After a remarkable resurgence with UNLV's dormant program, Barry Odom is now set to take on the significant task of rejuvenating Purdue football. This news was first brought to light by Yahoo's Ross Dellenger. Odom, a former Missouri linebacker, has an impressive coaching record of 44-33 in six years as a head coach, with only the first season at his alma mater resulting in a losing record.

Competitive Dynamics and Challenges

During the week-long search for Ryan Walters' replacement, it became increasingly likely that the next coach would be involved in a conference championship game. Odom's Runnin' Rebels faced a setback as they lost to Boise State in the Mountain West Championship Game for the second consecutive year. At Missouri, Odom experienced a similar competitive landscape compared to the SEC's national powers. UNLV had only 29 wins in nine seasons before his hire in 2022 and only two seasons with more than eight victories since 1978.In his debut season at UNLV in 2023, the Runnin' Rebels went 9-5 and reached the Mountain West Championship game. This year, with a 10-2 regular season, they returned to the championship but lost to playoff-bound Boise State 21-7. Odom's defensive background influenced Athletic Director Mike Bobinski's decision not to hire an offensive coach to succeed the defensive-minded Walters. The next big question is whether UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion will join Odom.Odom inherited a program coming off a 1-11 season, with a 11-game losing streak after a season-opening victory over FCS Indiana State. The streak included the most lopsided loss in program history against Notre Dame (66-7) and a more decisive defeat (66-0) at playoff-bound Indiana in the Old Oaken Bucket game.The new coach inherits a roster in transition, as is typical with coaching changes. As of Saturday evening, 19 Purdue players had entered the NCAA transfer portal. Some key players like safety Dillon Thieneman, tight end Max Klare, defensive end Will Heldt, and quarterbacks Ryan Browne and Marcos Davila are keeping their options open and could return depending on the new coach.Although Odom's most recent experience was at the Group of Five level, he spent most of his career in the Big 12 and SEC. His college coaching career started at Missouri, where he climbed the ranks from graduate assistant to director of recruiting and then to position coach over safeties and linebackers. He later left for three seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Memphis before returning to the Tigers as Gary Pinkel's defensive coordinator in 2015 and taking over the following season.Missouri had a 4-8 record in Odom's first season and improved to 7-6 in his second. The Tigers returned to the AP Top 25 poll in 2018 with an 8-5 record but were 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 at the end, too,” Odom said on the Coaches and the Mouth podcast last summer. “You live and you learn. But I also look at it as if we had NIL the way it’s rolling out, we probably could have recruited a little differently at my alma mater.”Odom spent three seasons as defensive coordinator on Sam Pittman's Arkansas staff. He was hired to transform a UNLV program that had been to only one bowl game in 22 seasons and none in the previous nine. Now, he is tasked with elevating a program that has tasted success and expects to do so again soon.