Indianapolis, IN

How much is Purdue paying new football coach Barry Odom?

Published

2 years ago

December 10, 2024

How much is Purdue paying new football coach Barry Odom?

New Purdue football coach Barry Odom will soon be paid more than any Boilermakers coach before him.

Odom agreed to a six-year deal worth at least $39 million, per a memorandum of understanding the school released Tuesday. Coaches are typically eligible for performance and academic bonuses which could increase that value. Odom’s base salary for his first two seasons is $6 million per, then rises $250,000 each year for years 3 and 4, before going to $7 million in year 5 and $7.25 million in the final year of the deal.

Also not yet available is the assistant coach salary pool which Odom will use to assemble his first staff. Previous coach Ryan Walters was contractually entitled to up to $5.5 million for 10 assistants and one strength and conditioning coach.

Purdue must also pay the $3 million buyout Odom owes UNLV for backing out of the contract extension he signed earlier this year.

Odom becomes the highest-paid coach on campus, surpassing Matt Painter’s guarantee of $4.85 million for 2024-25. Former football coach Jeff Brohm, whose departure to Louisville in December 2022 prompted Purdue to hire Walters, was paid $5.1 million for his final season. He was due to make $5.4 million in 2025.

Odom signed a five-year contract extension with UNLV last spring following his breakthrough first season. That guaranteed him at least $1.75 million for the 2024 season, increasing to at least $2.4 million for 2028. He was also due his first of three potential retention bonuses of $200,000 in March 2026.

UNLV athletic director Erick Harper said earlier this week he wanted to make a competitive counter-offer to retain Odom, but could not.

“That’s a hard number to reach,” Harper said Sunday, without disclosing the amount, “but we did look at it in full detail. The Big Ten’s — they’ve got a big, deep pocket.”

Walters, a first-time head coach, agreed to a five-year deal to become Purdue’s coach prior to the 2023 season. He made $4.05 million for this past season, and was scheduled for a $50,000 increase in each of the next three seasons. Per his contract, Purdue must pay him 75% of his salary to buy out those remaining three years — $9.3375 million — plus $253,125 for the current month.

Walters’ 2024 salary ranked 16^th out of 17 Big Ten public schools, per the USA Today coaching salary database. (Information on Northwestern is unavailable.) Odom’s new salary would have ranked 15^th.

However, Purdue’s head coach salary has since been surpassed for 2025 by IU’s Curt Cignetti. Originally hired on a $4.25 million annual deal, Cignetti received a contract extension with an average annual value of $8 million for leading the Hoosiers to double-digit victories and the College Football Playoff. Cignetti’s new contract stipulates $11 million per year for “on-field staff salary and support pool.”

Purdue administrators surely hope Odom’s success also forces them to revisit this initial deal one year from now.

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Indianapolis, IN

High school baseball state finals matchups set for the weekend

Published

8 hours ago

June 14, 2026

Press Room

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The state championship bracket for Indiana high school baseball has been set, with eight teams preparing for the chance of bringing home a state title.

A total of four state title games will be played between Friday, June 19th, and Saturday, June 20th. Classes 1A and 3A will play on Friday, and classes 2A and 4A will compete on Saturday.

All state championship games will be played at Victory Field, the home of the Indianapolis Indians.

The state championship matchups and times are as follows.

Friday, June 19th:

Class 3A state championship: 4:30 p.m. ET

Guerin Catholic (27-3-1) vs Andrean (30-3)

Class 1A state championship: 8 p.m. ET

Northeast Dubois (23-5) vs Kouts (31-1)

Saturday, June 20th:

Class 2A state championship: 4:30 p.m. ET

Evansville Mater Dei (29-3) vs Bluffton (19-10)

Class 4A state championship: 8:00 p.m. ET

Bloomington South (25-6) vs Lake Central (27-8)

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Indianapolis, IN

Thousands gather at Indy Pride Festival, celebrating LGBTQ community and allies

Published

18 hours ago

June 14, 2026

Press Room

Thousands gather at Indy Pride Festival, celebrating LGBTQ community and allies

INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — Thousands of people ventured to Military Park in Indianapolis Saturday for the 2026 Indy Pride Festival, including members of the LGBTQ community and their allies.

WATCH FULL STORY BELOW:

John-Michael Riggs, of Tennessee, travels to several pride festivals across the country each year. He said they are important because “it gives people the confidence to be who they are, to show you can go out in public and still not be hated upon.”

Erika Holland-Lesch, who came to the festival with her wife, said, “Pride means everything. It literally feels like Christmas for our community… You feel supported, you feel accepted.”

Chris Bultman said it’s the sixth time he’s attended the Indy Pride Fest.

“It’s really important for me that my friends, my family, feel really valued in this city,” he said. “We show up for pride because pride matters to our city.”

WRTV

For Rikki Wydra, it was her fifth Indy Pride Fest. She said this year’s festival seems bigger to her than in previous years, and she takes that as a sign that support for the LGBTQ community is growing in Indiana.

“You’ll never get any free expression like this any other time of the year in Indiana,” she said. “The vibe is the best.”

The festival came as Indiana Governor Mike Braun proclaimed June as Nuclear Family Month, defining the family as a husband, a wife, and children, causing backlash in Indiana’s LGBTQ community.

“That is absolutely ridiculous,” said Stefonya Shirhall. “This month is fully for the gay community as a whole. We have went through so much to get here and it is amazing to celebrate it.”

Festival attendees proudly sported creative costumes, wore rainbow clothing, held rainbow flags, and even cooled down with rainbow fans, keeping vendors busy, like Freddy Reed, who has a business selling pride-themed merchandise.

“I do Pride every weekend in a different city,” Reed said. “It’s amazing. Every town we go to, the people are so happy, they have fun. There’s never fights. Everyone’s nice.”

The positive, festive energy at Indy Pride Fest worked in tandem with the seriousness of the cause of standing up for LGBTQ rights.

“It’s important for people, if part of the LGBTQ community, to attend these because of visibility,” Riggs said. “We need to be seen, we need to be recognized and we need to be celebrated. it’s also important for our allies to attend these events to… uphold and uplift the community and to make us feel like a community at large”

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Indianapolis, IN

Fever win third straight after 85-75 win over Sun

Published

1 day ago

June 13, 2026

Press Room

Fever win third straight after 85-75 win over Sun

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Fever are now tied for the longest winning streak of the season after Saturday night’s win against the Connecticut Sun.

Indiana took down the Sun, 85-75, to mark the Fever’s third straight win.

Caitlin Clark had an impressive night on the offensive end. Clark had 25 points and knocked down five three-pointers in Indiana’s double-digit win.

Fever center Aliyah Boston also had a productive showing. The fourth-year Fever center recorded a double-double with her 13-point and 11-rebound performance. Saturday marked Boston’s third consecutive game with a double-double, and it’s her fourth this season.

The Fever committed 17 turnovers on Saturday, compared to the Sun’s nine. The difference, though, is that Indiana scored 25 points off turnovers to the Sun’s 14 points.

Indiana improves to 8-5 on the season and looks ahead to a home matchup against the Toronto Tempo at 7:00 p.m. this Tuesday, June 16th.

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