Head Coach Barry Odom Leaves UNLV For Purdue

Mark Morales-Smith | 19 Hours Ago

President of Purdue University Mung Chiang, Purdue football head coach Barry Odom, Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski and Purdue Board of Trustees chair Michael Berghoff pose for a photo Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, during the welcoming of Purdue football head coach Barry Odom at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. / Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Saturday, UNLV Rebels' head coach Barry Odom announced that he would be moving on from the Mountain West school and head to Big 10 to become the new head coach of the Purdue Boiler Makers. While this is a tough loss for UNLV, his time with the team was always viewed as a stepping stone to a larger program and a bigger paycheck.

That paycheck will be much bigger in Purdue. This season in Vegas he made $1.75 million. His new contract with Purdue is worth a minimum of $39 million over six years and at least $6 million per year.

It's hard to fault a guy for not passing up on that kind of a raise even if it stings a bit for UNLV faithful.  Odom leaves this program in a much better state than he found it in and in the capable hands of new head coach Dan Mullen. Mullen is the former head coach of Mississippi State University and more recently the former head coach at Florida. Without the success we've seen Odom have with the Rebels it's unlikely they would be able to hire a coach with a reputation like Mullen has. UNLV fans will get their first look at their new head coach on Wednesday, December 18th when the Rebels take on Cal in the LA Bowl. 

It's been an exciting run with Odom even if it was a short one, and the program took massive steps forward during his stint as the head coach. However, now is the time for the Rebels to look forward and not back. Mullen is more than capable of taking this team to even higher heights than Odom did as long as he continues to ride the wave of momentum that both the program and the Mountain West Conference are currently on. Don't worry Rebels' faithful, the future is bright in Vegas.