Norfolk State University is the latest HBCU looking for a head football coach as it has parted ways with Dawson Odums.
Norfolk State Director of Athletics Dr. Melody Webb announced on Tuesday that Odums has been ‘reassigned.”
“I want to thank Coach Odums for his continued commitment and dedication to Spartan football,” Webb said. “Since his arrival, he has become a valued member of our family and community, always representing Norfolk State with dignity and class. We wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”
Odums went 15-31 during his four years at the helm of Norfolk State University, including a 4-8 record in 2024. His best season was his first as he finished 6-5 after coming over to the Virginia HBCU from Southern University.
Odums had a much more successful stint at Southern, going 63-32 and recording winning seasons in eight of his last nine years at the SWAC school. He left in the spring of 2021, signing a five-year deal worth $240k annually.
Norfolk State University is set to start a national search for its next head coach. The program has struggled to find a long-term solution at head coach for decades, as Odums becomes the seventh consecutive coach to end his tenure in Norfolk with a .500 record or less and has one conference title since coming to Division I in 1997 — a 2011 MEAC title that was vacated due to the use of ineligible players.