GoldandBlack.com Sunday night Purdue football chat: Barry Odom's hiring, staff, style, resources and more
GoldandBlack.com staffers Tom Dienhart, Alan Karpick and Brian Neubert take your questions and break down the Barry Odom hiring and what it means for Purdue Football.
Meet new Purdue coach Barry Odom
Purdue football is turning the page … again. The next coach up: Barry Odom, who will arrive in West Lafayette following a successful two-year run as UNLV coach.
Who is Odom? Following are some quick things to know about the new Boilermaker boss.
• 48 years old, born November 26, 1976, in Lawton, Okla.
• Grew up in Maysville, Okla., graduating from Ada High
• Played linebacker at Missouri from 1996-99, signed by the late Larry Smith
• Wore No. 39 to honor the year the University of Missouri started: 1839
• Team captain as a senior in 1999 at Mizzou, finishing his career with 362 tackles, seventh-most in school history. Odom helped the Tigers reach bowl games in 1997 and 1999.
• Degree in general studies, master’s in education
• First coaching job was at alma mater Ada High in 2000
• Became head coach of Rock Bridge High in Columbia, Mo., for two years: 2001 and 2002.
• Joined Missouri staff in 2003 as GA under Gary Pinkel, moving into director of recruiting role from 2004-05 and then director of football operations from 2006-08
• Got on the field from 2009-11 as Missouri safeties coach
• Defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at Memphis from 2012-14 under Justin Fuente
• Returned to Missouri in 2015 as DC/LB coach under Pinkel after Dave Steckel left to be head coach at Missouri State
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• Followed Pinkel as Missouri head coach in 2016, going 25-25 overall and 13-19 in the SEC. Best season was 2018, when he led the Tigers to an 8-5 record and Liberty Bowl berth. Also led MU to bowl in 2017 (Texas Bowl)
• Lost 35-3 to Purdue in Columbia in 2017; won 40-37 at Purdue in 2018
• Produced seven NFL draft picks while coaching Mizzou
• Joined Sam Pittman‘s Arkansas staff as assistant head coach/DC/safeties coach from 2020-22.
• Went 19-8 in two years at UNLV, making the Rebels bowl eligible each season. Was Mountain West coach of the year in 2023 after leading UNLV to a league title, 9-5 record and first-ever trip to the MWC title game (lost to Boise State). The program had not won nine games in a season since 1984
• Rebels went 10-3 in 2024, reaching the MWC title game again (lost to Boise State)
• UNLV salary: $1,750,000
• Wife Tia. Two sons, JT and Garyt, and a daughter, Anna. JT joined the Rebels as a linebacker in 2023. Garyt is a QB who signed with UNLV earlier this month
