being back in his hometown. “… Just being back around and just the community. I’m a Columbia kid, so I love the community, they embrace me. I just love it here.”