Derrick Odum relishing job as defensive coordinator with high-flying San Jose State

Defensive coordinator Derrick Odum is also associate head coach with the Spartans. (Photo courtesy San Jose State Athletics)

Derrick Odum’s high school football coach in Irvine figured he was destined to excel as a football coach.

Odum, now in his 21st year of coaching and his fourth season as San Jose State’s defensive coordinator, proved him right with a steady and impressive rise up the coaching ranks.

“Derrick was a coach on the field and on the basketball court so we knew he would end up in the coaching profession,” said former Woodbridge Coach Rick Gibson who coached Odum when he played football in Orange County. “It’s been exciting to watch his rise.”

Odum’s rise has been steady: he’s also the associate head coach for head coach Brent Brennan’s San Jose State team which is 4-0 overall and trying to start 5-0 for the first time since 1939 when the team went 13-0. The Spartans (4-0 in the Mountain Pacific Conference) take on Boise State (4-1 overall, 4-0 in league) Saturday at 1 p.m. in Boise. The game will be televised nationally by Fox Sports.

Odum has been enjoying the team’s 4-0 start, the first for the program since 1955.

GOAL WAS DEFENSE

And, he loves coaching the defense.

“I always had some sights on that (being a defensive coordinator),” Odum said. “I kept busy at it and I was hoping one day I got an opportunity.”

But San Jose State’s program had to go through some growing pains along the way to get to where it is.

“It’s been a hard road to this point,” Odum said. “This is our fourth season and it was a rough go the first few seasons trying to build the foundation to what we all believed in here at San Jose State, building the relationships and getting the guys to trust their coaches and the process they were trying to build.

“We took our lumps but we played a lot of young men at the time, but those young guys have grown up a little bit and now they’re all juniors and have been through it and have a lot of confidence in what they’re doing. They’re bigger, stronger, faster and with the time in the weight room, now they feel comfortable and they can just go out and play. It’s really cool to see.

“We kind of started to turn things around last year. We lost a lot of close games, winning five games but now this year, they kind of take it up a notch.”

BIG WIN OVER SDSU

The Spartans gained lots of notoriety in their 28-17 nationally televised victory over San Diego State at the Dignity Health Center Stadium in Carson on Friday, Nov. 6. Gibson said Odum’s defensive plan played a huge role in helping the Spartans win that game.

“That was a big one for us ….. in our first year, they just absolutely drubbed us,” Odum said. “And then the last couple (games), we kind of tightened it up a lot, knowing that to beat this team we’ve got to be really physical.”

The Spartans focused on that in the off-season, putting time in the weight room and getting stronger, Odum said.

“The guys really did a great job in that game and we were able to get that win,” he said.

The San Jose community has responded to the team’s success and Odum said he’s been receiving plenty of congratulatory wishes. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, games have been played without fans, but the games have been televised so fans have been able to share in the excitement.

“They haven’t had that type of excitement here for a little while,” he said. “It’s pretty cool with what’s going on.”

COACHED AT UTAH

Odum, 50, began his coaching career in 1996 as a graduate assistant at University of Utah, where he played football from 1989 to 1992. He was a defensive back for Utah and was also on the 1992 and 1993 Utah baseball teams. Odum graduated from Utah with a degree in political science.

Odum then had coaching stints at Montana (1998-99), Utah State (2000-02), Houston (2003-04), Utah (2005-07) and SMU (2008-14) before joining the Oregon State staff and working with Brennan, who was also an assistant there.

Odum laid the groundwork for his career with a memorable career at Woodbridge High School in Irvine, where he starred in football, basketball and baseball.

“Derrick Odum was a three-sport extraordionaire, probably our first three sport athlete who had so much success in all three championships: in football, a CIF championship in basketball and a state championship (in basketball) and one of the best baseball players we ever had,” Gibson said.

Odum said he has fond memories of his high school career, including the CIF and state titles in basketball his junior year in 1987.

“From basketball, winning the state championship and getting on an airplane to fly somewhere (Oakland) to play a basketball game was unheard of,” he said. “That was a really awesome experience to go through that state title and travel around and play the best teams and play in really cool arenas.”

In his senior year, he led Woodbridge to the CIF Desert Mountain Conference football title. The Warriors defeated Chaminade 13-10.

“When I think back to that, I think Woodbridge at the time had only gotten to the second round once and had lost,” Odum said. “We had a quarterback go down and I had to go in and play in that second round game and be the starter that week.

“I had been the third string quarterback. We just kept rolling from there and ended up with the championship. I just loved my time at Woodbridge, it was a great experience winning a bunch of games with different teams and I have a lot of friends from there.”

SUPPORT FROM WHS

The Woodbridge ties continue, Odum said. He recently got an Email from his former basketball coach at Woodbridge, Bill Shannon, who told him how proud he was of his career.

He’s also been in contact with his former football coach Gene Noji.

“He had a run where he would come and see at least one game wherever I coached at so it was really good to see him,” Odum said.

Odum also realized Noji’s impact and how prepared he was for each game.

“He catered the offense to who you have, what are their skill sets and really trying to enhance those out in practice and games,” Odum said. “He just spent a lot of time trying to get the most out of his team and getting them to play as hard as possible. He always said he loved us all the time and he just put everything he had into us as a team, each and every year. I’m really appreciative of that.”

Odum’s contributions will always be remembered. Woodbridge officials are planning to induct him into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in May 2021. Odum was scheduled to be inducted last May, but the ceremony was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Gibson said that Odum was instrumental in recruiting quarterback Nick Nash, who has come on to have some solid games for San Jose State as a back-up to starter Nick Starkel. Nash is also a former Woodbridge High football star.

“He has been a Hall of Fame caliber athlete as well as the winning legacy he left at WHS,” Gibson said of Odum.

Off the field, Odum keeps busy with his family, which includes his wife, Ania; sons Dominic and Jeremiah and daughter Ryann.

Odum and the rest of the coaching staff and players at San Jose State continue to work hard to achieve their goals, but aren’t looking past any team.

“It’s really one week at a time; we have a really tough stretch coming up … Obviously, we want to try to win the Mountain West Conference championship; that’s the goal,” he said. “The guys like being around each other and they like practicing; all the things you want as a coach, they do. Now we just got to take the next step and keep rolling.”

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com