Talk about your poorly timed news releases.
On Sunday, Indiana-based college football programs IU and Notre Dame were reveling in their invitation to the College Football Playoff, and a highly anticipated head-to-head matchup on Dec. 20.
Meanwhile Purdue announced the hiring of new head coach Barry Odom following a 1-11 season that included losses to IU and Notre Dame by a combined score of 132-7.
Did you notice?
Odom, 48, becomes the 38th head coach in the history of Purdue Football, coming to West Lafayette following one of the best seasons in UNLV’s school history. The Rebels reached double-digit wins for only the third time in program history (1974, 1984), with both previous seasons predating the program’s move up to Division I competition and the Mountain West Conference, respectively.
National recognition has followed, as the Rebels achieved a program-best No. 19 ranking in both the AP and Coaches polls, as well as their first-ever CFP ranking.
But Odom’s coaching resume is not without a major red flag. We Googled him, and he hasn’t won consistently.
He was fired by his alma mater Missouri after a 5-1 2019 season turned into 6-6.
While he did well at UNLV, Odom is 44-33 (.571) in six years as a head coach, including just 25-25 in four seasons at Missouri, where he had a 13-19 record in the SEC. Odom replaced Gary Pinkel, the all-time winningest coach in Missouri history. He went 118-73.
Also, UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka decided in September to sit out the rest of the season over a $100,000 NIL payment that was promised but never paid after he agreed to transfer to the Rebels from Holy Cross last winter. That situation will likely give competing programs a useful tool to use in recruiting against Odom.
Odom brings a defensive background, as he was a star linebacker at Missouri and has worked as the defensive coordinator at Memphis, Missouri and Arkansas.
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