Missouri has made Josh Heupel -- formerly Utah State's offensive coordinator and both a quarterback and assistant coach at Oklahoma -- its new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Heupel played two years at Oklahoma and, in his senior season of 2000, led the Sooners to a national championship, coming in second in the Heisman Trophy voting.
He spent 11 seasons as an assistant with Oklahoma from 2003-2014, with a short stint at Arizona in 2005, before taking over as Utah State's offensive coordinator and assistant head coach in 2015. He served as Oklahoma's quarterbacks coach from 2006-2014 and added the title of co-offensive coordinator in 2011.
Heupel is Barry Odom's first major hire as Missouri's new coach, and Odom hopes Heupel can improve an offense that finished 2015 ranked 127th out of 128 teams in scoring offense at 13.6 points per game.
“I’m really pleased to have someone the caliber of Josh Heupel join our staff,” said Odom. “I’ve known him for a long time and have always respected him highly, as a player, a coach, a recruiter and a coordinator. I’ve been impressed by the offenses that he runs, they’re very difficult to defend, and his achievements speak for themselves. He’s a high-character person who has the type of leadership abilities that will be outstanding for our program, and he’s exactly what we’re looking for. We’re excited to have him on board."
Heupel said he is grateful to Odom for the opportunity to join the Mizzou program.
“First and foremost I believe in the person Barry Odom is and what he stands for. I believe in the vision that he has for this program. I have a lot of respect for Mizzou and the football program, as someone who’s seen it from an outsider’s perspective for a long time. I believe this is a special place that has just scratched the surface of what it can be, and it’s a program that is capable of winning championships on a consistent basis. I want to be part of that," Heupel said.
"I think it’s a great time to be at Mizzou, and I’m excited to get there and to go to work."
