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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 29: Head coach Barry Odom of the Purdue Boilermakers speaks to the media during the 2026 Big Ten Football Media Days at Hilton Chicago on July 29, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Indiana football’s two-year rise to the top of the sport under head coach Curt Cignetti has inspired several other programs to view a national title as a possibility rather than a fantasy. Among those programs is Indiana’s in-state rival: Purdue.
Barry Odom, head coach of the Boilermakers, took the podium at Big Ten Media Days and gave a lengthy opening statement praising his university as a learning institution, reckoning with his first year leading the program and describing the work he and his staff had done throughout the offseason to bring winning football back to West Lafayette.
The very first question following this statement began with “When you look at Indiana.”
The Boilermakers have lost to the Hoosiers in both games coached by Cignetti, with Odom taking over for 2025 following Ryan Walters’ dismissal after a disastrous 2024. Indiana, as Purdue’s rival, is always going to be relevant in recruiting, branding and the schedule. The Hoosiers ascending to previously unseen heights has multiplied that relevance further.
That first question dealt with Indiana’s rise and what it means for Purdue. Odom was gracious, heaping praise on Cignetti for the work he’s done in Bloomington while noting that it gives every coach, player and program around college football a reason to believe something similar can happen.
Here’s his full answer:
“Yeah, number one, Coach Cignetti and his entire department did such a tremendous job on taking that over and elevating it to where they are today,” Odom said. “I think that gives — if you look at it in the landscape of college football, it should give every player, every coach, every fan base hope, vision and belief that it can happen. It’s sped things up for everyone, but you also look at how they pieced it together. It worked for them. It’s not the same for every team and program. We certainly feel strongly about how we’ve built this roster going into the year, and also understand if we get the opportunity to playing meaningful games in the month of November and you get a chance to play with extended time, anything can happen.”
Odom isn’t Cignetti and Purdue isn’t Indiana. Neither of those things are changing anytime soon. Can Purdue eke out of Indiana’s shadow, with multiple questions about the Hoosiers’ rise aimed toward the program this offseason? Maybe, but it’s a line of questioning that’ll follow Indiana’s rival for the foreseeable future.
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