‘Very Fortunate to Be Here’: For Huskies’ Assistant, Everything Goes Back to Don James
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Washington Huskies linebackers coach Brian Odom (right) guides linebacker Deven Bryant (17) through a practice drill at the University of Washington Dempsey Indoor Center on Monday, April 28, 2025. Credit: Aaron Coe, Emerald City Spectrum [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. - Take a quick scroll of the career of Washington Huskies linebackers’ coach Brian Odom, and you won’t see much Washington or Don James on there.
His coaching roots, however, trace back to James, and that connection made his decision to join the Huskies staff this offseason an easier one.
After playing at Oklahoma and Southeastern Oklahoma State, Odom took a position as a graduate assistant at Missouri in 2005, and learned from Don James disciple Gary Pinkel in Columbia.
“Coach Pinkel had a pretty amazing career in itself in terms of being in the College Football Hall of Fame,” said Odom on Monday after UW’s 13th spring football practice. “Everything we did at Missouri back in those days was because of Don James. That made me gain a pretty healthy respect for the program. … This is an unbelievable place. I’m very fortunate to be here.”
Odom moved on to Arizona in 2006, and got his first taste of Husky Stadium in 2007. It wasn’t the most memorable day for Husky fans, as the Wildcats scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to stun the Huskies 48-41, led by Willie Tuitama’s 510 passing yards. We certainly don’t need to rehash that one any further. It stands out to Odom, though, as a memorable day.
“It was a tremendous atmosphere,” Odom said. “And I’ve always thought ever since that time, if I ever had a chance to go work up there… Obviously had great respect for the program.”
Odom’s job at Washington is to find guys — or in many cases, one guy — who can play the important off-ball linebacker role in defensive coordinator Ryan Walters’ system. Though Walters’ system uses multiple personnel groups, it’s often a 5-1-5 alignment — meaning five-man front, five defensive backs, and one middle linebacker. While a lot is asked of that one linebacker — who is expected to be Taariq “Buddah” Al-Uqdah — two traits stand at the top of the list for Odom.
“If you’re going to be a linebacker, and I’ve said this to multiple people, you have to defeat blocks and you have to make tackles. If you can’t do those two — and I don’t care what scheme you’re playing in — if you cannot get off blocks and you cannot make tackles, you can’t play linebacker. Those are two skills you can work and improve, and a lot of it has to do with mentality.
“The majority of the time, the guy that doesn’t want to get blocked usually doesn’t get blocked, and that guy that want to make the tackle, you’re going to turn around and he’s going to have double-digit tackles in a game because he believes he can do it, and he’s got that burning desire to make it happen.”
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Washington Huskies linebacker Taariq “Buddah” Al-Uqdah speaks with the Emerald City Spectrum after practice at the University of Washington Dempsey Indoor Center on Monday, April 28, 2025. Credit: Aaron Coe, Emerald City Spectrum [/caption]
Al-Uqdah has shown that desire so far in spring practices. A transfer from Washington State who helped beat theHuskies last season (we won’t re-hash any more unpleasant memories that game either), the 6-0, 232-pound linebacker feels like he’s fully become a Husky who has a grasp on the defense as the team heads into the last spring practice on Wednesday before Friday’s “Dawgs After Dark” spring game Friday.
“Definitely more comfortable,” Al-Uqdah said. “Feel like I’m allowed to make more plays and plays faster that when you’re first learning something.”
Xe’ree Alexander, a transfer from Central Florida, as well as Deven Bryant have also received considerable snaps during spring ball. Bryant, redshirt sophomore, played only a handful of snaps last season, but seems to have taken a step forward this spring. It’ll be up to Al-Uqdah, Alexander, and Bryant to replace Carson Bruener, Alphonzo Tuputala, Khmori House, and Drew Fowler, which provided one of the strengths of last year’s defense. Some help may be on the way when Arizona transfer Jacob Manu and true freshman Zaydrius Rainey-Sale return from knee surgeries at some point in the fall, though it’s unknown how much or when either might contribute in 2025.
“[Bryant’s] knowledge is the thing that really kind of separates him,” Odom said. “And his anticipation within plays, and his knowledge of the defense. His ability to be at the right spot at the right time and make the play has really stood out to me this spring practice.”
Though Rainey-Sale has been out since a high school knee injury and the surgery that followed, Washington’s top-ranked 2025 recruit has made an early impression on Odom.
“He walks into the room, and the room lights up because he’s in it,” Odom said. “His smile — his personality — is contagious. He’s intelligent, he’s engaging. He’s been in every meeting. He’s thirsting for knowledge of the scheme. If he plays half as good as he prepares right now, when he’s not available, he’s going to be a really good player.”
Odom coached with Walters at Missouri in 2017 and 2018, and has seen his defense change some in between that stop and coming to Washington. Odom said they use more five-man fronts and single-high safety coverage than at Missouri, though he’ll mix in three- and four-man fronts at UW as well.
"It’s a fun scheme to be a part of,” Odom said. “He does a great job teaching. He does a great job of relating one call to the other, so there’s a foundation to the scheme for guys to learn pretty fast. So obviously if you’re a transfer, if you’re a freshman, it allows you a fast catch-up time, if you will, in terms of being able to get up to speed with everybody else, because it’s an easy scheme to learn that may look a little different to an opponent.”
As for Monday’s practice, it was inside the Dempsey Indoor Center, and was one of the few practices without pads. It was mostly drill work, and even the scrimmage sessions had some specific purposes and obviously did not involve tackling or significant contact.
Dawgs After Dark
The Huskies will hold one more practice on Wednesday from 3:30 p.m. until approximately 5 PM PT. The spring game, Dawgs After Dark, begins at 6:30 PM on Friday. I spoke with UW play-by-play man Tony Castricone, and his voice sounds ready to go for the broadcast on Friday, which will be carried locally on KJR 93.3 FM Radio.
The spring game is free, but tickets are required. Click here for more information.
