LAS CRUCES, N.M. - NM State has its defensive secondary leader.
NM State head coach Jerry Kill announced the addition of Cliff Odom to his staff for the upcoming 2022 season and beyond. Odom will serve as NM State's defensive backs coach.
Prior to joining Kill's staff at NM State, Odom five other programs benefitted from his services. Most recently, Eastern Illinois employed the former Baylor player for two seasons (2020 and 2021). At the FCS institution, Odom oversaw the Panthers' defensive backs group and produced a trio of All-Ohio Valley Conference honorees through his pair of seasons in Charleston, Ill.
Odom headed north to Illinois following a two-year stint as a special teams quality control coach at UCF from 2018-19. The Knights went an impressive 22-4 during Odom's tenure and appeared in a pair of bowl games. One of Odom's pupils earned All-AAC Second Team honors as a special teams performer.
Another Florida post-secondary institution, Stetson, had Odom on staff in 2017. At the DeLand, Fla., university, Odom was the team's defensive backs coach and oversaw the development of Pioneer League Defensive Newcomer of the Year JJ Henderson.
Odom was a graduate assistant at a pair of Power Five clubs - Missouri (2016) and TCU (2015) - before heading to Florida. With Missouri, he worked exclusively with the team's brigade of cornerbacks and with Odom in that team room the Tigers topped the SEC charts in interceptions. At TCU, the Horned Frogs posted an 11-2 record and won the Alamo Bowl.
In the three seasons preceding his run at the college level, Odom coached at Martin High School in Arlington, Texas. There, he was the team's secondary coach while also coordinating all strength & conditioning operations. The Martin High School track & field team also benefitted from Odom's coaching services, too.
The Odom family's football lineage runs deep as Cliff's father, Cliff Odom Sr., logged 13 years of service in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins from 1980-93. Odom's brother, Chris, is a defensive end by trade and appeared on a trio of NFL rosters as well from 2017-19 (Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins) before signing on with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders in February of 2021.
Odom obtained his bachelor's degree from Baylor in 2011 following a college football career in which he participated heavily in both SAAC and FCA.
For complete coverage of NM State football as the Aggies continue to gear up for year one under coach Kill and his staff, visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics - and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Football), Twitter (@NMStateFootball) and Instagram (@NMStateFootball).
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