New Purdue coach Barry Odom tries to make school's big investment pay off with dramatic turnaround
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 breaking Purdue's freshman rushing record. Now Mockobee is chasing the Boilermakers career mark. He enters this season needing 534 yards to become the fourth 3,000-yard rusher in school history and 1,170 yards to surpass Mike Alstott (3,635) for No. 1
'It's about grit,' Mockobee said. 'It's about getting that extra yard when other guys aren't going to fight for it and doing that on a consistent basis.'
Five for the show
Five players were competing for the starting quarterback job including Odom's son Gary, a true freshman. Three transfers — Evans Chuba of Washington State, Malachi Singleton of Arkansas and Bennett Meredith of Arizona State — took snaps in spring practice. Ryan Browne made two starts last year and rejoined the mix this summer after playing spring ball at North Carolina.
Odom said his decision ahead of the Aug. 30 season opener against Ball State would be based on several factors.
'We want to take care of the ball, move the ball, execute on third downs, score points,' he said. 'We want to play with mental strain, extra effort, toughness and competitiveness.'
COVID hangover
One lesson Odom took out of the COVID-19 pandemic was the importance of training players to perform at multiple positions. Back then, the defensive coordinator did it out of necessity because of the uncertainty who might be available. Since then, Odom continued cross-training players because he thought it made those players better.
The schedule
Schedule-makers didn't make it any easier this year for Purdue than last year. The Boilermakers open league play by hosting Southern Cal in Week 3. They visit No. 6 Notre Dame in Week 4 and after a manageable October have four brutal November games — trips to No. 14 Michigan and Washington sandwiched around a home game against No. 3 Ohio State. They also host No. 20 Indiana in the traditional season finale.
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