The more we win, the more rumors will swirl with Odom and potential job openings. Thankfully there shouldn’t be many openings that make geographical sense, but could see a few. Houston, Indiana, Michigan St and Cal could be potential openings. Also could see someone try to poach Leipold from Kansas and they could open. Really hope we can get at least another year, but seems likely that it will happen at some point. Though I could see him waiting until his son has graduated HS. Would be a nice change though to have a coaching search for that reason. Of course, we need to keep winning. We were talking about the same thing this time last year with Arroyo and he ended up getting fired, haha.
Barry Odom and job openings
- Thread starter unlv7163
- Start date
Yeah, next game is big. If we win that, its possible we get to 8-1 heading into Wyoming and Air force. 2 very tough match ups. On the flip side, if we lose 3 out of those next 4, we'll be 7-4. That's still really good for unlv but would certainly tone down the talk about losing Odom
Agree. Just saw his name mentioned in an ESPN article as someone that would generate interest. I do think 7-5 and maybe 8-4, we‘d be fairly safe. 9 or 10 wins would likely see his name connected to just about any opening that makes sense.
If you turn UNLV around - shouldn't you be compensated with a better JOB. ? jus sayin- Isn't that the reward ?
There's going to be some attractive jobs:
Open:
Michigan State (B1G)
Northwestern (B1G)
Very Hot Seats:
Indiana (B1G)
Houston (B12)
Baylor (B12)
Mississippi St (SEC)
Cal (ACC)
Boston College (ACC)
Pitt (ACC)
Stranger Things Have Happened:
USC (B1G) - Lincoln Riley really wants to go pro
TAMU (SEC)- Huge buyout, but the money is there and the patience is evaporating
Auburn (SEC) - Hugh Freeze isn't popular, and Auburn has zero patience for development
Arkansas and South Carolina (both coaches are trending in the wrong direction and fans are chirping)
Plus, there's so many P5 schools that are going to have openings for sure, I'd be surprised if Marion doesn't interview, and while I don't think Scherer is looking to skedaddle, I can't take that off the table either.
I hope that Odom sticks around another year, but his buyout here is basically peanuts, and he's making half of what he would make a mid-tier P5 school, but the salary differential between us and some of those guys is profound.
* Michigan State - 9.5 million
* Northwestern - 5.65 million
* Indiana - 4.35 million
* Houston - 4.4 million
* Baylor - 3.81 million
* Mississippi State - 3.0 million
* Cal - 4.75 million
* BC - 3.0 million
* Pitt - 5.88 million
* USC - 11.0 million
* TAMU - 9.15 million
* Auburn - 6.15 million
* Arkansas - 5 million
* South Carolina - 6.13 million
With the lack of the support the program has gotten in the community despite their clearly improved product and top notch facilities, any one of those programs would be very dangerous--hell, most of them could fart and cover Barry's buyout with the smell.
But, we can't really worry about that. If he leaves, this becomes a much more attractive location to come coach and we will have enough money with the buyout to pay a little more for the next coach. If you can make UNLV have a reputation besides "Coaching Graveyard", it has to help the program long term.
Open:
Michigan State (B1G)
Northwestern (B1G)
Very Hot Seats:
Indiana (B1G)
Houston (B12)
Baylor (B12)
Mississippi St (SEC)
Cal (ACC)
Boston College (ACC)
Pitt (ACC)
Stranger Things Have Happened:
USC (B1G) - Lincoln Riley really wants to go pro
TAMU (SEC)- Huge buyout, but the money is there and the patience is evaporating
Auburn (SEC) - Hugh Freeze isn't popular, and Auburn has zero patience for development
Arkansas and South Carolina (both coaches are trending in the wrong direction and fans are chirping)
Plus, there's so many P5 schools that are going to have openings for sure, I'd be surprised if Marion doesn't interview, and while I don't think Scherer is looking to skedaddle, I can't take that off the table either.
I hope that Odom sticks around another year, but his buyout here is basically peanuts, and he's making half of what he would make a mid-tier P5 school, but the salary differential between us and some of those guys is profound.
* Michigan State - 9.5 million
* Northwestern - 5.65 million
* Indiana - 4.35 million
* Houston - 4.4 million
* Baylor - 3.81 million
* Mississippi State - 3.0 million
* Cal - 4.75 million
* BC - 3.0 million
* Pitt - 5.88 million
* USC - 11.0 million
* TAMU - 9.15 million
* Auburn - 6.15 million
* Arkansas - 5 million
* South Carolina - 6.13 million
With the lack of the support the program has gotten in the community despite their clearly improved product and top notch facilities, any one of those programs would be very dangerous--hell, most of them could fart and cover Barry's buyout with the smell.
But, we can't really worry about that. If he leaves, this becomes a much more attractive location to come coach and we will have enough money with the buyout to pay a little more for the next coach. If you can make UNLV have a reputation besides "Coaching Graveyard", it has to help the program long term.
Leipold isn't going anywhere... KU has the AD/money to keep him around and he's playing a crucial role in developing the stadium and facility upgrades they're doing. He just had a custom weight room built for the way he and his staff want training done. KU is a P5 job and has tons of money.. not worried about poaching
If you turn around UNLV you should have a statue errected in the middle of campus.
Open:
Michigan State (B1G)
Northwestern (B1G)
Very Hot Seats:
Indiana (B1G)
Houston (B12)
Baylor (B12)
Mississippi St (SEC)
Cal (ACC)
Boston College (ACC)
Pitt (ACC)
Of this list.
Michigan State
Mississippi State
Baylor
Houston
Would absolutely worry me if they came calling.
Next would be Pitt and Boston College.
Others could throw a lot of money at him but..
I don't think Northwestern is a particularly great or appealing job outside of being a P5.
Cal feels like an odd fit for him for some reason.
Indiana just seems like a job you know there's an absolute ceiling for the program. That ceiling is around 8-4 get a bowl bid and get your teeth kicked in by Michigan and Ohio State.
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Washington State and Oregon State will lose their head coaches before we lose Odom.
We just got Odom and are looking good. It's depressing as shyt to start thinking about losing him.
We just got Odom and are looking good. It's depressing as shyt to start thinking about losing him.
Northwestern is a mid-tier P5 school. Under Fitzgerald they were always at least okay, with spurts of being pretty solid. Plus they just got a 800 million dollar investment to improve the facilities and the stadium, plus they're paying more than twice what we were paying in a pretty cool metropolitan area.
Cal seems like a poor fit, too far from his recruiting pools in the western part of the south.
Indiana is essentially UNLV on a bigger budget. They have really solid facilities and Bloomington is much closer to Texas/Missouri/Arkansas/Oklahoma recruiting areas, oh and they pay twice what we do.
I think being in the B1G or SEC is going to be a much better spot than any of the other power conferences. You won't outrecruit OSU/UM/PSU generally, but if you really want to win a national championship you'll have a much easier time at IU than UNLV.
Realistically, I think the only way Odom gets poached this year is we end up 10-2 or 11-1 and win the conference. Then all bets are off.
I definitely think UNLV's ceiling is higher than Indiana, at least within it's own conference. Odom is able to out recruit the rest of the league here, he will not be able to at Indiana, NW, etc.
I'm not disputing the money thing, that is very real and a legit potential reason we may lose him.
After being fired for going .500 at a power school that has a realistically low ceiling, his alma mater no less, I think he will be a bit selective on where he goes. But I could be wrong.
It'll take a MW championship game appearance for one of these better jobs to be a legit threat this year at least.
It'll take a Playoff berth for some of these jobs, lol ( I'm looking at you A&M)
Let me ask you this..
I think UNLV has the potential to be Boise State in its heyday.
Is that a better place to be than an Indiana?
Northwestern is a cool metropolitan area. Campus is nice. Surrounding town is super laid back and chill. But even with influx of money what can you really do there? Academics are high so it does kinda impact recruiting. I just don't think it's a particularly great job. I also think look at how long Fitzgerald was there. For every solid year there were an equal number of bad years. he was 110-101 with losing record in the BIG. It's almost like Northwestern was like meh good enough..
Money talks BS walks but I also think fit matters as well.
Obviously always going to be the threat of a P5 poach. But I don't think Odom just jumps at first opportunity either.
Cal actually feels like a worse job than UNLV. Justin Wilcox is making over $4mil/year... but their status of begging for an ACC spot at half media revenue, combined with Stanford at same rate, SMU at $0, with a closes conference foe of Louisville (other than the 2 schools I named)... 4.5 hour flight for closest opponent? Recruiting will be a nightmare so I expect them to get worse.
Would be stunned if he ended up at Cal, tbh.
Yeah a case of a P5 job not necessarily being a good or better job. Despite potential pay increase.
It will come down to (1) what job is offered (2) how happy and secure is he being here and how happy is his family and (3) what are his long term goals and finally (4) how much success does he feel he can have here.
IMO, if Ohio State, Alabama etc. - or any top 15 program - come calling he'll go no mater what. If not, and he and his family love everything about Las Vegas and the desert West he'll wait for a top tier job. If his family hates it expect a quicker departure to a lower level P4. But, if his goals are to be happy in a lower stress position (say top 3 of Mountain West and an annual bowl) then he may stay unless an absolute dream position opens. And finally, if he gets to the point where he feels he can go no further ( lack of town support, maxed out recruiting, lack of NIL etc.) then I expect him to leave for a lower level P4.
Bottom line, the only ones who know his plans are he and his wife - and that is if he really trusts his wife. And there is no media talking head that knows what P4 AD's are thinking about hires. So, until we hear a specific school has hired him and he is gone we'll most likely know nothing. I expect at least two more years.
IMO, if Ohio State, Alabama etc. - or any top 15 program - come calling he'll go no mater what. If not, and he and his family love everything about Las Vegas and the desert West he'll wait for a top tier job. If his family hates it expect a quicker departure to a lower level P4. But, if his goals are to be happy in a lower stress position (say top 3 of Mountain West and an annual bowl) then he may stay unless an absolute dream position opens. And finally, if he gets to the point where he feels he can go no further ( lack of town support, maxed out recruiting, lack of NIL etc.) then I expect him to leave for a lower level P4.
Bottom line, the only ones who know his plans are he and his wife - and that is if he really trusts his wife. And there is no media talking head that knows what P4 AD's are thinking about hires. So, until we hear a specific school has hired him and he is gone we'll most likely know nothing. I expect at least two more years.
The good news about these top 20 or so jobs available (the consensus "you take it if youre offered" jobs), is they usually have some handoff because the success is over a period of time they have established a future plan. Not always, of course.
I agree otherwise. The younger son has 1 season after the current season at Faith. The daughter is very young. Not even elementary maybe? So I'd guess getting her through school is a much different situation than the stability of a rising senior. If the family is happy and they see this for the growth potential we all do, then maybe he stays a while. Would be awesome if that happened.
That's such an odd statement, and I'm not sure how to digest it. I think you're saying UNLV has a better shot to win the conference than Indiana has to win the B1G. And I think that's probably true. I'm not sure if there's more weight to it
I agree with everything else here
Wow! Did nobody learn from last year? Already looking to lose the coach before the season is much over half finished! There are at least a dozen coaches out there at lower level P4/P5 programs and G5 programs that have shown their ability to coach for multiple seasons. The coaches at schools like Tulane, Air Force, Houston, Liberty, Toledo, James Madison. etc. have had multiple good seasons and will be far more likely to lose their coaches than UNLV.
I really don't think Odom will leave this year no matter how well the program does. There are a lot of good coaches out there who have shown multiple years of success.
I really don't think Odom will leave this year no matter how well the program does. There are a lot of good coaches out there who have shown multiple years of success.
By turning it around, doesn’t it naturally become a “good” job?
Given those parameters, then yes, UNLV is a better place to be than Indiana. But Boise State was built on decades of success and culture. I have a hard time putting UNLV in that same neighborhood given that we've finished above .500 three times in the last 30 years. I'm excited at the direction the program is headed--I could even accept that might be our ceiling/potential. But there's a reality element.
They played in the B1G championship game and gave OSU everything they wanted then shellaqued Auburn in the citrus bowl. in 17 season he went bowling 10 times and was in the top 25 7 times. That's pretty good in the B1G if you're not OSU/UM/PSU. Fitzgerald had to develop a lot of teams because his recruiting wasn't at the top 30-40 levels (only had 3 classes above 50th overall, and never higher than 42nd). There's a lot of potential at Northwestern, especially with the new 800 million dollar private football donation.
I think if he has sustained success here, he'll be extremely attractive to big name problems forcing to rebuild, But Unless he's getting 10-2 with a MWC Championship, I think it will take more than one good year.
That's exactly what I am saying.
UNLV is more likely to get to a regular conference contender in the MW than Indiana in the B1G.
Arroyo was able to get top 1 and 2 recruiting classes, so far Odom's 24 class has been ranked number one.
If we add Oregon State and WAZZU it gets tougher, especially initially.
Indiana is never going to out recruit a good chunk of teams in the B1G, Same with Northwestern.
When it comes to football, there is an argument to being a bigger fish in a smaller pond. Losses can kill.
No I get that about Fitzgerald but there were some lean stretches as well. How many schools would rest on a sub .500 conference record? Not sure any schools with actual National title aspirations would have stuck it out that long. Felt like Fitzgerald always did just enough or had a good season that basically bought him another year.
No our history doesn't suggest UNLV can do anything at all if we're being honest. But there are a lot of intangibles that point to it being a place that can 'punch above its weight'. Facilities, growing population all point to potential for better recruiting. The stigma of Vegas is wearing away. The portal has completely changed the game.
I guess with Indiana it's small fish big pond vs potentially big fish small pond.
Like I said with the portal the days of needing 5 or 6 years to rebuild or build are over. Even at G5 schools. For every standout G5 kid that gets poached there's P5 guys not getting playing time or buried on talented rosters that drop down.
Definitely not saying UNLV is a great job. Just that simply being a P5 school doesn't necessarily make it a good job or an attractive one.
I think living in Nashville would be cool if I was a coach. I think having the ability to recruit the south would be great. The prospect of coaching Vandy and getting my teeth kicked in on a weekly basis not so much.
At the end of the day, I think it’s going to depend on what’s important to Odom. None of us can say what he will do. Almost any school above can pay WAY more than we can. Is that important? Is not moving (and changing HS for his son) important? Does he, and his family, like living in Vegas? Spending all of his career in the Central and Eastern time zones, you have to wonder? Guess we may find out the answers to these questions soon enough.
Honestly have no idea. But if someone comes in and his willing to triple his salary, it’ll be tough to top. Kansas just can’t compete with SEC or B1G schools IMO. Also, is he OK playing second fiddle to basketball? What if, for sake of argument, Saban decides he’s done and Alabama comes calling? Or what if Harbaugh goes to the NFL and Michigan lobs him a phone call. The current college football landscape is one where blue blood coaches are leaving for other jobs. Just saying if something entices Leipold to leave, I do believe Odom would make sense there if they wanted to look his direction.
Odom stated he wants to build the foundation for UNLV. Probably 1-2 more years.
The guy I really want to keep the most is Shibest. Dude has done an amazingly spectacular job with ST. He's a stud.
The guy I really want to keep the most is Shibest. Dude has done an amazingly spectacular job with ST. He's a stud.
Ku alumni as well...
Hes fine with his role. He doesn't see football as playing second fiddle. Neither does the AD. He also hasn't the kind of success that would garner a call from Alabama or Michigan I imagine... while making a bowl game at a terrible team might get you a boost at a G5 school, KU still is a growing power in the Big 12. Your probably right about Odom making sense there, but I think they would look at candidates with a bigger profile if Leipold ended up moving somewhere else. They had a pretty good list of candidates last time around such as the Duke HC and Tulane's... Odom wouldnt necessarily be a step up for them, and given his Mizzou ties, might be a cringe hire for the alumni base, lol...
concur... I said it when UNLV went through the hiring process that I didnt believe the next coach was here for a 5-10 year build to become a power.. I thought they'd go out and hire a coach that would win really fast, get 2-3 years out of him as a rental and then hand off to a coach that will have a really strong foundation to bring continued success with.. It was my rental theory and hiring a guy with Midwest roots kind of made that point very logical.. Now would I love to see Odom stay, yes absolutely. Would I love Marion to stay for the entire time, yes, but Odoms teams have all been really good offensively and his coordinators tend to get really high profile jobs.. lol so Im not worried about a drop off if the OC leaves as long as we can keep Maiava.
Better than it was when he got here - Better for the next coach. But NOT as GOOD as all the GOOD offers he is going to get from real Colleges from Real college towns, in Real Conferences - with a real fan base (Rich ASS BOOSters and involved Alumni ) and ACTUAL FANS that will show up - REEL GOOD PERKS and TV deals, GOOD country Clubs - lavish lifestyles. He will be offered something UNLV will Not be able to match.
I think that you are underestimating UNLV and the Mountain West conference. Hope you're not an alumnus of the University.
Hopefully we can squeeze one more year out of him. Is he overachieving so far?? Yes. He has turned this program around and is headed in the right direction yet the wins are not against anyone of note. He is beating the bad teams by double digits. I hope we get to see somewhat of a finish product with him getting more of his players to fit the scheme more. Marion is a must keep. Hopefully he will stay on and be offered the HC job when HCO leaves. I dont want another reset.
Marion would be nice to keep for continuity into next year but not end of the world if he goes... Odoms track record for hiring a good OCs is pretty good...
I'd really love for them to be able to keep the group together, at least for 1 more year. That may be unrealistic, but that's my hope. If Marion leaves, for example, what does that mean for some of our recruits, as well as some of our players? Will they be loyal to UNLV and to Odom, or will they hope to follow the Go-go and coach Marion to wherever he ends up? I'd assume that the TX QB recruit (Karson Gordon) would be gone, but what about guys like De Jesus, Jet Thomas, Ricky White, Greg Burrell, etc?
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Find me another program that has good attendance that has been losing for decades like UNLV. With the exception of two years, UNLV hasn't had a winning teams since the early 80's.
Idk if youd call it "Good attendance"... but Kansas, take away Mangino era... Even in its lean years (since 2011), they average 25-30k attendance... Not great for a Big 12 school, but considering they won like 3 games in 4 years or something stupid like that including 0-12 one year, still better than our best seasons
UNLV was riding the coattails of “nothing else to do in town” unless you considered Englebert Humperdinck something to do. Sports wise, UNLV was it. I suspect that’s the way it is in Lawrence and any other smaller college town. So you’ll get at least decent attendance by default.
Vegas isn’t small any more. It was never a college town but there weren’t alternate sports to pull away people, leaving UNLV as the only game in town. Not that way anymore.
If UNLV had the same record from 1985-1995 in football and basketball as we’ve had the past 10 years in both sports … there probably would have been assassinations instead of angry/disappointed fans turning away. So now that UNLV is a small fish in a big/bigger bowl, I think in actuality it has made the job “easier” in the sense that there’s less pressure from the fanbase and media now. Media hasn’t picked on UNLV in the longest time. And fans have disappeared, but there hasn’t been a lot of anger there (here, yes, on concentrated fan boards where the pride is still high).
Exactly - We have been losing for decades. Further reiterates my point that going bowling once isn't going to turn the attendance around- Odom can go somewhere right away where he doesn't have to try to put butts in seats for the first time since the 80's -
Does anyone know how Coach Odom and his family like Las Vegas? That might be a factor on how long he stays.
