Barry Odom is one step closer to filling out his coaching staff. This time it's former Florida offensive line coach Brad Davis who will join the Missouri staff. Mizzou made official what Football Scoop first reported sources confirmed to PowerMizzou.com. Davis will replace Glen Elarbee, who is now on Josh Heupel's staff at UCF.
Davis started his coaching career at Southern Lab High School in New Orleans. He jumped to the college ranks at Wayne State in 2005. He moved into the Power Five as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M and North Carolina before spending four years at Portland State. He moved to James Madison and East Carolina before joining Jim McElwain's staff in Gainesville prior to last season.
The Gators fired McElwain with four games left to play and hired Dan Mullen from Mississippi State. Mullen brought offensive line coach John Hevesy with him from Starkville.
"I'm extremely excited to join Coach Odom and his staff at Mizzou and help build on the foundation these guys have already laid," Davis in a statement released by Mizzou. "In playing against these guys this year, I saw a team that played hard, played physical and that enjoyed playing together. With Coach Odom, it was an easy sell, because of his passion for the University of Missouri. Even from afar, that's something I've always admired about him, not only his commitment to the school and to his kids, but really for advancing the program in any way possible. For me, the opportunity to join his program and to continue the mission that he started there, I couldn't be more excited to do that. I can't wait to get to work."
"I'm very pleased to have Brad and his family join our program," Odom said in the release. "He's a tremendous teacher and mentor, and he's been lights out on the recruiting trail with his approach to building true relationships with kids. Brad has experience in the SEC and he has worked hard to earn a great amount of respect among his peers. I'm excited to have him with us, and I know he is going to do a great job helping us move forward offensively and continue building."
On Thursday, Mizzou announced it had hired former Arkansas assistant Vernon Hargreaves II to coach inside linebackers next season.
Missouri is still without a quarterbacks coach or an offensive coordinator. The Tigers currently have just one open spot on the staff, so they will likely hire a coordinator who also coaches quarterbacks. All schools will be able to hire a 10th full-time assistant coach beginning on January 9, 2018.
Mizzou is finishing up finals week and will return to the practice field in preparation for the December 27th Texas Bowl on Saturday morning at 9:30.
