Barry Odom Describes 'Pitch' to Transfers, Recruits to Come to Purdue
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Purdue was going to be a hard sell to transfers and recruits when Barry Odom was named the next head coach of the football program. The Boilermakers won just one game in 2024, one of the worst seasons in the program's history.
Yet Odom was able to assemble a complete roster — a necessity after so many players fled for the transfer portal at the conclusion of the last year. The Boilermakers are welcoming in more than 80 new players to West Lafayette, including 51 transfers.
What was Odom's pitch to bring in so many players to Purdue?
"Hope, vision, and belief — the opportunity to get an education from one of the greatest schools in the country, you're in the Big Ten Conference, and you get an opportunity to compete and play," Odom told Big Ten Network. "As a staff, we feel very confident in the blueprint we've got together, and we're going to go win games."
Odom has made it a point to avoid talking about Purdue's struggles last season. At Big Ten Media Days, he told reporters, "I didn't have anything to do with that, and neither did this team."
Still, the cloud that hangs over a program after such a disastrous year can be a deterrant for some players. Odom and his staff are hoping to change that, and quickly, to make Purdue a more appealing place to call home in the near future.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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