Five years after his own firing, Barry Odom has an inspiring message for fired coaches

Since you're reading this, you're well aware that this is the time of year coaches get fired. It's an unfortunate but unavoidable fact of life in this business. In football, the life cycle begins and ends in late November and December. As the poets Semisonic once wrote, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

Five years ago, Barry Odom was among the coaches fired. A former Tigers linebacker who climbed from GA to head coach, Mizzou was undoubtedly his dream job, and to lose that job after four seasons undoubtedly felt like rock bottom.

But five years to the day after being fired by his alma mater, Odom enjoyed a peak he never could have seen coming. Now in his second season as UNLV's head coach, his Rebels team beat rival Nevada to clinch a berth in the Mountain West Championship. Ranked 22nd in the most recent College Football Playoff poll, if UNLV defeats No. 11 Boise State on Friday night (8 p.m. ET, Fox), the Rebels will qualify for the inaugural 12-team CFP.

It's a journey Odom could not have possibly foreseen back on Nov. 30, 2019, but one made possible because he persevered. 

After clinching a title game berth on Saturday, and with his daughter on his lap, Odom offered a message to newly-fired coaches that could only be delivered by a peer who was recently in their shoes. 

"You learn from your lessons, you learn from your opportunities, you pick yourself up, you dust yourself off, and then you go create more," Odom said. 

"And then you have..."

It was at that point that Odom paused to collect himself. In 10 seconds of silence, he processed his disappointment, his growth, his gratitude, his everything that's been collected over a 25-year career in coaching. 

"I've got an opportunity to sit here with two great players, and something I'm very, very thankful for," Odom continued. "It will be a heck of a week."

This is a must-watch clip.