Coach Odom is known for his ability to both coach defense and identify and develop defensive coaching talent.
I sincerely hope Coach Odom got a little rest over the holidays because he’s had a hectic (to say the least) end to 2024. Over the last two weeks, while working on 12 different things simultaneously, new Boilermaker head coach Barry Odom has assembled his on-field staff for the 2025 season. Now that things have calmed down, I’d like to take a look at the staff he’s brought together in West Lafayette as a group, starting with the defense.
I’m starting with the defense because that’s where Coach Odom starts. His background, both as a player and coach is deeply rooted on the defensive side of the ball. Odom’s first stint as a defensive coordinator for Missouri landed him the Missouri job. After being let go by the Tigers, he headed to Little Rock and called the defense of the Hawgs, and once again earned himself a head coaching gig, this time at U.N.L.V.
What makes Odom unique is that he’s equally adept at calling plays and developing defensive play callers. I won’t dwell on Ryan Walters, since you all know his story, but Odom mentored Walters as a first time play caller at Missouri, and he became one of the premier defensive coordinators in the nation at Illinois. I only mention Walters because new Purdue defensive coordinator Mike Scherer is Odom’s latest protege.
Scherer started his coaching career under Coach Odom as a graduate assistant at Missouri and then followed him to Arkansas where he coached linebackers. When Odom received the head job at U.N.L.V. his first order of business was hiring Scherer to run his defense, and now he’s headed with his mentor to West Lafayette to try out his defensive scheme against some of the best teams in the country (which are the only teams Purdue is allowed to play).
This feels incredibly trite to type, because I make fun of every coach hiring an “aggressive defensive coordinator who is going to get after the quarterback” but Mike Scherer is an aggressive defensive coordinator who wants to force the other team into mistakes. Don’t confuse Scherer with your typical frothing-at-the-mouth-blitz-merchant though, his defense relies more on subterfuge than all-or-nothing blitzes to get the job done.
Scherer’s defense is one of the biggest reasons Coach Odom is getting another bite of the power conference head coaching apple. In 2024 the Rebels’ defense lived behind the line of scrimmage and their offense was fed a steady diet of short fields because of the turnovers the defense generated. They picked off 17 passes, fourth best in nation, and many of those interceptions can be directly linked to their pass rush, which finished the season 15th in the nation in sacks-per-game (2.93). Their run defense was similarly aggressive, finishing 20th in tackle-for-loss-per-game (7). The U.N.L.V. defense finished the season a balanced 22nd in rushing defense (115 yards-per-game) and 24th in passing efficiency defense (117.09).
Now, Scherer is tasked with essentially creating a defense from scratch in West Lafayette. The key position in his attacking defense is linebacker, and Coach Odom was able to land one of the best linebacker coaches in the nation in… Mike Scherer. If you’ve taken the time to watch any U.N.L.V. games this season, the defense revolved around Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, linebacker Jackson Woodard. The former Arkansas walk-on who followed Scherer and Odom to U.N.L.V. from Arkansas was, in my opinion, the best linebacker in the nation in 2024. Georgia’s Jalon Walker won the Butkus award with 57 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, and a pair of fumble recoveries. All impressive stats no doubt, and even more impressive considering the level of competition, but for my money, Woodard’s 135 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 3.5 sack, 4 interceptions, 12 passes defended and 2 fumble recoveries (1 of which he returned for a touchdown) clears. The only reason Woodard wasn’t the Butkus winner is because he didn’t have the marketing power of a television network behind him.
Woodard’s incredible production is due, in part, because of how he’s utilized by coach Scherer’s defense. It’s wild, he’s far and away the best player on the U.N.L.V. defense, but offensive coordinators, offensive linemen, and quarterbacks can never seem to find him. He’s always milling around the defensive line.
Is he blitzing?
Is he dropping into coverage?
Is he setting the edge in the run game?
Is he shooting through the A-gap on a run blitz?
Yes, he’s doing all of those things and it’s impossible to tell which until after the ball is snapped. Woodard’s elite at showing up in places where the offense isn’t expecting him, some of the that is his innate feel for the game, and some of it is coaching, both by his position Coach, Mike Scherer and his defensive coordinator, a certain Mr. Mike Scherer.
Joining the impossibly young Scherer, who according to the internet, graduated college in 2016, is a cadre of salty veteran position coaches to give the up-and-comer plenty of experience to lean on when things get tough, and a group of young upstarts looking to make a name for themselves in the college ranks. That starts with defensive line coach Kelvin Green. On the surface, hiring a quality control coach from Arkansas to coach the defensive line doesn’t look super impressive, but when you look further down his resume, things start to make sense.
Following a theme I’m sure you would have caught onto without me mentioning it, Green worked under Barry Odom at Arkansas. The majority of Odom’s staff are guys that he’s worked with in the past and that can only be a positive. This Purdue gig could be a little dicey at the start, and it’s always nice to have people you trust around when the going is tough. Before working for Odom as a defensive quality control specialist, Green spent 9 seasons coaching for Delta State, including the last 3 as their defensive coordinator. He was a quality control coach at Arkansas because he was trying to make the jump from coaching Division II football to coaching in the SEC. He made enough of an impression on Coach Odom that he’s now coaching Purdue’s defensive line.
I like what Green brings to the table with his Division II background. Division II coaches live and die with their ability to utilize over-looked and undervalued talent. It’s about taking what you’re given, and making the pieces work together. He’ll be asked to do that at Purdue as well, at least initially. Scherer’s scheme moves the defensive line around a good bit, and Green will be tasked with taking the talent he has and fitting them into the best roles. He might not have the best overall guys, but the defense is set up well for uni-taskers. His defensive line is good at finding guys that may not excel at everything and putting them in a position to accentuate their strengths and minimize their weaknesses.
Working in conjunction with Green will be defensive end coach Jake Trump. Like Coach Green, who started in the high school ranks before moving up to Division II, and then to a quality control job, and now as a position coach at Purdue, Coach Trump is a guy who has worked his way up the coaching ladder from the ground floor. He spent the prior 5 seasons at Arkansas as a quality control coach, working with Coach Green and for Coach Odom. Trump strikes me as a guy who might have some upward mobility on this staff. Not only did he work under Coach Odom at Arkansas; he also played for Coach Odom at Missouri. If you’re looking for the next Mike Sherer or Ryan Walters on the staff (and you should be, because Sherer could be a hot commodity in the near future) it’s probably Jake Trump. He certainly fits the profile, and while he’s a young and unproven position coach, he’ll be working closely with the more experienced Coach Green.
With Coaches Sherer, Green, and Trump holding down the tackle box, Coach Odom turned to Memphis defensive backs coach Charles Clark to hold down the secondary. Unlike Sherer, Green, and Trump, Clark doesn’t have a prior coaching relationship with Coach Odom. Clark, a 3-year starter for Ole Miss as a defensive back from 03’-06’, got his coaching start as a quality control coach for Duke. He then moved to San Jose State where he coached defensive backs from ‘10-’12.
After his time in San Jose, he made stops at Oregon and Colorado before settling down at Memphis in 2020. The Tigers have been on one of their better runs in school history under current head coach (and soon to be former head coach if he keeps winning) Ryan Silverfield. Over the last two seasons, Memphis has a combined 21-5 record. Now he’s at Purdue because his defensive backs pick off passes, and Coach Sherer’s defense is designed to create turnovers. During his time at San Jose, Silverfield’s secondary led the W.A.C. in interceptions and forced turnovers. In 2022 Memphis ranked 10th nationally in interceptions (16). If you’re going to rely somewhat on turnovers as a defense, it’s probably best to hire a secondary coach who has a history of creating turnovers.
That covers the defensive position coaches.
You’ll notice that the offense has 5 coaches and the defense has 4. Coach Odom decided on using Coach Clark as the overall secondary coach instead of bringing in separate corner and safety coaches. He used the spot usually reserved for a 5th defensive coach to bring in special teams coordinator James Shibest. That’s possible because Coach Odom himself will help out with defense. Consider him a defacto 5th position coach. He won’t meddle with defense, and I 100% guarantee he won’t be calling plays, but it would be foolish not to utilize his experience as both a position coach and defensive coordinator.
I have no idea if his defense is going to be any good. History tends to indicate it will, but you never know until you see it on the field. What I do know is that it should be a more cohesive unit than what we’ve dealt with over the last couple seasons. Coach Odom has not only worked with, but mentored, 3 of his 4 position coaches, including his defensive coordinator. Barry Odom has built his coaching career around his defense and his ability to identify defensive coaching talent. While his position coaches on defense don’t have the most impressive resumes, it doesn’t concern me (I’m not sure I can say the same with the offense, but that’s for tomorrow’s article).
When it comes to putting together a defensive staff, Coach Odom’s track record speaks for itself.