UNLV's Barry Odom expected to be hired by Boilers

After reviving the long-dormant UNLV program, Barry Odom is expected to take on the challenge of revitalizing Purdue football, according to a source familiar with the situation. The news was first reported by Ross Dellenger of Yahoo.

Odom, a former Missouri linebacker, is 44-33 in six years as a head coach and has only had a losing season in the first of four seasons at his alma mater.

As the search for a replacement for Ryan Walters dragged on throughout the week, it became increasingly likely that the next coach would be involved in a conference championship game this weekend. Odom’s Runnin’ Rebels lost to Boise State for the second straight year in the Mountain West Championship Game on Friday.

Walters worked for Odom at Missouri, serving as his safeties coach and defensive coordinator. The staff was laid off after a 6-6 regular season in 2019.

Athletic director Mike Bobinski said Monday he expects to find a candidate who is ready for college football’s changing landscape. That coach also had to be willing to accept a challenge — both because of the current roster situation and some of the resource disadvantages Purdue faces against the top of the Big Ten.

Odom, 48, experienced similar competitive dynamics in Missouri compared to the SEC’s national powers. UNLV’s two regular-season losses in 2024 came against nine-win Syracuse and top-20 Boise State. He took a program with almost no cache and brought it back to national relevance for the first time in decades.

UNLV had amassed just 29 total wins in nine seasons prior to Odom’s hiring after the 2022 season. Since 1978, there have only been two seasons with more than eight wins.

The Runnin’ Rebels went 9-5 in Odom’s 2023 debut and reached the Mountain West Championship game. They returned to this game after going 10-2 in the regular season this year and lost 21-7 to playoff contender Boise State on Friday.

Odom’s defensive background explains why Bobinski didn’t commit to hiring an offensive line coach to replace the defensive-minded Walters. The next interesting news will be whether UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion comes with Odom. He was mentioned as a potential candidate for other jobs as an energy conference coordinator.

UNLV improved in yards per game by 44^Th in Odom’s first season (6.13) at 29^Th (6.35). Marion favors a fast-paced “go-go” attack that utilizes various formations and multiple ball carriers to provide a downhill rushing attack.

Odom inherits a program from a 1-11 season and lost 11 straight after a season-opening win over FCS Indiana State. The series began with what was then the most lopsided loss in program history – 66-7 against Notre Dame. It ended in an even bigger loss – 66-0 to playoff contender Indiana in the Old Oaken Bucket game.

The new coach inherits a roster in transition — although this is true of any program undergoing a coaching change, and perhaps several others as well. As of Saturday evening, 19 Purdue players had entered their names in the NCAA transfer portal.

Some of the players each coach might be most interested in — safety Dillon Thieneman, tight end Max Klare, defensive end Will Heldt and quarterbacks Ryan Browne and Marcos Davila — kept their options open and could be pending findings on the Boilermakers return the identity of the new coach.

Although his most recent experience was at the Group of Five level, Odom spent the majority of his career in the Big 12 and SEC.

Odom’s college coaching career began with a rise through the ranks at Missouri, from graduate assistant to recruiting director to position coach for safeties and linebackers. He left Memphis for three seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. In 2015, he returned to the Tigers as Gary Pinkel’s defensive coordinator and took over the following season.

Missouri went 4-8 in Odom’s first season and then improved to 7-6 in his second. The Tigers returned to the AP Top 25 poll during his 8-5 2018 season. He was fired after a 6-6 finish in 2019 — including a five-game losing streak in the second half of the season.

“I thought I got a bad deal in the end, too,” Odom said on the “Coaches and the Mouth” podcast last summer. “You live and learn. But I also look at it like when we introduced NIL, we probably could have recruited something different at my alma mater.”

Odom spent three seasons as defensive coordinator on Sam Pittman’s Arkansas staff. He was hired to improve a UNLV program that had been to a bowl game in 22 seasons — and none in the last nine seasons.

Now he’s been tasked with driving a program that’s having more success, and he expects to have success again soon.

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