Purdue football finished last season at the bottom of the Big Ten, losing all nine conference contests and winning just one game. This year, new head coach Barry Odom hopes to usher in a new era, guided by 16 established core values.
Former UNLV head coach Barry Odom is entering his first year in charge of the Boilermakers’ football program, a season in which Purdue is projected to finish dead-last in the Big Ten Conference.
Odom’s not letting that get him down, though. Plus, he got a boost from CBS Sports Tuesday, ranked No. 14 among the 18 conference coaches.
It’s important for the new coach to differentiate this season from those prior. Odom spoke Thursday afternoon on the final Big Ten Football Media Day in Las Vegas and shared his enthusiasm ahead of the 2025 season.
“We're evolving every single day as a team and I believe that we're making great progress. We established 16 core values of our team and our program, and we call it The Purdue Way. Those values, it is a natural fit for Purdue football,” Odom explained. “But there's strong alignment, there's tremendous vision and work ethic every single day to create habits for a team, our staff has blended really, really well together, and I believe that that will prove a huge advantage for this team, hope, vision and belief, and soon enough, we'll have validation on the things that we've started building this program.”
For Odom, it’s important to focus on the future rather than the past. The Boilermakers ended last season 1-11 overall and 0-9 in the Big Ten for a last-place conference finish.
“We're always judged by our moments and our experiences,” Odom said. “I look at the opportunity at Purdue, I didn't have anything to do with last year. I also didn't have anything to do with three years ago, when Purdue was in the Big Ten Championship. We'll be defined by what we do.”
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Despite the negative projections of the team, Odom has confidence in his squad.
“From the day that we got the job, every single day, our approach is you get up and you make Purdue football better, and you find a way to consistently instill those habits in everyone around the organization. Then by the time that the season rolls around, we'll be ready to be the best versions of ourselves,” Odom said. “As I watch our team continue to build, we're showing the characteristics of a winning team. They have a high level of commitment. They've been very enthusiastic, and they've been hungry to thrive in the process of what it takes to play winning football.”
Category: General Sports
