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Mizzou coach Odom honored by organization that looks out for families of first-responders

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SafetyNet of Missouri will reach out to families of fallen first responders within the first 24-hours.  The foundation was set to up to give them extra help. The goal of SafetyNet is to make sure families of people who die in the line of duty are taken care of.

“We always have the standard response, we hope that never happens but because of my involvement and how this got started, we’ve always wanted to plan just in case that was to happen,” Jefferson City Police Detective Mark Edwards said. “I think that’s very important because I want the families of the survivors to be able to function and be able to carry on.”

Edwards is also vice president of Safety Net of Missouri and he spoke on Thursday morning at the Jefferson City Country Club to a number of first responders from Columbia, Jefferson City, Boone and Cole County.

Within days of a line of duty death of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, paramedic, EMT, or corrections officer, his or her family receives a $5,000 check from Safety Net of Missouri.

“It goes beyond more than just paying bills,” Edwards said. “What it does, is remembering that surviving spouse and being able to remember that fallen law enforcement officer, firefighter, corrections officer… whatever the case may be… we want to have their children remember them.  I think it’s important that we remember those individuals that have given the ultimate sacrifice.”

SafetyNet announced Missouri Head Football Coach Barry Odom as its “Champion.”

Listen to Barry Odom as he addresses first responders:

Barry Odom on the state of the #Mizzou program: “I’m gonna win here” (VIDEO)

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Following Missouri’s 51-14 loss to the Auburn Tigers at Saturday night, Barry Odom told the media to get ready. He was going to give us an update on the state of Mizzou football.  Boy did he ever.

Last week after the Purdue loss, Odom looked like a beaten coach. After Auburn, Odom looked like a man on a mission. He wanted fans, his players, and perhaps even his boss to see that he is the right man for the job who knows how to battle through adversity.

Odom emphasized that this was “a turnaround,” meaning success wasn’t going to happen right away. After a 4-8 season in his first year, fans expectations were this team should get to 6-6 at least and 7 or 8 wins were within reach. After a 1-3 start in which the team appears to be going backwards, Odom says things are moving forward and this will take time.

Odom pointed out that when he was a player at Mizzou in the late 90’s, his head coach Larry Smith battled for many years to bring a winner. He also pointed out that Gary Pinkel’s name was on the hot seat when he first arrived. As a matter of fact, I recall fans wanted Pinkel to get the pink slip after year one in the SEC. Odom also shared his experiences in Memphis where he was on a staff that went from bad to conference champ in a short amount of time.