For the past four years, wide receiver Chris Black has played under a coach with a plethora of experience: Alabama’s Nick Saban. The 64-year-old has won five NCAA Championships and is arguably the greatest coach in college football history.

Black is joining the Tigers as a graduate transfer and is eligible to play immediately. He is not only transitioning into a new school, but also into a program with a much less experienced head coach.

Barry Odom has never been the head coach in a college football game. Saban is 25 years older and has a yearly salary that is worth $4.5 million more than the Missouri’s rookie head coach.

And yet, despite their different backgrounds, Black says Saban and Odom have a “kind of similar” approach to coaching.

“I like it,” Black said. “He’s been on top of us with everything, making sure we’re in and working hard everyday.”

Odom was the defensive coordinator for the Tigers in 2015. He previously worked for Memphis in the same role, and played football at Missouri from 1996-1999. The 39-year-old said that the hardest part of his transition has been becoming involved with every position.

“For me, I don’t want to be labeled a defensive guy,” Odom said. “It’s our football team. I want to make sure offensively when we make a great play that they’re celebrating their success, and I’m not always celebrating with the defense.”

A major component of Odom’s defense last season was freshman lineman Terry Beckner Jr. The East St. Louis native recorded 27 tackles and was named a Freshman All-American by Sporting News.

Beckner feels that the coaching transition has gone smoothly.

“It’s not really a big change,” he said. “Coach Odom was my defensive coordinator last season. It’s a great relationship with him, and he’s a great coach. He wants the best for you.”

The first-year head coach has big shoes to fill. Gary Pinkel, who resigned due to non-Hodgkins lymphoma at the end of last season, won 118 games over 15 years as head coach of the Tigers.

Despite the loss of Pinkel, freshman Nate Howard remembers being excited when he learned that Odom would take over as head coach. The defensive lineman has noticed differences in practice and is excited about the future under the team’s new leader.

“It’s a different pace, bit different tempo, but it’s definitely going to help us out in the long run,” Howard said.

Even with small differences, junior defensive lineman Josh Augusta feels that Odom and Pinkel have the same outlook on getting better. He said that the goal is improving on last season.

“They both have the same mentality,” he said. “We’re just out here working hard so we don’t (finish) 5–7.”