In the event Justin Fuente leaves Memphis after four seasons with the program, the Tigers are likely to target Missouri defensive coordinator Barry Odom and UAB head coach Bill Clark to fill the vacancy, according to a report from Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com.
Odom, of course, was Fuente's assistant for three seasons, leaving Missouri to become the Memphis defensive coordinator as part of Fuente's original staff. Odom returned to Missouri, where he'd worked from 2003 until leaving for Memphis in 2012, before the 2015 seasons as Gary Pinkel's defensive coordinator.
The 38-year-old Odom has Mizzou ranked fourth nationally in yards per play defense despite playing opposite an offense that ranks third-to-last nationally in scoring. At Memphis, Odom boosted a Tigers defense that ranked 116th in yards per play allowed in the year prior to his arrival all the way to 10th in 2014.
Clark is in his second year as UAB's head coach -- though not his second season as the program is in the first of two seasons under a self-imposed death penalty. Clark went 11-4 in his one year at Jacksonville State in 2013 and guided the Blazers to a 6-6 mark in 2014 before the program was temporarily shut down last winter. UAB football is set to return in 2017, and Clark signed a five-year contract extension in September.