Purdue Coach Barry Odom: 'Nobody Wants to Hear Rebuild'

There is no question Barry Odom has a difficult task in his first season at Purdue. After a 1-11 year in 2024, the new Boilermakers leader is trying restore the program back to its winning ways. He's not going to make any excuses in Year 1, either.

Although last year was a struggle in West Lafayette, Odom refuses to use the word "rebuild" when talking about the upcoming college football season.

"Our players, the staff we brought here, the families, fans, nobody wants to hear that it's a rebuild," Odom said on the This is Purdue podcast. "I will not talk about that to our team. Our expectation is to set a standard every single day that only allows winning habits.

"When you do that, and you get everybody aligned with that, it becomes who you are. We know we're going to be judged on 12 opportunities this fall. It's a results-driven business. We're judged on results, not effort, and we understand that."

Nobody would blame Odom if he did want to use the term "rebuild." Not only did Purdue suffer through a 1-11 record last year, this is a roster comprised of 82 new faces, including 51 from the transfer portal. Creating team chemistry is going to be a difficult challenge.

But Odom has said time and again that his goal at Purdue is to "win big." How quickly will that happen? That question will start to be answered on Aug. 30, when the Boilermakers host Ball State in the season opener.