Odom Never Intended to Leave Arkansas as Defensive Coordinator
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Barry Odom found an opportunity to coach with Sam Pittman, though not as Missouri’s head coach. When first-time coach Sam Pittman needed an assistant with head coaching experience, Odom, the former Missouri coach, was the perfect fit.
Odom, who wanted to stay in the SEC after his abrupt firing by the Tigers, found Group of Five head coaching opportunities available but preferred to remain in the most competitive conference in college football, aiming to prove himself and eventually return to a head coaching role.
After being dismissed from Missouri, Arkansas provided Odom a chance to showcase his defensive expertise, as he had at Memphis and Missouri in 2014 and 2015. Odom had to be innovative in his defensive play-calling.
Under Odom’s leadership, Arkansas reached No. 39 in scoring defense and No. 50 in total defense in the 2021 season, the best defensive rankings since Pittman’s tenure began in 2020.
The 2022 season in Fayetteville was challenging, with the defense underperforming and various struggles. Odom has acknowledged these difficulties.
During that time, college football was undergoing significant changes, including navigating NIL, transfer portal opportunities, and severe injuries to an entire position group. Arkansas faced a road game at BYU without six key secondary players, a situation no coaching experience could adequately prepare for.
Despite the on-field struggles in 2022, Odom remained highly sought after by smaller schools and was linked to the vacant Tulsa job before accepting the head coaching position at UNLV. However, leaving Arkansas wasn’t easy.
“When the UNLV job opened, I wasn’t looking to leave Arkansas because I loved it there so much,” Odom said. “I thought we had a good defensive class coming in and a good defensive opportunity for 2023.”
“I also know that if you have the itch to be a head coach and an opportunity comes along, you can only say no so many times before they stop offering.”
UNLV, previously an afterthought in college football, quickly turned around with a solid coaching staff and buy-in from talented transfers and returnees.
UNLV finished 9-5 overall, earning a spot in the Mountain West Conference championship game against Boise State. It was their most wins since 1984, only the second season above .500 since 2000, and their first winning season since 2013.
“I’ve recruited Las Vegas for many years and saw enough opportunity there for a winning program,” Odom said. “With the current state of college football, I was really excited about [UNLV] and decided to seize the opportunity. In 19 months, we’ve made significant progress.”
