Purdue hires UNLV’s Barry Odom as its next football coach

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Barry Odom is getting a second chance to put a Power Four program back to prominence.

He can’t wait.

Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski announced Sunday he had hired the 48-year-old Odom to replace Ryan Walters, who was fired last week after compiling a 5-19 record in two seasons in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Odom, who spent most of his coaching career working with defenses, reinvented himself at UNLV with a wide-open offense that produced back-to-back Mountain West Conference runner-up finishes. This year, the Rebels went 10-3 — their best record in 40 years — and finished 14th in the FBS in scoring at 36.2 points per game.

Bobinski found him to be the right fit at the right time at the “Cradle of Quarterbacks” and he’ll be introduced to the Boilermakers fans Tuesday morning.

“He is a proven and experienced leader who has brought success to two different football programs and has made an impact on the lives of countless student-athletes and staff throughout his football career,” he said.

The question is whether he can continue his success in a much stronger Big Ten, which sent four teams to this year’s 12-team College Football Playoff.

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Odom went 19-8 in his two seasons with UNLV, losing both title games to Boise State, after going 25-25 in his previous head coaching stint at Missouri from 2016-19. Boise State also is in the playoff field.

Any change is welcome after Purdue struggled to an 1-11 mark, endured the two worst losses in school history and scored just 15.8 points per game — the second-lowest average of any Power Four school — in 2024, just two years after playing in the Big Ten championship game.

“Their trust will be rewarded with a football program that will reflect the personality and excellence Purdue is widely known for — character, intensity and a no-excuses winning attitude,” Odom said. “I can assure you it will be built to last.”

Odom has a lot of work to do in a short period of time.

Nineteen players have already entered the transfer portal including quarterbacks Ryan Browne and Marcos Davila, All-American safety Dillon Thieneman and starting linebackers Yanni Karlaftis and defensive end Will Heldt. All, or some, of those players could still withdraw form the portal and return to Purdue.

And when the early signing period opened Wednesday, Purdue added only six players — a far cry from the nearly two dozen other programs typically add each recruiting season.

Those factors helped expedite the search process.

Bobinski also has promised that Purdue will make a stronger commitment with NIL deals under a new coach, especially with the new revenue-sharing model expected to take effect next season.

“Our folks didn’t necessarily respond warmly to the way NIL evolved in the recent past, but that’s going to change,” Bobinski said Monday. “You need a coach who understands that and embraces that the new world is going to require a new way of thinking. And you can’t dislike the way things have evolved because they have evolved. So you’ve got to be able to find a way to thrive in that (world).”

Odom has plenty of experience, most of it coming at Missouri, his alma mater.

The former college linebacker served as a graduate assistant for the Tigers in 2003, recruiting coordinator in 2004 and 2005, director of football operations from 2006-08 and safeties coach from 2009-11.

After spending three seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Memphis and one more in the same capacity at Missouri in 2015, the Tigers promoted Odom to head coach in 2016. In an odd twist, Walters served as either co-defensive coordinator or defensive coordinator for all four seasons of Odom’s tenure at Missouri.

Odom spent the next three seasons as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Arkansas before he was hired in 2023 by UNLV.

The Boilermakers believed strongly enough in Odom to give him another shot in a power conference.

“As both a leader and person, coach Odom personifies the qualities our football program and university value,” Bobinski said in a statement. “During our interactions with coach Odom, it became clear that he possesses the belief, tenacity and competitive drive necessary to return Purdue football to the standard of excellence we all expect.”

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