A Championship Vision: Meet #Mizzou's Glen Elarbee
1/25/2016 6:47:00 PM | Football
Part four in an exclusive MUTigers.com series introducing Mizzou Football's coaching staff
A Championship Vision. That is the mindset that Mizzou Football head coach Barry Odom took into his first month on the job as he built an impressive coaching staff that boasts years of high-level college and pro experience and an abundance of success both as coaches and as players. Leading into National Signing Day on February 3, MUTigers.com will be introducing all of Mizzou's coaches in what was the first exclusive interviews for each coach since Coach Odom established the staff.
Today we introduce you to Mizzou offensive line coach Glen Elarbee. Be sure to listen to an exclusive interview below and watch Mizzou Network's Ben Arnet go one-on-one with Coach Elarbee in an in-depth one-on-one that examines Elarbee's rise as a coach while getting to see some of the personality that made him one of the most sought-after offensive line coaches in America.
A Mutual Respect Leads to New Role at Mizzou
Offensive lineman by nature are a jovial group of big-bodied, big-hearted men who are filled with unparalleled competitiveness. While they don't often get the hype and limelight like their counterparts in space on the outside, most games in the SEC are won in the trenches with the big guys up front. So as Mizzou was looking for an offensive line coach last month, Barry Odom and company wanted to find someone who embodied each of those characteristics and that candidate turned out to be Glen Elarbee, a 13-year coaching veteran with strong ties to the SEC footprint.
When examining the benefits of coaching at Mizzou with Odom, one thing stood out above all the prestige that comes with coaching at Mizzou and in the SEC.
"I told Coach Odom, the reason I probably took the job was just so I didn't have to compete against him over the next few years," Elarbee said. "Every time I looked up it was his defense and I was getting tired of going against that sucker. So to get to coach with him, and a guy that's so driven, and organized, and understands football the way he does and be at Missouri, it's a great opportunity."
And Elarbee is speaking from experience when he talks about coaching against Odom's group. In fact, just last season, Elarbee coached the offensive line at Arkansas State when Mizzou slipped past the Red Wolves, 27-20, in Jonesboro with Odom as the program's defensive coordinator. But the connection doesn't end there. The two also matched wits in 2012 and 2013 when Odom was at Memphis, and while Elarbee was at Middle Tennessee (2012) and Houston (2013). In those three meetings, Elarbee picked up some things about Odom that impressed him enough to know that he would like to work with him one day.
"The effort in which this guy played always impressed me," Elarbee said when asked what impressed him about Odom. "I'm an effort guy and a toughness guy, and his defenses were always very physical and very effort oriented. Then, on top of that schematically I thought he did some really, really neat things ahead of the curve that other defensive coordinators weren't doing. Then, just having the chance to be around him these last couple days. You know, I knew him from recruiting, and kind of enjoyed being around him then, but now to see him in action with just the organization, the vision, and what he sees for this program and how this program he runs is truly impressive."
It is no secret that the vision Elarbee speaks of is the Championship Vision that Odom has for Mizzou. The Championship Vision for Odom is built on toughness and toughness is extremely important to Elarbee and his vision for Mizzou's offensive line.
"I am an O-lineman at heart, I love O-line. I get a certain buzz of energy in the room. I love being around those guys, it makes me light up - it's the best part of my day," Elarbee said. "With that being said, to me offensive line is going back to effort and toughness. You know, that's the kind of corner stones of our football team and kind of the corner stones of an offensive lineman. Then, you build off of that with technique and assignment and different things, but man just the chance to have those group of guys in that room and go against Coach Odom, and do these things on a day to day basis, it's exciting."
As Elarbee preaches toughness, it is easy for players to relate to him because he was one of the toughest in the game during his career at Middle Tennessee. A four-year letterwinner and two time All-Conference winner, he started his final 23 games and helped lead Middle Tennessee to its first ever Sun Belt Championship in 2001. Elarbee was also a coach on LSU's 2007 BCS National Championship team, proving that he fits Odom's Championship Vision. But for a coach who has won at every place he has been, he views coaching success in a different light.
"I think, number one is the development of a young man," Elarbee said. "When I go into meetings, there are times during every meeting that you talk about a life lesson. This is going to make you better as a man. You may not want to hear this truthful statement that is about to happen, but this is the way life really is. When you get done coaching guys and they come back and whether they start for you and they are all conference, or whether they never played a day on, and they go 'Coach, I didn't always agree with what you told me but you made me a better man, you made me a better human being.' To me that is unreal, it is why you do what you do."
With recruiting season in full swing, Elarbee will undoubtedly be scanning the nation for players who personify the same toughness that he once played with and now coaches with. But more than anything, Elarbee wants to recruit players who are genuine football players.
"I'm looking for a guy that loves football. It is such a demanding sport and it is something that demands a lot of your time. If you don't love, and have passion about football, you just won't make it," Elarbee said.
"Like I said before, when I walk in the room every day, that it is the best part of my day. I want my offensive line to walk in the room and say, man, this is the best part of the day, we are getting to do football, we are getting to go in the meeting room and get better."
That mindset is the same that Elarbee had as a player and now has as a coach. And Elarbee believes that if he can get his players to approach each practice, each drill, each meeting, each game and each play with that mindset, the sky is the limit and Mizzou can win championships. But beyond the championships, Elarbee knows that the true mark of success for a coach comes from something else.
"By the time a guy comes in as a high school senior to the time he leaves from college he completely changes and you are instrumental in how he is going to shape the rest of his life. It's just a fun experience. You can't describe it."
