Oregon State Safeties Coach Derrick Odum takes Defensive Coordinator job at San Jose State

Late last night, it was reported that Derrick Odum, Oregon State’s safeties coach, is following Brent Brennan to San Jose State to become the defensive coordinator for the Spartans. Brennan was named San Jose State’s head coach just about a month ago.

Derrick Odum had previously coached defensive backs (2015) and safeties (2016) for the Beavers. Before coming to Corvallis he coached at SMU (defensive backs, 2008-14), Utah (safeties, 2005-07), Houston (secondary, 2003-04), Utah State (secondary, 2000-02) and Montana (secondary, 1998-99). He also played for Utah in the late 90s.

What does this mean for Oregon State? Gary Andersen will now need to replace two members of his staff. Brent Brennan and Derrick Odum were both active recruiters, as well. Odum was one of the main recruiters in the state of Florida.

This latest move did not take Andersen by surprise though. Last week he told a reporter from OregonLive “I suspect that there will be at least one more opportunity that comes to someone on our staff very, very soon that is well-deserved, too. We'll see where the dust settles. I'm in support of the coaches, as long as they're moving forward. If they move sideways, then I'm not in support of them."

This seems to be a consistent pattern for Gary Andersen. Last year when former defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake left to take the head coaching job at BYU, coach Andersen also supported the move (despite the drawn out process).

For now Gary Andersen will regroup and look for potential additions to his coaching staff. He has voiced the desire to hire an offensive-minded coach that can help the offense evolve and grow.