In Reply to: What is the point of hiring a guy like this posted by TJJ on February 11, 2024 at 23:35:12
Being in Vegas over 30 years, I've never seen a coach have an impact on UNLV football so quickly like Odom did. UNLV had not been to a bowl game in 10 years, were on a downward slide as a program, and UNLV as a campus isn't exactly the nicest of the schools around. When Odom was hired, the basic attitude was who the he** is this guy and why did he get chosen? But a new AD and he wanted to win.
Odom comes across as a very lunch pail type work ethic and regular season went 9-3 with a Freshman QB. Maiava, the QB was going to Georgia after the season, then transferred to $C. Of the 3 regular season losses, one lopsided was at Michigan, but did much better than the spread if that matters, and another was at Fresno St where a WR dropped an easy pass in endzone with less then 10 seconds to put the game into OT. UNLV didn't finish the remainder of the season strong (loss in MWC Championship and loss in Bowl), but they weren't supposed to be very good to begin with, so what Odom did was really impressive.
There's only one year to gauge Odom that I've seen, but I think he will end up in a bigger program soon regardless. If Ucla was conducting a normal HC search, I don't think Odom fits in with Ucla right now since the programs are dramatically different. Given the current situation, I think Ucla could do a lot worse than Odom.
Just some background if you're interested.