The Boilermakers appear to have found their man. Barry Odom will leave his post at UNLV to become the 38th head coach in Purdue football history and lead the program into a new era of Boilermaker football, as Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellinger reports.
Odom brings six years of head coaching experience with him to West Lafayette, the last two of which have been a part of one of the biggest turnarounds in the country. When Odom took over at UNLV, the Rebels had just two winning seasons since the turn of the century and were 20-46 over their previous six seasons. They went 19-8 under his direction.
Odom turned the program around in the blink of an eye, putting together a 9-win season in 2023 and has built on that success in 2024. UNLV came just one win away from a spot in the College Football Playoff after falling to Boise State in the Mountain West Championship Game on Friday night. It was also the first time UNLV football had ever been ranked in the AP Top 25 poll and the College Football Playoff rankings, topping out at 19th and 20th, respectively.
The Rebels have a top ten offense in the country, scoring 38.7 points per game (seventh in nation) and 29th in total offense (434.0 yards per game). Offensive coordinator Brennan Marion is another quality hire by Odom to run his offense, which he's had a history of, with Josh Huepel and Derek Dooley both orchestrating explosive offenses under Odom at Missouri.
Odom's calling card, the defensive side of the ball, has been the best for the program in over 20 years in Las Vegas. The Rebels are 38th in the nation, allowing 21.9 points per game, marking the best year for the defensive unit since 2003 in that regard.
Odom's stellar UNLV tenure came after his first stint as a head coach at Missouri from 2016-2019. During his time in Columbia, the Tigers went 25-25 in four years, but was bowl eligible in his final three seasons. His tenure was highlighted by the 2018 season, which saw Missouri go 8-5, including a win over Purdue in Ross-Ade Stadium during conference play.
Odom was fired after his fourth season before becoming the defensive coordinator at Arkansas under head coach Sam Pittman. It marked his seventh year as a defensive coordinator in the SEC, also spending four years in that role at Missouri prior to getting the head gig.
Odom checks boxes for Purdue, as an experienced head coach, including Power 4 experience, and has built a program up coming off poor recent history. He does maintain more of a defensive identity as opposed to the offensive-minded head coach that many expected Purdue to target after the Ryan Walters era in West Lafayette.
Purdue now moves ahead after one of the worst years in program history with a fresh face and an opportunity to start anew in the form of Barry Odom.
