Purdue Coach Barry Odom Can End Century-Old Drought With Win Over Southern Illinois
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In just his second game at Purdue, coach Barry Odom has a chance to make program history. With a win over Southern Illinois on Saturday, Odom would become the first coach in over 100 years to start his tenure in West Lafayette with a 2-0 record.
The last Purdue coach to start a season 2-0 in his first season was Cleo O'Donnell in 1916. That year, the team began with wins over DePauw and Wabash before finishing the year with a 2-4-1 record.
O'Donnell coached Purdue for just two seasons (1916-17) and recorded a 5-8-1 record.
With Saturday's 31-0 win over Ball State, Odom became the first Purdue coach since Danny Hope (2009) to win his first game at the helm. Hope defeated Toledo to start the 2009 campaign with a 1-0 record.
If Purdue beats Southern Illinois this weekend, it will also be the team's first 2-0 start since the 2021 campaign. That year, the Boilermakers started the season with wins over Oregon State and UConn before dropping a contest to Notre Dame.
Can Odom lead his team to a victory and become the first coach in over 100 years to lead the Boilers to a 2-0 start in his first season? Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET from Ross-Ade Stadium and the game will air on Big Ten Network.
First-year records for Purdue's last 10 head coaches
How have Purdue's last 10 head coaches fared in their first season at the helm in West Lafayette? Here's a quick look at those records.
- Alex Agasse — 5-6, 4-4 in Big Ten (1973)
- Jim Young — 5-6, 3-5 in Big Ten (1977)
- Leon Burtnett — 3-8, 3-6 in Big Ten (1982)
- Fred Akers — 3-7-1, 3-5 in Big Ten (1987)
- Jim Colletto — 4-7, 3-5 in Big Ten (1991)
- Joe Tiller — 9-3, 6-2 in Big Ten (1997)
- Danny Hope — 5-7, 4-4 in Big Ten (2009)
- Darrell Hazell — 1-11, 0-8 in Big Ten (2013)
- Jeff Brohm — 7-6, 4-5 in Big Ten (2017)
- Ryan Walters — 4-8, 3-6 in Big Ten (2023)
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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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