New Purdue coach Barry Odom tries to make school’s big investment pay off with dramatic turnaround

Three years after playing for a Big Ten title, the Purdue Boilermakers are starting over.

They hope to snap the FBS’ second-longest losing streak at 11, want to prove last season’s 1-11 mark was the aberration and are counting on a new coaching staff and a flurry of transfers to quickly restore the luster to the Cradle of Quarterbacks.

It’s quite a responsibility for new coach Barry Odom but he says he is already seeing progress.

“The habits are starting to show up,” he said early in summer camp. “We’re not making the same mistake two days in a row. We’re seeing some physicality at the line of scrimmage, both sides, and that’s good to see.”

Odom knows the signs after putting UNLV’s moribund program on the national map with the first back-to-back bowls in school history.

This job seems equally daunting following a forgettable season. Purdue had the two worst losses in school history and was the only Power Four school with fewer than two wins.

Before hiring Odom, athletic director Mike Bobinski promised to invest fully in the new pay-for-play college world and Odom has made it pay off. While some mainstays left, most notably All-American safety Dillon Thieneman, lOdom added an FBS-high 51 transfers and has 82 new players.

Other programs have successfully navigated massive transitions and now Odom is trying to help Purdue join the list.

“The whole locker room, even with the fresh set of guys, we’ve all come together fast,” said running back Devin Mockobee, the Boilermakers’ only returning starter. “I think we’re just a solid unit of guys, not just a bunch of individuals trying to play by themselves. So we talk about expectations, the expectation is to win.

Mock 4

Mockobee arrived on campus as a walk-on and earned his scholarship after…

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Publish date : 2025-08-20 17:38:00

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