The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Barry Odom

Followed Marcus Arroyo. Barry Odom moved UNLV from Regional Program IV to Regional Program III in 2 seasons.

Peak, then fade
47–43
2016–now · 3 stints
← all coaches

In his own words

I didn’t until Saturday night
FOX Sports · · 3 days after Purdue's 2026 opener

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerMISSOURIUNLVPURDUEPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelMissouri, 2016: 4-8, National Program I2016Missouri, 2017: 7-6, National Program I2017Missouri, 2018: 8-5, Power Program III2018Missouri, 2019: 6-6, National Program I2019-0.6UNLV, 2023: 9-5, Regional Program IV2023UNLV, 2024: 11-3, Regional Program III2024+6.6Purdue, 2025: 2-10, Regional Program II2025Purdue, 2026: in progress, Regional Program III2026-1.8One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 3rd career season — faster than 46% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #194 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Missouri, 4 seasons
−0.6
National Program I → National Program I.
UNLV, 2 seasons
+6.6
Regional Program IV → Regional Program III.
Purdue, 2 seasons (active)
−1.8
Regional Program II → Regional Program III.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

30%40%50%Missouri2016–2019▼ 3.1ptUNLV2023–2024▼ 9.3ptPurdue2025–2026▼ 3.1pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)
How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints
Missouri3.1pt#246 of 258 · less than most

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

10–2 against his rivals. Winless in 4 tries against Kirby Smart.

Rivalry record
10–2
83.3% · 5 rivals
One-score games
10–16
38.5% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Buyout owed
$25,125,000 (est.)
bigger than 73% of FBS buyouts
Rivalry ledger
Vanderbilt3–175%
Arkansas3–0100%
Hawai'i2–0100%
Nevada2–0100%
Indiana0–10%
The toughest matchup
vs. Kirby Smart0–4
4 meetings, 2016–2019
’16 L · blew a 10-pt lead’17 L’18 L’19 L
0% win rate across a real, 4-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
0–1 0.0%
Blue Blood
0–4 0.0%
Power Program
5–19 20.8%
National Program
8–7 53.3%
Regional Program
22–10 68.8%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact
+0.19
#87 of 319 · a typical amount
Defense marginal impact
-0.18
#259 of 325 · less than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

What fans are saying

Fan claims · every quote verified verbatim

program directionOne fan's take that season

One fan believes Barry Odom is improving player development

Congrats to Barry Odom and Purdue… you guys fought hard and man is this program headed in the right direction. Good luck to y’all the rest of the season!

Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Sep 13, 2026 · via PurdueSports

Show all 2
program directionOne fan's take

One fan believes Barry Odom is rebuilding Purdue through the portal, but question whether progress will translate into wins

Odom's shown he can build (he turned UNLV around fast), but the schedule grades 14th-toughest in the country, so even real progress might not show up in the win column.

Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Jul 30, 2026 · via Boilermakers

Coaching career

2025–now
Purdue
too new to grade yet

20th-best Purdue tenure of 21 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Underperforms his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent
-36.3 pts
#206 of 208 · less than most
Defense vs. talent
-49.5 pts
#209 of 208 · less than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Ryan Walters (2023–2024).

Season20252026Trend
Record & result
Record2–100–0
Postseason
Recruiting rank#99#55
Style — pass rate
Pass rate51.848.7
Coordinators
OCJosh HensonJosh Henson
DCMichael SchererKevin Kane
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense1752
Defense347
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%49.450.0
Red-zone pass%40.246.3
4th-down go%opp. territory32.4
Roster construction · portal era

A portal-built roster.

Portal arrivals
80
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
80
left via the portal
Net portal flow
0
#3 of 187 FBS stints
Who they bring in

Brings in bigger-than-position-typical players than most.

Recruits younger transfers than most — more of a development bet.

Avg. size (raw)
6′2″, 252 lbs
across 64 of 80 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
+12.2 lbs
#2 of 255 · more than most
Avg. class year
Jr
#254 of 255 · less than most
Top states: GA (7), FL (7), OH (5), MS (4), CA (3)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
56.1
position-weighted
Talent lost
58.5
position-weighted
Net
-2.4
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Malachi Singleton (QB) from Arkansas
Biggest loss: Marcos Davila (QB) to Nebraska
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
DC: Michael Scherer → Kevin Kane · 2026
3rd pct47th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys P via the portal
100%
#1 of 29 stints
Buys Wide receiver via the portal
79%
#12 of 243 stints

1 NFL Draft pick: Marcus Mbow (2025)

AI Narratives — “Purdue — stat check”.

2–10
2023–2024
UNLVcaretaker🏆 coach of the year
Regional Program IV → Regional Program III
Barry Odom moved UNLV from Regional Program IV to Regional Program III in 2 seasons.

5th-best UNLV tenure of 12 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Outperforms his recruiting talent on offense and performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
+32.2 pts
#12 of 208 · more than most
Defense vs. talent
-2.9 pts
#118 of 208 · a typical amount
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Marcus Arroyo (2020–2022) · succeeded by Dan Mullen (2025–2026).

Season20232024Trend
Record & result
Record9–511–3
PostseasonL bowlW bowl
Recruiting rank#131#76
Style — pass rate
Pass rate42.933.6
Coordinators
OCBrennan MarionBrennan Marion
DCMichael SchererMichael Scherer
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense8265
Defense276
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%37.936.4
Red-zone pass%26.836.1
4th-down go%opp. territory36.131.5
Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals
28
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
37
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-9
#82 of 187 FBS stints
Who they bring in

Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.

Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.

Avg. size (raw)
6′2″, 225 lbs
across 21 of 28 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
+3.8 lbs
#126 of 255 · a typical amount
Avg. class year
Sr
#4 of 255 · more than most
Top states: CA (3), AR (3), NC (2), FL (2), MO (2)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
52.5
position-weighted
Talent lost
55.0
position-weighted
Net
-2.5
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Matthew Sluka (QB) from Holy Cross
Biggest loss: Jayden Maiava (QB) to USC
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Roster size, by position
Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)
Quarterback
219 lbs
6′3″ avg · #208 of 767 · a typical amount
Running back
197 lbs
5′10″ avg · #718 of 791 · less than most
Wide receiver
179 lbs
5′11″ avg · #775 of 791 · less than most
Tight end
262 lbs
6′6″ avg · #12 of 731 · more than most
Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters
Interior line
311 lbs
6′5″ avg · #285 of 779 · a typical amount
D-line
280 lbs
6′3″ avg · #471 of 753 · a typical amount
Linebacker
230 lbs
6′2″ avg · #298 of 772 · a typical amount
Cornerback
190 lbs
6′1″ avg · #408 of 771 · a typical amount
Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys Safety via the portal
62%
#47 of 218 stints
Grows Interior line from high school
89%
#194 of 224 stints
Grows D-line from high school
100%
#214 of 239 stints
Postseason detail2023: Lost to Kansas 36–49 Guaranteed Rate Bowl2024: Beat California 24–13 Art of Sport LA Bowl

1 NFL Draft pick: Ricky White III (2025)

Coach of the Year: Mountain West Coach of the Year (2023)

1 player-season honored (All-America / national award): Jose Pizano (2023)

20–8
2016–2019
Missouricaretaker
Power Program III → Power Program III
Barry Odom held Missouri at Power Program III for 4 seasons.

6th-best Missouri tenure of 12 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent
+5.9 pts
#82 of 208 · a typical amount
Defense vs. talent
+6.0 pts
#78 of 208 · a typical amount
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Gary Pinkel (2001–2015) · succeeded by Eli Drinkwitz (2020–2026).

Season2016201720182019Trend
Record & result
Record4–87–68–56–6
PostseasonL bowlCFP loss
Recruiting rank#43#43#43#37
Style — pass rate
Pass rate47.346.944.944.1
Coordinators
OCJosh HeupelJosh HeupelDerek DooleyDerek Dooley
DCDeMontie Cross / Ryan WaltersRyan WaltersRyan WaltersRyan Walters
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense58918015
Defense33537484
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%48.146.940.941.7
Red-zone pass%32.446.434.543.1
4th-down go%opp. territory35.18.015.823.5
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
OC: Josh Heupel → Derek Dooley · 2018the offense collapsed across the change
75th pct48th pct0th100th
2-season window either side.
1st-down pass rate: 47.5% → 41.3% (-6.2 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 76% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
DC: DeMontie Cross / co-Ryan Walters → co-Ryan Walters · 2017
33rd pct53rd pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Tight end from high school
100%
#164 of 188 stints
Grows Edge from high school
100%
#191 of 208 stints
Postseason detail2017: Lost to Texas 16–33 Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl2018: Lost to Oklahoma State 33–38 CFP

9 NFL Draft picks: Evan Boehm (2016), Connor Mcgovern (2016), Kentrell Brothers (2016), Charles Harris (2017), J'Mon Moore (2018), Drew Lock (2019), Terry Beckner Jr. (2019), Jordan Elliott (2020) + 1 more

25–25
How to read this. Bands and archetypes come from the Zeitgeist List’s season-by-season stature model, and only apply once a stint clears 3 coached seasons in our ledger — a newer stint shows its real record with no stature judgment yet.