Barry Odom’s success at UNLV is potentially leading him to another power conference head coaching job.
Sources told Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger that Odom is in line to be the next head coach at Purdue. UNLV went 10-3 in 2024 as Odom will replace Ryan Walters following a 1-11 season for the Boilermakers.
Purdue is targeting UNLV’s Barry Odom to be its next head coach, sources tell @YahooSports. The deal is not finalized, but the sides are working towards an agreement.
Odom went 19-8 in two seasons in Las Vegas and was 25-25 at Missouri before that.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 8, 2024
Odom has been at UNLV for two seasons and the Rebels are 19-8 in that time. He got the job with the Rebels after spending time at Arkansas’ as the Razorbacks’ defensive coordinator. Odom joined Arkansas after a four-year stint as Missouri’s head coach.
Odom was Mizzou’s coach from 2016 through 2019. The Tigers were 4-8 in his first season but went to bowl games in each of his final three seasons. Odom was fired at the end of the 2019 regular season after the Tigers went 6-6.
The former Missouri linebacker inherits a massive rebuilding job with the Boilermakers. Purdue was perhaps the worst power-conference team in college football this past season. The Boilermakers’ only win came against an FCS opponent and they were outscored by an average of 40-16 over the course of the season. The team was shut out three times — including in a season-ending 66-0 loss to Indiana — and lost five of its nine conference games by 35 or more points.
The Rebels had a chance to make the College Football Playoff with a win over Boise State on Friday night but lost 21-7 to the Broncos. 2024 was the first 10-win season in program history since UNLV went 11-2 under Harvey Hyde in 1984 and the offense didn’t miss a beat when QB Hajj-Malik Williams took over for Matthew Sluka three games into the season after Sluka left the team over what he said were unfulfilled NIL promises.