Surely 24 hours is enough to form every opinion necessary on Purdue football’s new head coach!
Yesterday, Purdue University announced the hiring of Barry Odom as the school’s 38th head football coach. Well, we’ve had time to sleep on it. How we feelin’ about the decision, Boiler fans?
Just a quick recap on his coaching history:
Defensive minded guy. Former linebacker at Missouri who got most of his experience in coaching, both as an assistant and as a head coach, at Mizzou.
Odom first became a head coach in 2016, when the long-time Missouri assistant was promoted from within to lead his alma mater.
Odom had a rough first year as Mizzou’s HC, not crazy considering his inexperience and the fact that he was inheriting a team being penalized for NCAA violations, going 4-8 in year one. He looked like he was putting things together as the Tigers posted a 7-5 record in his second season (I’m excluding a bowl loss here) and improved to an 8-4 season (excluding bowl loss again) in his third year.
He would not be retained following a 6-6 fourth season as head coach. As an SEC-adjacent person, I remember the firing quite well and being rather surprised he wasn’t given more time.
From there, Odom would be a defensive coordinator again, this time at Arkansas. He coached up solid defenses for three years and, after the conclusion of the 2022 regular season, Odom took UNLV’s offer to be their next head coach.
Odom’s two seasons with the Runnin’ Rebels were quite impressive. He took a previously 5-7 team and led them to a 9-3 regular season in year one and a 10-2 regular season in year two, qualifying for the Mountain West Conference title game both years.
Then, Purdue comes a-knockin’ in Las Vegas. He wanted the gig. He got the gig. Here we are. Boiler Up.
So how do we feel about this? We’ve seen some reactions, but tell me what you’re thinking the day after the white smoke emerged from the locomotive’s smokestack.
Personally, here’s my take after having time to think about it:
I did have a few immediate “that’s odd, but not the worst idea” thoughts before taking a second to consider all the upside.
Barry Odom is a great hire for Purdue, plain and simple. Sorry UNLV, but it’s always a good sign when internet commenters are bummed out when a coach is taken from them.
Odom all but revived UNLV’s stagnant, kind of crappy program. Add in that the general consensus from Missouri fans is that they still like him, he just wasn’t ready for the job yet, and they wish him well. That’s also good.
I don’t subscribe to the notion that you have to alternate between defensive- and offensive-minded head coaches after you fire one, but I have to say it’s a bit odd that you fire Ryan Walters to hire…the guy who taught Ryan Walters to be a good defensive coordinator…but let’s be real, Walters was in over his head, the program bottomed out so now Odom can rebuild his way, and hopefully that one Mizzou connection never becomes a talking point.
Odom can pull talent, but don’t magically expect a bunch of high four-stars committing immediately. We don’t get the new added benefit of him bringing a bunch of players with him through the transfer portal (UNLV was very senior-heavy this year), but Odom’s the type of guy who has succeeded in trusting his schemes without much, if any, blue-chip talent outside of Mizzou and Arky. And sometimes even at Mizzou and Arky.
Odom’s last recruiting class was ranked in the mid-70’s (exact number varies depending on which recruiting service you ask) when UNLV used to be floating down in the 100’s for years. With more resources and being in a Power Conference, more of those 4-stars will come his way. My next recruiting questions all have to do with donors pooling NIL but that’s its own snake pit of a topic to discuss.
Defensively, specifically in his work as a defensive assistant and defensive coordinator, his teams’ numbers have always been great and have, at times, helped bail out their less-than-stellar offense. I mean, he’s a defensive coach who played linebacker then coached at a school known for having historically nasty front sevens. I trust his scheming. He’s given good offenses fits of frustration. It’s the talent that coincides with executing his defense that’s the next step.
Like I said, Purdue hit rock bottom this year so at least that gives any hypothetical new guy a chance to build things from the bottom up this way! Silver linings! Yay!
This new guy happens to have a real defensive philosophy, has been in this position before, has hired some pretty good staff in the past, and I like all of those things.
Welcome, Coach Odom. I for one am glad you like trains.
What’s your take? Flamin’ hot, ice-cold, and room temperature all acceptable.