The Barry Odom Era Begins
Las Vegas, NV – In December, the UNLV Rebels football team hired Barry Odom as their new head coach. Most recently a defensive coordinator for Arkansas, Odom’s prior head coaching experience was at the University of Missouri from 2016-19. During his four-year tenure, the Tigers only suffered one losing season, though he finished with an overall record of 25-25.
Under Odom’s stewardship, you can expect a fast pace offense with the hiring of offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, who is installing the go-go system built around a no-huddle running game and vertical passing attack.
Offensive Strategies and Key Players
The Rebels have starting quarterback Doug Brumfield back from injury to run the offense. His scouting report lists a strong arm and ability to make plays with his legs as key attributes; Brumfield is the perfect quarterback for the go-go system if he can stay healthy.
Moving to the backfield, the Rebels will need to replace all-time leading rusher Charles Williams. UNLV will welcome back Courtney Reese, totaling 370 yards last season, and new transfer portal arrival in former Pittsburgh running back Vincent Davis.
With all-conference receiver in Ricky White returning, the UNLV offense should be fun to watch and score many points this season.
Building a Strong Defense
At Missouri, Barry Odom’s defenses were the foundation of the program. His 2019 defense was third in the SEC in total offense and allowed just 19.4 points per game.
At his time for Arkansas, Odom’s defense was known for forcing turnovers. The Razorbacks finished tied for fourth in the SEC in takeaways in 2020 with 18 and tied for fifth in 2021 with 16. The Hogs finished the 2022 regular season with 15, but that was only good for No. 12 in the SEC in takeaways. They finished 12th in the conference in pass defense (273.9 yards per game), 13th in defensive passing yards per attempt (8.4), and 11th in scoring defense (28.8 points per game).
So you can expect the Rebels’ defense to be aggressive and try to force turnovers under Barry Odom’s and defensive coordinator Mike Scherer’s tutelage.
Scherer worked on Odom staff as a graduate assistant in 2019 while both were in Missouri.
UNLV lost its best defenders from last year but has an excellent linebacking core led by Fred Thompkins. He is also joined by two SEC transfers, Jackson Woodard (Arkansas) and Zavier Carter (LSU).
This UNLV team could be exciting to watch under Odom; look for a team that will play fast and aggressively on both sides of the ball. Coach Odom wants to come in and win right away, while not impossible, could be difficult with the with many changes in the program.