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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — It was damp and cold inside the throwback college football stadium in Boise, Idaho. The cloudy atmosphere with wisps of fog gave the place with the blue turf a spooky feel.
UNLV’s wide receivers were warming, catching passes from a coach. It was hours before UNLV and Boise State played the most important game in the Rebels football history Friday.
Inside this empty stadium, UNLV head coach Barry Odom sat on a folding chair. He looked relaxed and at ease, soaking up the atmosphere as UNLV head football man for what would be one last time.
UNLV Athletics Director Erick Harper wanted a new coach two years ago who would be an old-school football leader with a ballcap and whistle.
And he found his man in Odom, a former star college football linebacker from Missouri who would go on to be head coach of the university he attended. He coached Missouri of the SEC, college football’s most powerful conference of all the power conferences.
After Missouri fired Odom five years ago, he found his way to Las Vegas where he turned around a laughingstock of a football program into a two-time bowl game team. In 2023, UNLV won nine of its first 11 games before finishing the season 9-5. The Rebels hosted the Mountain West Conference championship game before losing to Kansas in a bowl game in Phoenix.
In 2024, Odom guided his team to the Mountain West title game once again, suffering a disappointing 21-7 loss to Boise State only 48 hours ago.
As I strolled along the blue turf and saw Odom relaxed on that chair before the game, I could only ask myself, “Is this his last game?”
It was.
Purdue of the Big Ten came calling with million of dollars, money that UNLV was in no position to match. UNLV was paying the 48-year-old Odom a $1.75 million base salary with UNLV and Purdue easily blasted that out of the water. It was reported two days after the Odom announcement that his Purdue contract is for six years and is worth at least $39 million. UNLV could not compete with that.
I asked AD Harper about UNLV’s ability to compete in salary.
Harper said it would be a hard number for UNLV to reach.
As he put it, “The Big Ten has a deep pocket.”
Odom’s departure to Purdue eclipsed the news of UNLV’s next opponent — Cal in the LA Bowl in Englewood. For those interested in bowl game naming rights, the game at SoFi Stadium is officially called, the Art of Sport LA Bowl Hosted By Gronk.
UNLV wide receivers coach Del Alexander was named interim head coach and will coach the Rebels at the bowl game Dec. 18.
Harper said he has been contacted by more than ten coaches interested in the UNLV head coach job.
He said he wants to pick Odom’s successor as quickly as possible.
The gathering at the UNLV football building also gave Las Vegas Bowl organizers a chance to reveal its matchup.
The two teams are big names: Southern California and Texas A & M.
USC defeated LSU in the Vegas Kickoff Classic (attendance, 63,969) Sept. 1, while Texas A&M also has an intense fan following.
The bowl game’s executive director, John Saccenti, said he was very happy with the matchup and that the two teams will visit the Sphere for the Postcards From Earth. The teams’ players will also receive new Jordans to decorate and personalize.
The bowl game’s title sponsor, SRS Distribution, has a CEO who is a Texas A & M grad. So, he’s bringing 850 fans and wants six suites. In all, ten suites are on hold, but the Raiders do control the stadium, Saccenti said.