The Indiana Hoosiers and in-state rival are on two opposite sides of the football world. Curt Cignetti and Indiana are having their best year in school history and earned a berth in the College Football Playoffs as the No. 10 seed. As for rival Purdue, they recently fired Ryan Walters after two season where he had a 5-19 record including a 66-0 loss to Indiana two weeks ago.
Purdue Boilermakers athletic director Mike Bobinski announced Sunday that he hired UNLV head coach Barry Odom to replace Walters in West Lafayette, Indiana.
“It is with tremendous honor and gratitude that I accept this opportunity to serve as the head football coach at Purdue University,” said Odom. “To coach at an institution like Purdue, in a community like Greater Lafayette and for a proud, tradition-rich and hungry football program like the Boilermakers is a dream come true for me and my family. I would like to thank Mike Bobinski for choosing me to lead Purdue Football, as well as extend my heartful thanks to University President Mung Chiang and Board Chair Mike Berghoff for their support. Their trust will be rewarded with a football program that will reflect the personality and excellence that Purdue is widely known for; character, intensity and a no-excuses winning attitude will be the foundation of what we will build at Purdue, and I can assure you it will be built to last. Most of all, my family cannot wait to become Boilermakers. We will get started in West Lafayette immediately.” – Barry Odom per Purdue Sports
Odom went 19-8 in two seasons with UNLV after going 25-25 in his previous head coaching stint at Missouri from 2016-19.
The Boilermakers went 1-11 in 2024 and finished the season with 11 consecutive losses, with the only win coming against Western Illinois.
Purdue has a lot to do to catch up with rivals Indiana and Notre Dame. As of Sunday morning, 21 Purdue players have entered the transfer portal. College football’s free agency officially begins on Monday, Dec. 9. Purdue also lost 5 recruits before last week’s National Signing Day.
