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Purdue Football 2025: The Ultimate Rebuild Story

Mark Haines on May 29, 2025

Rock bottom has a way of clarifying things.

After Purdue’s historically catastrophic 2024 season, a 1-11 nightmare that included the worst home loss in program history, the Boilermakers face 2025 with a simple reality: nowhere to go but up. The Barry Odom era begins with one of the most dramatic rebuilding projects in recent college football memory, featuring an almost entirely new roster, a proven turnaround artist at the helm, and expectations so modest they might be achievable.

The 2024 Disaster That Changed Everything

The numbers tell a story of complete collapse.

Purdue’s 2024 campaign wasn’t just bad—it was historically, embarrassingly, change-your-phone-number-and-move-to-another-state bad. After a season-opening 49-0 victory over Indiana State that felt like fool’s gold, the Boilermakers lost their next 11 games in increasingly painful fashion.

The low points that defined the season:

  • A 66-7 home massacre by Notre Dame (the worst home loss in program history)
  • A season-ending 66-0 shutout by Indiana that sent fans streaming for the exits
  • Three total shutout losses (a program record)
  • An average of just 15.8 points per game while surrendering nearly 40
  • A turnover margin of -14 that spoke to fundamental breakdowns everywhere

Ryan Walters was fired after compiling a 5-19 record over two seasons, and honestly, the only surprise was that it took this long.

Enter Barry Odom: The Turnaround Specialist

What do you do when your program hits rock bottom?

You hire the guy who specializes in digging teams out of holes. Barry Odom, the 48-year-old former UNLV coach, spent the last two seasons orchestrating one of college football’s most impressive transformations. In Las Vegas, he transformed a perennial doormat into a Mountain West powerhouse, leading the Rebels to back-to-back championship game appearances and an 11-3 record in 2024, their best season in 40 years.

Odom’s track record speaks for itself:

  • 19-8 record at UNLV in just two seasons
  • Previous head coaching experience at Missouri (25-25 from 2016-2019)
  • Defensive background with a proven ability to develop talent
  • Experience building programs with limited resources

As Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski explained: “He is a proven and experienced leader who has brought success to two different football programs and has made an impact on the lives of countless student-athletes.”

Odom himself has made bold promises about the rebuild: “Their trust will be rewarded with a football program that will reflect the personality and excellence Purdue is widely known for — character, intensity, and a no-excuses winning attitude. I can assure you it will be built to last.”

The Great Roster Revolution

Here’s where things get really interesting.

Purdue didn’t just change coaches—they changed virtually everything else as well. The Boilermakers have added over 50 transfer players and 15 incoming freshmen, creating what amounts to an almost entirely new team. This level of personnel turnover is extraordinary even in the modern transfer portal era.

The exodus was equally dramatic:

  • Safety Dillon Thieneman (transferred)
  • Defensive end Will Heldt (transferred)
  • Tight end Max Klare (transferred to Ohio State)
  • Linebacker Yanni Karlafits (transferred)
  • 29 additional players entered the transfer portal after spring practice

The biggest win? Retaining star running back Devin Mockobee, who has 2,466 career rushing yards and 21 touchdowns. In a sea of new faces, Mockobee provides the offensive continuity and proven production that will be essential as Odom establishes his system.

The Coaching Staff: Familiar Faces in New Places

Odom moved quickly to assemble his staff, bringing proven winners from his previous stops.

Key hires include:

  • Josh Henson (Offensive Coordinator): Arrived from USC where he helped lead the Trojans to the top spot in Big Ten passing
  • Mike Scherer (Defensive Coordinator): Followed Odom from UNLV, where he guided the Rebels’ defense to impressive national rankings in interceptions and turnovers forced
  • Charles Clark (Defensive Backs): Five seasons at Memphis, most recently as associate head coach
  • Kelvin Green (Defensive Line): Worked with Odom at Arkansas

The theme here is clear: Odom is surrounding himself with coaches he trusts, which makes sense when you’re trying to rebuild a program from scratch.

Position Battles and Key Players

The quarterback competition remains wide open.

Ryan Browne returns after a brief stint in the transfer portal, but he’ll face stiff competition from newcomers Malachi Singleton, Evans Chuba, and Bennett Meredith. Whoever wins this battle will be crucial to any offensive success, especially with an entirely new receiving corps.

The most promising additions:

  • CJ Nunnally IV (DE, from Akron): Among the MAC’s leaders in tackles for loss
  • Tahj Ra-El (DB, from Memphis): Experienced safety who followed his coach to Purdue
  • Richard Toney Jr. (DB, from TCU): Known for ball-hawking ability
  • Zyntreacs Otey (CB, Freshman): Four-star recruit who reclassified to join early

These players represent the type of talent injection the program desperately needs after years of struggling with recruiting.

Schedule Reality Check

Let’s be honest about what Odom is walking into.

Purdue’s 2025 schedule ranks 11th nationally in strength and third in the Big Ten. Nine of their 12 opponents played in bowl games last year, and three (Indiana, Notre Dame, and Ohio State) reached the College Football Playoff.

The most realistic path to wins:

  • Gimme games: Ball State and Southern Illinois in the first two weeks
  • Potential wins: Minnesota, Northwestern, Rutgers, and Washington
  • Pray for miracles: Pretty much everyone else

Sportsbooks have set Purdue’s win total at 3.5, tied for the lowest in the Big Ten with Northwestern. Most expert projections suggest 3-9 or 4-8, with bowl eligibility considered a pipe dream.

The Cultural Revolution

This isn’t just about new players and coaches.

Odom faces the challenge of establishing an entirely new culture and identity with a group that barely knows each other. Building team chemistry from scratch is difficult under normal circumstances—doing it with 70 new faces while playing one of the nation’s toughest schedules is borderline impossible.

Purdue AD Mike Bobinski has acknowledged the program must modernize its approach, particularly regarding NIL: “Our folks didn’t necessarily respond warmly to the way NIL evolved in the recent past, but that’s going to change. You need a coach who understands that and embraces that the new world is going to require a new way of thinking.”

This philosophical shift represents a recognition that Purdue’s previous approach was woefully inadequate in the current college football landscape.

Redefining Success

Here’s the thing about rock bottom: it gives you perspective.

Success in 2025 won’t be measured solely by wins and losses. The primary objectives focus on competitiveness and culture-building:

  • Avoiding the type of blowout losses that characterized 2024
  • Keeping games close and showing consistent effort for four quarters
  • Building chemistry among newcomers and establishing leadership
  • Creating a foundation for future recruiting and development

As one analyst noted about Odom’s track record: “He’s the type of guy who has succeeded in trusting his schemes without much, if any, blue-chip talent,” suggesting that modest recruiting rankings shouldn’t preclude improvement with proper coaching.

The Long Game

This is a marathon, not a sprint.

While immediate results may be limited, 2025 represents the beginning of what Purdue hopes will be a sustainable turnaround. Odom’s experience with quick rebuilds at UNLV and Missouri provides reason for optimism that competitiveness can be established relatively quickly.

The key factors for long-term success:

  • Developing current talent while upgrading through recruiting
  • Establishing systems that maximize available resources
  • Building a culture that attracts and retains quality players
  • Adapting to the modern college football landscape

The Bottom Line

Purdue football enters 2025 with rock-bottom expectations and sky-high potential for improvement.

The Barry Odom era begins with a recognition that this is a multi-year project requiring patience, strategic thinking, and consistent execution. For Boilermaker fans, this season will test their loyalty as the program attempts to rebuild from one of the worst campaigns in its history.

But here’s the beautiful thing about starting from the bottom: every step forward feels like progress.

Success will be measured not just in wins and losses, but in effort, competitiveness, and signs of the cultural change necessary to return Purdue to respectability. The foundation is being laid for what the program hopes will be a return to the success it enjoyed as recently as 2022, when the Boilermakers played in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Whether that foundation can support sustainable success will begin to be determined when Barry Odom’s rebuilt roster takes the field against Ball State on August 30th.

Time to find out if rock bottom was really the bottom.

The Next Billion Dollar Game

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Week 12 Hot Seat Rankings Reveal The New Math of Firing Coaches: When Balance Sheets Trump Box Scores

Mark Haines on November 12, 2024

Graphic by Tony Altimore @TJAltimore on X

When Money Changes Everything: College Football’s New Math

If you want to understand what’s happening in college football right now, forget about the polls, the playoff rankings, and even the win-loss records. Instead, study Tony Altimore’s (@TJAltimore on X) financial visualization of athletic department debt. This document looks less like a sports analysis and more like a hedge fund’s risk assessment of distressed assets. What Altimore has captured, in clean lines and horrifying clarity, is the moment when college football’s financial chickens have come home to roost.

The numbers are staggering enough to make a Wall Street quant nervous. Major athletic departments have the kind of revenue shortfalls that would make a leveraged buyout specialist think twice, all while trying to maintain the facade that their business model isn’t fundamentally broken. Our Hot Seat Rankings arrive in this financial maelstrom, a list that increasingly reads like a collection of toxic assets nobody knows how to value.

Consider the range of buyouts in play: Marshall could rid itself of Charles Huff for the price of a mid-level administrator’s salary ($125,917), while Baylor would need to liquidate the equivalent of a small endowment ($20-25 million) to move on from Dave Aranda. In any rational market, these numbers represent the cost of doing business. But in 2024’s college football economy, where athletic departments are juggling NIL collectives, revenue sharing, the House Settlement, facility arms races, and operational deficits that would make a venture capitalist blanch, even UMass’s relatively modest $800,000 obligation to Don Brown looks less like a buyout and more like a luxury they might not be able to afford.

We’re witnessing the emergence of a new market inefficiency: coaches who become unsackable not through their success but through the financial implications of their failure. In a world where half our Hot Seat candidates owe their job security to their buyout clauses rather than their win percentages, we’ve entered a realm where being too expensive to fire has become its own kind of competitive advantage.

Welcome to college football’s new normal, where balance sheets matter more than playbooks, and the most important numbers aren’t on the scoreboard but in the fine print of contracts that increasingly look like they were designed by derivatives traders rather than athletic directors.

Here’s our Top 10 for this week, plus a little insider information on each:

1. Don Brown – UMass

Don Brown sits atop college football’s hot seat list in a way that perfectly captures the industry’s bias for action over patience. UMass administrators, energized by their MAC invitation and staring at a manageable $800,000 buyout, seem eager to start fresh before the 2025 conference transition. The kind of institutional momentum creates its own gravity – the desire to make a splashy hire before joining a new conference to signal ambition and commitment to a brighter future. But there’s a fascinating market inefficiency at play here that nobody’s talking about: Brown might be the rare coach whose value to the program is about to increase precisely when they’re most inclined to remove him. His decades of MAC experience as a defensive coordinator at Central Michigan and Connecticut (during its MAC era) and his deep New England recruiting roots represent institutional knowledge that money can’t easily buy. UMass is preparing to make a classic institutional mistake: paying to remove expertise they’ll need to acquire again, all in service of a fresh start that might not be as fresh as they imagine. After all, the next coach will face the same fundamental challenges – navigating one more year of independence before transitioning to the MAC – with less experience in both contexts.

2. Charles Huff – Marshall

Huff’s position has improved slightly with a recent win, but he is in year 4 of a 5-year contract, and his small $125,917 buyout means Marshall could make a change without significant financial strain. His hot seat status remains high, though the recent win may have bought him some time.

3. Stan Drayton – Temple

This week, a 52 – 6 loss to Tulane has intensified the pressure on Drayton. With no specified buyout disclosed, Temple might have flexibility in making a coaching change if they decide to go that route. The program’s struggles in the American Athletic Conference likely contribute to his hot seat status.

4. Trent Dilfer – UAB

Dilfer’s hot seat status has worsened with another loss. His $4,116,667 buyout is significant for UAB, which might give him more time. However, his unusual comments, media interactions, and poor on-field results have quickly put him in a precarious position despite being only in his second year.

5. Dave Aranda – Baylor

Despite a bye week, Aranda remains on the hot seat. His substantial $20-25 million buyout is a major factor in Baylor’s decision-making process. Recent wins have improved his standing, and there’s an industry consensus that he’s trending towards returning in 2025, partly due to the financial implications of a coaching change.

6. Sam Pittman – Arkansas

Sam Pittman moves down to #6 on our Hot Seat Rankings in what might be college football’s most emotionally complicated coaching situation. He’s the kind of figure who makes fans want to invite him over for dinner while simultaneously wanting to throw their remote through the TV during games. His Arkansas team has shown improvement this year, but in a way that feels like watching a gifted student consistently turn in C+ work – there’s something both promising and maddening about it all. The blowout loss to Ole Miss exposed the fundamental disconnect: a team with SEC talent playing with the discipline of a midnight pickup game. And here’s where it gets interesting – and credit to Jackson Collier of the Hardwood Hogs Podcast (@JCHoops on X) for surfacing a contract provision that adds another layer to this Southern football soap opera: If Pittman can scrape together seven wins between Louisiana Tech and one more victory (including a potential bowl game), he triggers an automatic raise and extension. It’s the kind of clause that transforms Arkansas’s $10 million buyout decision from merely expensive to existentially complex. The boosters’ dilemma is almost Shakespearean: How do you fire someone everyone likes who’s making the team better but not as much better as it should be? Especially when the cost of doing so keeps threatening to go up?

7. Sonny Cumbie – Louisiana Tech

A loss this week has likely increased the pressure on Cumbie. With a $1,625,000 buyout, Louisiana Tech has some flexibility if it chooses to make a change. The program’s performance in Conference USA will determine his future.

8. Kevin Wilson – Tulsa

Wilson’s first season at Tulsa has been challenging, but a recent comeback win against UTSA may have improved his standing. His buyout details aren’t specified, but Tulsa’s financial situation and patience with new coaches could influence his job security.

9. Ryan Walters – Purdue

Despite the most recent 45-0 loss to Ohio State, reports suggest Walters is expected to get more time at Purdue. His $9,590,625 buyout and the administration’s recognition of NIL challenges in the Big Ten could provide him additional job security despite the team’s struggles this season.

10. Hugh Freeze – Auburn

Freeze’s $20,312,500 buyout is a significant factor in his job security. Auburn’s recent performance and Freeze’s past success at Ole Miss are considerations. While he’s on the hot seat, the financial implications of a coaching change might give him more time to turn the program around.

What’s your take? Let us know here

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What’s up with Purdue?

Mark Haines on October 10, 2024

In the crisp autumn air of West Lafayette, Indiana, a story of ambition, miscalculation, and the unforgiving nature of college football is unfolding. At its center stands Ryan Walters, a 37-year-old wunderkind of defensive coaching. Now facing the greatest challenge of his young career, fans are asking, “Is Ryan Walters heading to the top of the Coaches Hot Seat rankings?”

Two years ago, Walters was the toast of the Big Ten. As the defensive coordinator at Illinois, he had engineered a turnaround that transformed the Illini from a conference punching bag to a genuine contender. His defenses were smart, aggressive, and, most importantly, effective. When Purdue came calling with a head coaching offer, it seemed like the natural next step in a meteoric rise.

The Fall from Grace

Fast forward to today, and the picture couldn’t be more different.

On a chilly Saturday afternoon in early October, Walters stands on the sideline of Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. His Purdue Boilermakers are being dismantled by the Badgers, a team that, on paper, they should be competing with. The scoreboard reads 52-6. It’s not just a loss; it’s an indictment.

“If I’m being completely honest, we’re a bad football team right now,” Walters would say in the post-game press conference, his voice a mixture of frustration and bewilderment. For a man who had known nothing but success in his coaching career, this admission seemed to cost him physically.

The Quarterback Conundrum

But how did it come to this? To understand the Purdue situation, one must examine the numbers, the decisions, and, most importantly, the people involved.

Let’s start with Hudson Card, Purdue’s quarterback. A transfer from Texas, Card arrived in West Lafayette with a golden arm and dreams of NFL stardom. In the season opener against Indiana State, he looked every bit the part, throwing for over 300 yards and leading Purdue to a 49-0 victory.

“I thought we had it figured out,” says Jason Simmons, Purdue’s newly minted offensive coordinator. Simmons, a man whose coaching journey has taken him from high school sidelines to the Big Ten in just three years, speaks with the cautious optimism of someone who has seen how quickly fortunes can change in this sport.

Indeed, change they did. Card has failed to throw for more than 200 yards in the four games since that opening victory in any single game. The offense, once promising, has become predictable and ineffective.

The Defensive Disappointment

The problems extend beyond the offense. Purdue’s defense, supposedly Walters’ specialty, ranks last in the Big Ten in multiple categories. It’s a stunning reversal for a coach who made his name by shutting down some of the most potent offenses in college football.

“It’s like we forgot how to play football,” one anonymous player confides. “We go out there, and it’s like we’re speaking a different language than the other team.”

The Transfer Portal’s Impact

One must look at the broader context of college football in 2024 to understand this collapse. The transfer portal, a relatively new phenomenon, has turned roster management into a year-round chess match. Purdue lost key players like Nic Scourton, a future NFL edge rusher, to this new form of free agency.

“It’s not like the old days where you could build a program over four or five years,” explains Tom Dienhart, a longtime observer of Purdue football. “Now, if you don’t win immediately, your best players are going to look for greener pastures.”

The Pressure Cooker

This new reality has created a pressure cooker environment for coaches, especially young ones like Walters. The decision to fire offensive coordinator Graham Harrell just 16 games into his tenure speaks to this pressure. It was a move born of desperation, a Hail Mary pass from a coach who sees his dream job slipping away.

The Road Ahead

As Walters and his team prepare for their next game against Illinois – ironically, the program where he made his name – the questions loom. Can this young coach engineer a turnaround? Or will Purdue become yet another cautionary tale in the high-stakes world of college football?

The Bigger Picture

Ultimately, Ryan Walters and the 2024 Purdue Boilermakers’ story is more than just a sports story. It’s a tale of ambition, systems in flux, and the thin line between success and failure in modern America. As the team buses roll back into West Lafayette, one can’t help but wonder: What will the next chapter bring?

Where does Ryan Walters belong on our Hot Seat Rankings? Let us know here.

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The Hot Seat Burns: Purdue Parts Ways with Graham Harrell Amidst Offensive Struggles

Mark Haines on September 30, 2024

In the high-stakes college football world, where every play counts and every game matters, the pressure cooker environment can sometimes boil over. And in West Lafayette, Indiana, the temperature had been rising steadily.

The Fall From Grace

Just four games into the 2024 season, Purdue’s offensive coordinator, Graham Harrell, found himself out of a job. The Boilermakers, sitting at a disappointing 1-3 record following a lackluster 28-10 loss to Nebraska, decided a change was needed.

Head coach Ryan Walters, in a move that surprised many, pulled the trigger on Harrell’s dismissal, stating, “Decisions like this are never easy. After evaluating our start to the season, I felt that it was best for our team to make a change now. We are appreciative of Graham’s contributions to our program and wish him the best going forward.”  

It’s the kind of moment that sends shockwaves through the locker room, a stark reminder that no one’s position is truly secure in this game.

The Offense Sputters

The numbers painted a grim picture of Purdue’s offensive woes. Against Nebraska, they went nearly four quarters without scoring, their ground game managed a paltry 50 yards, and quarterback Hudson Card struggled to find his rhythm. It was the second time the Boilermakers failed to reach 100 yards rushing this season, a statistic that would make any offensive coordinator cringe.

In football, where points are king, such performances are unacceptable.

A Year of Unfulfilled Promise

Harrell’s tenure at Purdue had been marked by inconsistency. While the Boilermakers averaged a respectable 23.9 points per game in 2023, his first year at the helm, their passing game lagged, and they struggled to put up big numbers against conference opponents.

It’s the classic story of a coach who shows flashes of brilliance but ultimately fails to deliver on the high expectations placed upon him.

The Search for a Spark

The Search For A Spark

Now, Purdue finds itself at a crossroads. With Harrell gone, the search begins for a new offensive coordinator, someone who can ignite the spark that has been missing. It’s a pivotal moment for the Boilermakers, a chance to turn their season around and salvage something from the ashes of their early struggles.

Change is inevitable in the ever-evolving landscape of college football. Sometimes, it’s the catalyst for greatness; other times, it’s simply a necessary step in the journey. Only time will tell which path Purdue will take.

The Coaching Carousel Turns

As the coaching carousel spins, Graham Harrell’s name joins the list of those seeking a new opportunity. His resume, which includes stints at USC and West Virginia, speaks to his potential, but questions remain about his ability to produce results consistently.

The hot seat is always waiting, a constant reminder that the margin for error is slim in this game. For Harrell, it’s a chance to reflect, regroup, and prepare for the next chapter in his coaching career.

And for Purdue, it’s a new beginning, a fresh start, and a chance to rewrite the narrative of their season. The game goes on, and the pursuit of victory continues.

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