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Optimism. That word is synonymous with being a Purdue of any length of time. Optimism is a badge that Purdue fans wear with honor, none so much as when the the Boilers take to Ross Ade Stadium every fall. Other sports have had their times in the limelight with the men’s basketball program making a Final Four just two seasons ago and seemingly being the preseason #1 heading into 2025-2026 while the women’s team remains the last B1G team to win a national title (although that program needs to see some better days moving forward).
As lifelong Purdue fans, many of us have struggled through some of the most lean years in college football history. I know most Purdue fans who remember the Fred Akers, Jim Colletto, Darrell Hazel, and Ryan Walters eras would much rather toss those memories into the Wabash River. The inept coaching wouldn’t detract the Boilermaker faithful from entering the first week of the season with hopes of a bowl game and controlling the Old Oaken Bucket and the Purdue Cannon.
Purdue fans have come to understand what success looks like in West Lafayette. It isn’t the flash of a hire from Texas like Akers. Nor was it the flash from Toledo in Hazel. It certainly wasn’t the bravado and seemingly the toast of defensive college football from Champaign in Walters. What has success looked like? Blue-collared coaches who knew what the hard and long work looked like to build a successful program.
Purdue is never going to be the glamour the Ohio State Buckeyes or the Texas Longhorns, places where Fred Akers and Jim Colletto came from. They certainly aren’t the flash in the pan, hot commodity like Hazel and Walters. Purdue just isn’t an athletic department built on big swings and high risk chances. You can look at the success of the men’s basketball program as a blueprint for what the entire AD…
Source link : https://www.hammerandrails.com/football/54538/optimism-abounds-for-barry-odom-era
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Publish date : 2025-08-21 02:55:00
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