UNLV To Purdue Flip Profile: Parker Meese

A linebacker from Arkansas has entered the chat.

With the hiring of Barry Odom came some ‘croots previously committed to UNLV. Today’s feature is a linebacker from Arkansas and high school teammate of new quarterback signee Garyt Odom.

A composite three star, Parker Meese had been committed to UNLV for almost a full year before the coaching changes. He previously attended Parish Episcopal in Dallas, Texas before moving to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he played with the younger Odom at Fayetteville High School.

This young man had a ton of offers, having been offered scholarships from the likes of Michigan, Penn State, Oregon, Texas A&M, and Arkansas. He seems glued to working with the Odoms.

Meese is already borderline college-size and I like his film, what little I can find of it. Having good rapport with the incoming quarterback can’t hurt. And with that we will take a look.

What he brings to Purdue:

Meese is really solid at diagnosing plays in short-yardage situations. I like his vision on run plays and his ability to read RPO’s. Good east-to-west speed; he’s good at tracking guys down who were missed by others. He’s got a penchant for putting himself in the right place at the right time. He makes his own luck, if you will.

As you can see in this older film, he hits hard but had trouble outmuscling ball carriers in one-on-one tackle situations. I would assume this is a problem that has been fixed with natural growth over the last two years, but that’s the only worrisome thing that would make me draw back from saying “yeah, this guy can be a really good inside linebacker.”

Projection:

Redshirt and special teams duty in his four allotted games next season.

The kid’s got the components of what makes a great inside linebacker, but his recruitment peaked as a junior and he’s now seen more as a diamond in the rough. I do not expect him to change positions as I think he is built to play right where he is in the defense.

Let’s look beyond his initial learning phase, though.

As a redshirt freshman, I see plenty of special teams duty and cleanup duty (end of game) linebacking across the whole 2026 season, but I don’t expect him to crack the two-deep until his redshirt sophomore year in 2027. Beyond that, though, I mean the kid’s got plenty of tools to be successful and Barry Odom has made a killing with three star defensive players from Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma (and obviously Missouri) in his work at Mizzou and UNLV. Meese is in good hands to blossom under the elder Odom’s tutelage.