WEST LAFAYETTE ― Nine years ago, Barry Odom was elevated from Missouri’s defensive coordinator to a first-time head coach.
In 2016, Odom chose not to retain Tigers offensive coordinator Josh Henson.
Now tasked with restoring a Purdue football program, Odom leaned on his old colleague to rebrand an offense that ranked 130th in scoring last season.
It’s been a decade since Henson has been the sole play caller for an offense. Against Ball State on Saturday, Aug. 30, Odom is handing the keys to Henson to do just that.
“Josh has a really good feel for how to build an offense week to week,” Odom said Monday. “Every single week, we’re building. You have your base things you do, but every week you’re building a game plan of the week. And I know he’s excited about the opportunity.”
Henson was offensive coordinator at USC the past three seasons, but head coach Lincoln Riley was in charge of the offensive play calling.
“Not a surprise that somebody would hire him as a play calling OC. It doesn’t surprise me at all,” Riley said at last month’s Big Ten Media Days. “It’s a really good hire. He knows offense. Obviously, his strength is in the line play, but he has plenty of experience with the skill as well to be able to marry it all together.”
Henson last was a play caller as offensive coordinator at Missouri. In 2015, Odom returned to his alma mater as defensive coordinator.
Now, nine years later, they’re reunited.
Henson, with another opportunity to operate the offense, will call it from his preferred destination of the press box.
“I like to be able to see everything from upstairs,” Henson said. “I like the calmness of the box. I always felt l operated the best and made the best decisions when I was removing my emotions as best I could from the game.”
In his first two seasons as Missouri offensive coordinator in 2013 and ’14, Henson called plays for teams that won consecutive SEC Eastern Division titles and went a combined 23-5.
The offense, however, dipped statistically for three straight seasons.
Those SEC division championship teams ranked 13th and 73rd, respectively, in scoring among FBS programs. In Henson’s final season at Missouri, the Tigers averaged just 13.6 points per game and 9.1 over eight SEC games.
Purdue averaged 15.8 points per game last season, ranking 130th out of 134 teams nationally.
Henson will enter Saturday’s Purdue football opener against Ball State with a predetermined script of plays to start. However, he’s not opposed to deviating from the script.
“I’m always going to build little series of scripts in my mind of how I would like for the game to set up,” Henson said. “But the game changes all the time, so you have to adjust and you have to get to your plays that are designed for certain situations that you’re in.”
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: It’s been a decade since Josh Henson called an offense. Purdue football giving him a shot
Reporting by Sam King, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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