San Jose State fires defensive coordinator with two games remaining
Derrick Odum the longest-tenured defensive coordinator in San Jose State history has been fired with two games remaining the crew revealed Monday Odum had overseen the Spartans defense since Brent Brennan s first season He had also been SJSU s associate head coach for the past eight seasons Inside linebackers coach Bojay Filimoeatu will serve as interim defensive coordinator for the Spartans remaining games Saturday at conference-leading San Diego State and Nov at home against Fresno State The school also communicated that Joe Palcic the senior football analyst and special teams coordinator had been removed from his duties Palcic was in his third season with the Spartans We appreciate the contributions Derrick Odum and Joe Palcic have made to our plan and wish them and their families the very best head coach Ken Niumatalolo who is in his second season at San Jose State stated in a release issued by the school At this time we believe a change is necessary to reinforce our commitment to excellence for our student-athletes staff and region As a crew we remain unified in our mission to compete at the highest level and uphold the Spartan standard The Spartans are - overall and - in Mountain West play part of a three-way tie for eighth in the -team conference The organization was picked to finish third in the Mountain West preseason media poll and was attempting to become bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive season and fifth time in six years San Jose State s hopes of becoming bowl eligible were officially dashed on Saturday in a - loss at Nevada The Wolf Pack entered the meeting with a -game conference losing streak and statistically one of the least effective offenses in the Mountain West Nevada became the seventh opponent this season to amass at least yards against the Spartans SJSU is ninth in the conference in total defense and has allowed touchdowns tied for the the majority with UNLV Odum helped build a defense that allowed just points per tournament during the Spartans Mountain West Championship run The Spartans were the second-best defense in the Mountain West in terms of yards per battle allowed in with Odum as the play caller Related Articles Murder suspect accused beloved Oakland football coach John Beam of witchcraft sources say Big Ten power rankings USC Oregon prepare for CFP elimination championship Big power rankings Top four stay solid as Arizona soars and a fascinating Territorial Cup comes into focus Former Laney star Nahshon Wright makes emotional interception in memory of John Beam Pac- power rankings San Diego State s CFP path widens via American chaos The Spartans defense had been known for making big plays under Odum Last season SJSU had takeaways the majority of in the Mountain West and fifth in the country This season San Jose State has forced turnovers but the offense has lost fumbles and thrown interceptions Four of San Jose State s first five losses this season were by a touchdown or less and the Spartans led in the fourth quarter in each of those games San Jose State blew a -point lead at Stanford allowed unanswered points in a - loss at Wyoming The past two games the Spartans have been outscored - Odum arrived at SJSU in with Brennan from Oregon State where he had been the Beavers defensive backs coach He entered the season as the fourth-longest advancing tenured defensive coordinator in the FBS level He has coached at the college level for seasons in all Under Odum Spartans defensive players earned all-conference awards and nine were selected in the NFL draft Related Articles San Jose State s bowl hopes snuffed out in blowout loss at Nevada What to know before San Jose State kicks off at Nevada San Jose State requirements to snap long Reno drought to keep bowl hopes alive Takeaways from San Jose State s disappointing loss to Air Force San Jose State s turnovers prove costly in - loss to Air Force
