COLUMBIA, Mo. _ Barry Odom's job as Missouri's football coach continues to get more difficult because of things out of his control.
On Thursday, the NCAA announced a one-year bowl ban for his program after releasing its findings on the academic fraud investigation that has lingered over the athletic department since 2016.
Missouri's baseball and softball programs were also hit with postseason bans and all three teams have recruiting restrictions and scholarship reductions despite the case having no ties to recruiting violations.
Athletic director Jim Sterk said Missouri is already working on an appeal and has hired Kansas City attorney Michael Glaser for outside council.
Thursday's news becomes the latest hurdle Odom has to handle since taking the job in December 2015. When he was announced as Gary Pinkel's replacement, the campus was weeks removed from the November 2015 protests that led to the departure of University of Missouri System president Tim Wolfe and then-MU chancellor R. Bowen Loftin.
Missouri suffered from enrollment declines and football attendance hasn't been the same since. On Wednesday, Missouri's athletic department announced that it operated $2 million in the red for the 2018 fiscal year, a $3 million improvement from the previous year.
Odom, who recently signed a contract extension, has led Missouri to two consecutive bowl games and landed former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant to replace Drew Lock. Both were considered major signs that the third-year coach had his alma mater heading in the right direction, with some of the lingers effects of the protests in the rearview mirror. The Tigers are on multiple "way-too-early top 25" lists for the 2019 season and MU had its sights set on a New Year's Six bowl game and potential Southeastern Conference eastern division title with Bryant under center.
Bryant was also expected to help combat lagging ticket sales, which have declined the past few seasons. Assuming the bowl ban sticks, regardless of the appeal, it's a crippling blow to Odom, after 2018 looked like a major breakthrough for him and the program. A major bowl game would also bring additional revenue.
Despite the ban, Bryant doesn't plan to transfer, according to his personal quarterbacks coach Ramon Robinson. It remains to be seen if Bryant's decision can help ticket sales when fans know the team's season doesn't extend beyond its annual Black Friday game against Arkansas. It could lead to an outpouring of support for the players or even another decline.
An MU player told The Star that the team had a meeting on Thursday afternoon to learn the entirety of its situation, with Odom running it.
"Everyone is shocked," the player said.
While the bowl ban is a major blow to the football program, the recruiting penalties are minor, despite being surprising.
The 5 percent reduction in scholarships for the upcoming season only equates to about 1.5 scholarships being lost from the allotted 85, but the recruiting visits are a harder hit.
One of the penalties called for a seven-week ban on unofficial visits, a 12.5 percent reduction in official visits, a seven-week ban on recruiting communications, a seven-week ban on all off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations, a 12.5 percent reduction in recruiting-person or evaluation days.
It likely means Missouri will be very careful with who they bring in for an official visit and maybe even try and get local recruits to take an unofficial visit in place of an official when possible.
Odom's 2019 class features seven in-state recruits, a significant improvement from past classes and shows the inroads he's made locally since taking the job.
While Bryant appears on board for the 2019 season, Missouri could still have attrition. The NCAA said it will be kind on any Missouri senior that elects to transfer for the upcoming season. Senior linebacker Cale Garrett would be a highly sought after transfer as would offensive lineman Tre'Vour Wallace-Simms.
Missouri will open spring practice on March 3.
