Brian Odom set to become OU linebackers coach
NORMAN — Niya Butts wasn’t sure what to think about the strength coach when she arrived at the University of Arizona as the head women’s basketball coach in 2008.
She knew Brian Odom had a football background, spent time working with the Wildcats football program and that he might not be fully invested in helping her team out.
But in Odom, she found someone willing to do whatever it took to improve the program.
“He probably didn’t bargain or sign up to get women’s basketball, but he took it on and he did it with total energy, commitment,” Butts said. “And I think that’s just because that’s who he is. Whatever he’s doing, he’s going to do it with everything he has, and he’s going to make sure that it gets all of his time and attention.”
Odom, who started his collegiate playing career at Oklahoma after starring at Ada High School, is reportedly set to return home to be the Sooners’ linebackers coach.
Odom would be the first coaching hire since Alex Grinch was named the Sooners’ defensive coordinator earlier this month.
Odom replaces Tim Kish, who retired recently after seven seasons at OU.
In the summer of 2009, Soana Lucet set out to remake her body after transferring to Arizona from Southern Idaho.
“Right from the beginning, he made us feel comfortable and at home, which can be tough when you’re transitioning from juco,” Lucet said. “But of course without losing the focus on improving ourselves every day — pushing us to be the best every single day. I trusted him to get us in the best shape in order to perform on the court.”
Lucet credits Odom’s work with helping her lose 40 pounds during that offseason and helped springboard her to a professional career that continues.
Odom’s path to coaching at Oklahoma certainly is far from traditional.
He graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State in 2004 and didn’t have his first full-time on-field coaching job until 2017 at Missouri under his brother, Barry Odom.
Instead, he spent much of the time as a strength coach at Arizona and then at Houston.
That wasn’t a surprise to those who were around him at OU, where he earned the team’s “Iron Man Award” for weightroom performance during his redshirt season in 2000.
After a short stint at Missouri as an administrative and defensive graduate assistant in 2005, Odom went to Arizona as the assistant director of performance enhancement. He stayed there until 2011 before moving to Houston.
In 2015, he moved to Washington State to be a defensive quality control coach during Grinch’s first season as the Cougars’ defensive coordinator. Mike Leach, Washington State’s coach, recruited Odom to Oklahoma.
Odom’s hiring leaves the Sooners with at least one assistant position to fill.
Defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks left Friday to coach the safeties at Texas Tech. Grinch previously coached safeties, which could lead to the Sooners bringing in a cornerbacks coach to work alongside Grinch.