Another defensive hire has been made by head coach Barry Odom as he continues to fill out his staff in West Lafayette. The program announced that Charles Clark will join the staff as the defensive backs coach, as Boiler Upload reported on Monday.

"Charles has developed a reputation as one of the best defensive back coaches in college football," Odom said in a statement. "He has been a huge part of the success at Memphis during his time there, and I know that he will recruit and develop the position group to a very high level here at Purdue. We are thrilled that Coach Clark will be leading our defensive backs."

Clark comes to West Lafayette after spending five seasons at Memphis, where he was the defensive backs coach and deputy head coach in 2024. Clark coached All-AAC defensive backs in each season with the Tigers, notably Quindell Johnson, Simeon Blair and Davion Ross.

The veteran assistant had four previous stops at the Power 5 level prior to his arrival to Purdue, as the defensive backs coach at Ole Miss, cornerbacks coach at Oregon and both safeties and cornerbacks coach at Colorado, as well as a graduate assistant role at Duke to begin his coaching career.

Purdue had one of the worst pass defenses in all of college football last season, which is something Clark will look to fix in short order in 2025. Clark joins a defensive staff that has hired defensive coordinator Mike Scherer, defensive line coach Kelvin Green and defensive ends coach Jake Trump since Barry Odom was hired.