Although their paths have not yet crossed, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said he has been impressed with the Purdue Boilermakers’ new head football coach.

Purdue Barry Odom recently hired48 years old, as the new head football coach. Odom has orchestrated some of the most impressive coaching work over the past two seasons, guiding UNLV to back-to-back Mountain West championship game appearances and defeating Power Four foes Houston and Kansas, this season.

The Rebels lost each of those Mountain West Championship games against Boise State, but Odom compiled a 19-8 record with UNLV over the past two seasons, including a 10-3 mark this year.

Ferentz said that caught his and the Iowa staff’s attention.

“Huge respect for him, especially if you look at what he’s done here the last two years. I don’t mean this in a negative way about UNLV, but they’ve had several coaches there over the years and really never had any success, proven success, or continued success there.

“So I look at things sometimes, things catch your eye. I’ve told several people this year: the work they do there is simply incredible. I don’t pretend to know what they do or how they do it, except that I know they play very good football. I’ve never met him personally, but I’ve only heard positive things about him as a person and as a coach. I’m not surprised he has that kind of success there,” Ferentz said of Odom.

Odom also served as the head coach at his alma mater, Missouri, from 2016 to 2019. Odom was fired one day after the end of the regular season after the Tigers’ 6-6 mark during the 2019 season.

Odom compiled a record of 25-25 (13-19 SEC) during his four seasons with the Tigers.

Odom takes over a Purdue program that sank precipitously under Ryan Walters. Walters went just 5-19 in two seasons at Purdue and was fired after a season-ending 11-game losing streak.

In addition to his head coaching duties, Odom also worked as a defensive coordinator at Memphis, Missouri and Arkansas.

Iowa dominated Purdue 20-14 when the two teams last met in the 2023 season. Running back Kaleb Johnson, then a sophomore, totaled 134 yards, including his 67 rushing touchdown yards.

The Hawkeyes have won back-to-back games in the series. Iowa also beat Purdue, 24-3, in the 2022 season.

Purdue is not one of Iowa’s Scheduled Opponents during the 2025 college football season.

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