INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Barry Odom is getting a second chance to put a Power Four program back to prominence.
He can't wait.
Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski announced Sunday he had hired the 48-year-old Odom to replace Ryan Walters, who was fired last week after compiling a 5-19 record in two seasons in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Odom, who spent most of his coaching career working with defenses, reinvented himself at UNLV with a wide-open offense that produced back-to-back Mountain West Conference runner-up finishes. This year, the Rebels went 10-3 — their best record in 40 years — and finished 14th in the FBS in scoring at 36.