Odom welcomes 2025 class

Purdue has added 29 players from the portal, in addition to nine high school recruits. Today, first-year Boilermaker coach Barry Odom added two more from the prep ranks during the second signing period. Add it all up: That’s a whopping 40 signees.

Purdue will start to fold in all of that new personnel during 15 allotted spring practices starting on March 4, concluding drills with a spring game on April 12.

Odom arrives from a successful two-year stint at UNLV (19-8 record; two division titles; two bowl bids), taking over a program coming off a two-year malaise that saw Purdue go 5-19 overall and 3-15 in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers hit a nadir in 2024, going 1-11 (0-9 Big Ten), losing their last 11 games. The lone victory came in the opener vs. FCS Indiana State.

Bottom line: Odom has his work cut out for him.

Following are five takeaways from Odom’s press conference on Wednesday in Mackey Arena.

1 Get used to big classes

Purdue announced the arrival of 40 players in its 2025 class. That number includes 29 portal additions and 11 high school players. Of that 40, 35 are mid-year enrollees. Brace yourself for more mass tumult in the future.

“I think anyone that now has studied what roster management looks like, has studied the recruiting trends, I think those numbers are going to remain consistent, and then, as we go forward with 40 and 40 plus,” said Odom. “The last two cycles that I was a part of before this one was we signed 50. And then before that, 55.”

2 – Needs remain

Odom said the roster is still a work in progress and he will lean on the spring portal window to augment his personnel. That window opens April 16-25.

“We will be really aggressive in the next portal window,” said Odom. “We have a number of spots that are still of need, and then also the development of what our team looks like as we get through the 15 practices of spring ball and how we can develop that group and putting them in a position to go play winning football next season.”

Odom said the team could use some offensive linemen and defensive backs to get through spring drills. He may look to walk-ons for help.

3 – UNLV voices

Much is made about a new head coach bringing players with him from his previous job to help integrate the culture and process. To that end, seven UNLV players transferred to Purdue to follow Odom.

“We brought a number of guys that I coached before,” said Odom. “We brought even more than that that I knew before from recruiting or somebody in the building did that were coaching somewhere else. And I think that gives us a platform to actually expedite the process just a little bit faster.

“It’s fun in the locker room when you walk through there and you hear guys that you coached before already talking about the next step, and talking about what the winning edge looks like on the drills that we’re about to take over. And you know that there is a voice away from the voice, and you know how powerful that is with our student-athletes that you’re familiar with.”

4 – Four QBs in tow

The staff added four signal-callers, three portal additions in Malachi Singleton, EJ Colson and Evans Chuba and a prep signee in Garyt Odom, who is the son of Barry Odom. Know this: “I think all for the guys have the ability to be dual-threat players in our offense,” said Odom.

Expect “great competition” in the spring. The battle for No. 1 is just beginning.

5 – Questions asked most on recruiting trail

Players wanted to get to know Odom and his staff. Who are these guys? What’s the program gonna look like?

And there was this query: How is Odom gonna get Purdue fixed?

“I think that’s a very honest and pure question, and one that I believe in our foundation, I believe in our formula, I believe in our coaches,” said Odom. “And I think there’s a track record there that it’s pretty easy for me to point to, to say how we’ve done it before, and how we’re going to do it here.”

PURDUE 2025 FEBRUARY SIGNEES

Player, Pos., Ht./Wt.	Hometown/high school
Mason Alnutt, DE, 6-3/250	Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius
Maxwell Barbee, DB, 6-2/185	Long Beach, Calif./Wilson

MORE: Who jumped in the portal for Purdue? | Who is coming from the portal? | Purdue 2025 newcomer roster |  GoldandBlack.com content hub: Welcome to the Barry Odom era | Purdue 2025 commitments

Transfer portal additions (29)

Pos. Player: Story (commitment date)	Former school
QB Malachi Singleton: Story (12/19/24)	Arkansas
LB Alex Sanford: Story (12/22/24)	Arkansas
LB Carson Dean: Story (12/22/24)	Arkansas
QB EJ Colson: Story (12/22/24)	Central Florida
OL Hank Purvis: Story (12/22/24)	UNLV
OL Mason Vicari: Story (12/22/24)	UNLV
FB Christian Moore: Story (12/23/24)	UNLV
S Tahj Ra-El: Story (12/24/23)	Memphis
OL Jalen “Chop” St. John: Story (12/24/24)	UNLV
TE Christian Earls: Story (12/25/24)	UNLV
WR Charles Ross: Story (1/2/25)	USC
CB Tony Grimes: Story (1/2/25)	UNLV
LB Mani Powell: Story (1/3/24)	UNLV
DE CJ Nunnally: Story (1/3/24)	Akron
TE Luca Puccinelli: Story (1/4/25)	Wake Forest
QB Evans Chuba: Story (1/4/25)	Washington State
WR Chauncey Magwood: Story (1/4/25)	UCF
RB Malachi Thomas: Story (1/5/25)	Virginia Tech
OL Giordano Vaccaro: Story (1/5/25)	University of Manitoba
P Sam Dubwig: Story (1/5/25)	Arkansas
S Richard Toney: Story (1/6/25)	TCU
DE Breeon Ishmail: Story (1/6/25)	Michigan
WR Isaiah Myers: Story (1/6/25)	Charlotte
WR Nathan Leacock: Story (1/6/25)	Tennessee
CB Ryan Turner: Story (1/7/25)	Boston College
WR EJ Horton: Story (1/7/25)	Florida Atlantic
S Crew Wakley: Story (1/8/25)	BYU
CB Chad Brown: Story (1/9/25)	Nevada
DE/DT TJ Lindsay: Story (1/11/25)	Auburn

High school additions (11)

Position Player	Ht, Wt. hometown (state) high school
DE Mason Alnutt	6-3, 250 East Amherst (N.Y.) Canisius
DB Maxwell Barbee	6-2, 185 Long Beach (Calif.) Wilson
DE  Landon Brooks*	6-6, 210 Muncie (Ind.) Delta
S Vi’Naz Cobb*	6-1, 190 St. Louis Cardinal Ritter
TE Jon Grimmett*	6-4, 220 Pauls Valley (Okla.) Pauls Valley
LB Parker Meese*	6-2, 215 Dallas Fayetteville, Ark.
QB Garyt Odom*	6-2, 180 Fayetteville (Ark.) Fayetteville
CB Zyntreacs Otey	5-11, 165 Mufreesboro (Tenn.) Battle Ground Academy
RB Ziaire Stevens*	5-10, 170 Akron (Ohio) East
LB Sam Steward	6-2, 205 Fort Wayne (Ind.) Homestead
RB Jaron Thomas	6-0, 200 Elkhart (Ind.) Concord

* mid-year enrollee