Barry Odom expected to be hired as Purdue's football coach per a source

Barry Odom expected to be hired as Purdue’s football coach per a source

Posted by Admin December 8, 2024 Football

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After resurrecting UNLV’s long-dormant program, Barry Odom is expected to take on the challenge of rejuvenating Purdue football, according to a source familiar with the situation. The news was first reported by Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger.

Odom, a former Missouri linebacker, is 44-33 in six years as a head coach, with a losing season in only the first of four seasons at his alma mater.

As the search for Ryan Walters’ replacement dragged later in the week, it became increasingly likely the next coach was involved in a conference championship game this weekend. Odom’s Runnin’ Rebels lost to Boise State in the Mountain West Championship Game for the second straight season on Friday.

Walters worked for Odom at Missouri, serving as his safeties coach and defensive coordinator. The staff was let go following a 6-6 regular season in 2019.

Athletic director Mike Bobinski said Monday he expected to find a candidate ready for the changing landscape of college football. That coach also had to be ready to accept a challenge – both due to the current roster situation and some of the resource disadvantages Purdue faces against the top of the Big Ten.

Odom, 48, experienced a similar competitive dynamic at Missouri, compared to the SEC’s national powers. UNLV’s two regular-season losses in 2024 came against nine-win Syracuse in overtime and to top-20 Boise State. He took over a program with almost no cache and lead it to national relevance for the first time in decades.

UNLV had totaled only 29 wins in nine seasons prior to Odom’s hire after the 2022 season. It had experienced only two seasons with more than eight victories dating back to 1978.

The Runnin’ Rebels went 9-5 in Odom’s 2023 debut and reached the Mountain West Championship game. They returned to that game with a 10-2 regular season this year, losing to playoff-bound Boise State 21-7 on Friday.

Odom’s defensive background explains why Bobinski did not commit to hiring an offensive coach to succeed the defensive-minded Walters. The next interesting piece of news will be whether UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion is coming with Odom. He has been mentioned as a potential candidate for other power conference coordinator jobs.

UNLV improved in yards per play from 44^th in Odom’s first season (6.13) to 29^th (6.35). Marion favors an up-tempo ‘go-go” offense, which uses a variety of formations and multiple ballcarriers to facilitate a downhill rushing attack.

Odom inherits a program coming off a 1-11 season, losing 11 straight after a season-opening victory over FCS Indiana State. The streak started with what at the time was the most lopsided loss in program history – 66-7 to Notre Dame. It ended with a margin of defeat which trumped that – 66-0 at playoff-bound Indiana in the Old Oaken Bucket game.

The new coach inherits a roster in flux — though that would be true of any program experiencing a coaching change and perhaps several others. As of Saturday evening, 19 Purdue players had entered their names in the NCAA transfer portal.

Some of the players any coach might be most interested in keeping — safety Dillon Thieneman, tight end Max Klare, defensive end Will Heldt and quarterbacks Ryan Browne and Marcos Davila — were keeping their options open and could return to the Boilermakers, pending learning the identity of the new coach.

Though his most recent experience came at the Group of Five level, Odom spent most of his career in the Big 12 and SEC.

Odom’s college coaching career began with a climb through the ranks at Missouri, from graduate assistant to director of recruiting to position coach over safeties and linebackers. He left for three seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Memphis. He returned to the Tigers as Gary Pinkel’s defensive coordinator in 2015, then took over for him the following season.

Missouri went 4-8 in Odom’s first season, then improved to 7-6 in his second. The Tigers returned to the AP Top 25 poll during his 8-5 season in 2018. He was fired after a 6-6 finish in 2019 – including a five-game losing streak in the second half of the season.

“I thought I got a bad deal at the end, too,” Odom said on the Coaches and the Mouth podcast last summer. “You live and you learn. But I also look at it as if we had NIL the way it’s rolling out, we probably could have recruited a little dirferent at my alma mater.”

Odom spent three seasons as defensive coordinator on Sam Pittman’s Arkansas staff. He was hired to elevate a UNLV program which had been to one bowl game in 22 seasons – and none in the previous nine.

Now he’s been hired to elevate a program which knows more success, and expects to know it again, soon.