Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby on Monday announced the hiring of Cliff Odom as the Bulldogs’ new special teams coordinator, replacing Eric Mele.
Odom spent the last two seasons coaching defensive backs at New Mexico State, and held the same role at Eastern Illinois for two years before that. In 2018 and 2019, Odom was a special teams quality control coach at UCF, overlapping with Lebby on the Knights’ staff.
He also was the defensive backs coach at Stetson for one season and worked as a graduate assistant at TCU and Missouri. Odom played for four years at Baylor, graduating in 2011.
MSU’s special teams were a strength during an otherwise disappointing 2023 season, although the Bulldogs’ dynamic returners are both gone with Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin having declared for the NFL Draft and Zavion Thomas having transferred to LSU.
Kicker Kyle Ferrie was twice named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week and finished 16-for-22 on field goal attempts with a long of 49 yards. MSU averaged the fewest yards per punt in the SEC (40), but Keelan Crimmins still figures to be in line to remain the starting punter.
“(Odom’s) passion, work ethic and attention to detail makes him an ideal fit to lead our special teams units,” Lebby said in a statement. “Coach Odom has both played and coached at the highest level of college football and has shown a knack for getting the most out of his guys at every one of his coaching stops.”
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