Barry Odom: 'Zero time to waste' for Purdue in fall camp

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — It’s only day one of fall camp, but the pressure is on for Barry Odom and Purdue football moving forward. The sprint with no end that Odom has discussed for months reached a new point in the race as the Boilermakers got back on the field on Thursday morning.

Purdue still has a month to gel and continue building the roster leading up to the season-opener against Ball State on August 30th. Plenty of reps and grueling practices are to be had. There’s time for Odom and company to improve before the real action starts flying in Ross-Ade Stadium, but it’s time they cannot waste.

“It was a very good start. We understand the process of how important every single day is, every single rep. Talked to our team last night. We’ve got plenty of time, but with zero time to waste. And our guys understand that, the urgency in what it will take to get ready for game number one against a really solid, good opponent,” Odom said after practice.

Odom was pleased with what he saw on Thursday morning with his team, raving about the progress showcased from the end of spring practice to the start of fall camp, making for a strong starting point to work off of.

“Exciting. Always the first day you get into the next phase of really building your team on what that looks like and where we left off in April, until where we are today, the amount of work that our team put in, that our staff put in, was a very, very smooth start in all areas, offense, defense, kicking, organizationally,” Odom said.

Every coach is encouraged to learn of their team’s starting point on the first day of camp. How high can the Boilermakers rise? How much can they improve between now and August 30th? Those are the questions that now face Odom and his team throughout the remainder of fall camp.

Purdue’s opponent over the next month or so is nobody outside of the building, it’s within each player’s ears as a grueling stretch approaches–one that could pay dividends should the Boilermakers take the necessary steps for improvement.

MORE: Deep Dive, camp practice No. 1

“The opponent through fall camp is the mental preparation and the mental toughness and the strain and the consistency. And how good can we get from right now, this practice is over, how good can we get between now and when we get to the field tomorrow morning? And then can we have a much better practice on day two than we did day one? Then make corrections.

“Show the things we did really well. Show the things we need to improve on. Let’s get them fixed. Let’s be great teachers as a staff and from an install standpoint, let’s go max speed on getting everything in that we need to in situational football, all those things to prepare them,” Odom said.

For a team that has the most incoming transfers at the FBS level and 82 newcomers in total this off-season, there is still much to be learned about the roster. Day one of camp marks the start of new evaluations, as 46 players who had never practiced with the team prior, did so on Thursday. That adds a whole other layer to how Odom and the staff approach the fall.

Trial and error in mixing and matching different players in different packages, cross-training at offensive line, linebacker, wide receiver and the secondary, and more will loom large in just how Purdue looks in game one, and there is a lot of time to sort through the possibilities.

“To me, this is one of the most enjoyable times of the year, because you get to build things and put it together. Can you find a way as a staff to get the right guys in the right spot and then get them enough reps that they’re game ready? So, it’ll be a lot of fun,” Odom said.

The offensive line will be a part of that experimenting. The first team group for Vance Vice on Thursday featured Joey Tanona (left tackle), Jalen St. John (left guard), Giordano Vaccaro (center), Ethan Trent (right guard) and Bakyne Coly (right tackle). That has been close to the status quo since the spring, but don’t expect it to stay that way for long, according to Odom.

“It’ll be different tomorrow from what that group is we’ve got. Coach Vice has done this for every year I’ve been around him coaching. He’s always transitioned and traded guys in and out from guard to tackle, center to guard. I think the great thing is, we’ve got 20 offensive linemen right now in camp, which is a healthy number. There are, after right now, 10 to 12 guys that really are fighting for spots,” Odom said.

Competition is set to take place at every position, in one way or another. None is more important than that of the quarterbacks. Sophomore Malachi Singleton took all of the first-team reps on Thursday, with the returning Ryan Browne leading the second unit, followed by Evans Chuba, Bennett Meredith and Garyt Odom, who got the rest of the reps under center.

Odom praised Singleton’s progress in the decision making department, while also liking what he saw in watching Browne in action for the first time on the practice field upon his return to West Lafayette.

“They’ve all physically improved themselves. It’ll be a great battle over the next couple of weeks, see how it plays out. There’s all those things you look at, take care of the ball and execute the offense and making the smart play, and being able to do some quarterback run game and the decision-making that goes along with that, the leadership qualities. (QB) Coach (Darin) Hinshaw will get those guys, along with Coach Henson, we’ll get those guys game ready, and then we’ll see how it plays out,” Odom said.

Purdue has a lot to sort through over the next month as the coaching staff tweaks the roster to its liking, which will come with plenty of changes and potentially fruitful adjustments for Odom and the Boilermakers.