MORE THAN CHALLENGES

Coach Barry Odom ready to write Purdue football’s next chapter

Coming off arguably its worst season since launching college football in 1887, Purdue needed a coach with experience turning a losing program into a winner.

Enter Barry Odom, who comes to Greater Lafayette after leading the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to the winningest two-year stretch since the Runnin’ Rebels became an NCAA Division I program.

Last season’s 10-3 record was UNLV’s best season in 40 years. In Odom’s first season on the Las Vegas campus, the Runnin’ Rebels were 9-5.

The five seasons before Odom’s arrival, UNLV had a combined 20 victories.

Odom is no stranger to Ross-Ade Stadium, guiding Missouri to a dramatic 40-37 victory against Purdue in 2018.

“I thought it was one of the greatest atmospheres I’ve gotten to coach in,” Odom says. “If you do it the right way, we will turn Ross-Ade into one of the greatest environments there is in college football.”

Other than the fact last season’s 1-11 record opened the door for Odom to replace Ryan Walters, the 38th football coach in Purdue history isn’t looking back.

“Fortunately, we get to play the games,” Odom says. “We don’t have to live on history or tradition.

Last year, I had nothing to do with. I also didn’t have anything to do with three years ago. All that we can look at is what have we done from the first day on the job together up to this point.

“If you prepare the right way, if you recruit the right way, if you coach the right way and a little luck falls in your favor, it doesn’t matter the logo of your opponent. Your opponent is yourself. We’re going to get into a numbing state of what preparation looks like. If we do it the right way, when we run out of Tiller Tunnel it won’t matter who is on the sideline. We’ll be ready to go play our best ball.”

Odom’s blueprint for success at UNLV included mining the transfer portal for talent. In his first season, 55 transfers joined the Runnin’ Rebels. Another 50 arrived in 2024.

Much of Purdue’s roster had departed for the transfer portal, including All-American safety Dillon Thieneman to Oregon, tight end Max Klare to Ohio State and defensive end Will Heldt to Clemson.

“I knew that it would be a complete, at some positions, roster change and overhaul,” Odom says. “I knew what we needed to do to put together a team for 2025. We were very deliberate about that. Our coaching staff did a nice job of identifying players they thought could come here and help us win, that fit what we were looking for.”

As of early June, Purdue has welcomed 55 transfers. It is possible the Boilermaker offensive and defensive starting lineups will each have eight or nine newcomers.

“There’s good and bad with everything,” Odom says. “I choose to look at the good side of things. There’s the positive side of having an opportunity to recruit young men to Purdue. We’re a high school recruiting team as well as very aggressive in the transfer portal market. I think there’s opportunities that you can provide some depth and experience on your team through that way of recruiting.

“Building a foundation with strong high school recruiting is also important. We’ve had a blend of both of those that I think will help our 2025 team.”

There are a few familiar names who chose to stay at Purdue. One of them, senior running back Devin Mockobee, has a good chance of becoming just the fourth player in Purdue history to rush for 3,000 career yards.

“I’m excited about having the chance to coach him,” Odom says. “Academically, socially and athletically – he checks the boxes. He’s all in. He gives great effort. Guys look to him as a leader, and we expect him to have a tremendous senior year.

“We can win with guys like Mockobee. We can win with guys like Ethan Trent [the brother of the late Purdue super fan Tyler Trent was given a scholarship this spring by Odom]. We can win with (Joey) Tanonas, because they care. Their work ethic is off the charts. They set the example in a lot of ways when there wasn’t an example.”

Born to be a coach

Odom was born Nov. 26, 1976, in Lawton, Oklahoma, and raised in Maysville –deep in the heart of Oklahoma Sooner football country.

“During that time the Oklahoma Sooners were in the heyday of (Barry) Switzer winning national championships or competing for one every year. Where I grew up was about an hour away from their campus. I was able to see them firsthand at a very early age.”

Like his Purdue counterpart, men’s basketball coach Matt Painter, Odom decided early in life he wanted to be a coach.

“I was lucky,” Odom says. “Starting in Pee Wee baseball all the way up through my senior year in high school in baseball, basketball, track and football, I had very influential coaches. I was fortunate to be in communities that supported extra-curricular activities. It was something I enjoyed, seeing how my coaches put teams together, the things it took to have a chance to be successful. It’s something I’ve always wanted to be a part of.”

Odom earned a scholarship to Missouri, where he was a four-year letter winner at linebacker from 1996-99. When Odom graduated, he was ranked among Missouri’s all-time top 10 tacklers with 362.

Odom was high on Purdue Athletic Director Mike Bobinski’s list of candidates to replace Walters, who was dismissed a day after the worst loss in school history, 66-0 at Indiana.

“When it was known that Purdue had made a change, there was contact with officials from Purdue and my representatives to see if there was mutual interest. There was,” Odom says. “We interviewed a couple of different occasions, had good phone conversations and it led to them offering the job.”

Besides the significant pay raise, a reported six-year contract worth at least $39 million, Odom had other reasons for wanting the Purdue job.

Boilermakers To Watch

►Devin Mockobee - Senior running back goes into season with 2,462 yards and 19 TDs.

►Ryan Browne - Quarterback threw for 297 yards and rushed for 118 in first career start at Illinois in 2024.

►George Burhenn - 2022 Indiana Mr. Football Tight End, missed most of 2024 with injury.

►Joey Tanona - Former four-star offensive tackle missed two years of football at Notre Dame after auto accident, came back to play 10 games in 2024 at Purdue.

►CJ Madden - The 6-4, 270-pound defensive end is one of the few returning players on defense.

►Jammarion Harkless - The 6-3, 340-pound defensive tackle showed promise as a freshman.

►Tony Grimes - Cornerback followed Odom from UNLV.

►Jalen St. John - Massive (6-5, 325) offensive lineman was second-team All-Mountain West at UNLV.

►Nitro Tuggle - Indiana native comes home after one season at Georgia. It’s hoped he becomes the No. 1 wide receiver on the team.

►Braydn Joiner - The 6-2, 328-pound guard made SEC All-Freshman Team a year ago at Auburn.

“The thing that I looked at here was No. 1, leadership from Mike Bobinski and (Purdue University President) Mung Chiang,” Odom says. “The alignment, the vision, the support, the fan base, the passion, the energy, the conference, geographic location. All of those things went into it. Every job or new beginning there’s going to be challenges. I would choose to look at it more as opportunities than challenges.”

In addition to a handful of assistant coaches, Odom also brought along seven players from UNLV, a handful of recruits who had been committed to the Runnin’ Rebels and a philosophy called “The Winning Edge.”

While serving as a graduate assistant at Missouri, Odom met the coach who would introduce him to the Winning Edge concept.

“Most of the things structurally in our program are a direct correlation of working for Gary Pinkel for the number of years that I did,” Odom says. “That’s something he ran when he was the head coach at Missouri. I know he did it at Toledo before then and at Washington when he was offensive coordinator and Don James was head coach.

“There’s been some adjustments over the years to what that looks like, but the belief and the foundation of what that program looks like from the attention to detail, the focus, the mental capacity that it takes and the physical strain to emulate a football play. It takes organization and it takes ability as a coaching staff to be able to make sure every drill is done effectively, efficiently and the right way to benefit your team. We are going to be great teachers to show the team what it needs to look like and the reasons why. It will be a foundation piece of our program forever.”

Odom makes his Purdue coaching debut Aug. 30 when Ball State comes to Ross-Ade Stadium. While fans acquaint themselves with the new names wearing gold and black, they should also expect a 180-degree difference in attitude and effort from a year ago.

“They’re going to see a team that is prepared, that is excited to play with energy and enthusiasm, a disciplined football team that plays extremely hard and creates an exciting atmosphere to watch winning football,” Odom says. “It’s our job to play winning football, and I know at the end of the year I will be judged on 12 opportunities, turning that into 13 and plus from there.

“I think we’re going to have an exciting roster. There will be a group of people who will have no idea when we take the field on Aug. 30 who one or two or maybe 15 specific guys are, but they are going to appreciate the brand of football they play. They’re going to become a household name. It’s a blank sheet of paper and we get to write our script.” ★

2025 Schedule

Aug. 30 vs. Ball State, noon (BTN)

Sept. 6 vs. Southern Illinois, 7:30 p.m. (BTN)

Sept. 13 vs. USC, 3:30 p.m. (CBS)

Sept. 20 at Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m. (NBC)

Oct. 4 vs. Illinois

Oct. 11 at Minnesota, 7 or 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 18 at Northwestern

Oct. 25 vs. Rutgers, noon

Nov. 1 at Michigan

Nov. 8 vs. Ohio State

Nov. 15 at Washington

Nov. 28 vs. Indiana, 7:30 p.m. (NBC)

(Note: times and TV for remaining games to be determined)