We had big news in the Purdue universe of late but of course you all know this. So, I wanted to send out an email to the staff to see what they thought of this hire. Yes, it’s new, yes it’s early, no we can’t know for sure where this will end but it’s time to at least get an early temperature check on this situation.
Ledman:
This was my question so you’d think I’d have a better answer, but this is all a mystery to me. We don’t know how he’s going to do. We don’t know really what his goals are. The
only thing we know for sure is that the guy can raise money. In this day and age of college sports is that enough? I sure hope so. He’s been at some good spots in his career and he’s been given big things to handle and has been in big roles since his 20s which has to mean something right? Well, despite all that I just don’t know what to think. He’s not the typical stodgy hire you’d expect from Purdue and maybe that’s what they need. Someone to shake things up a bit. I’m hopeful but he’s untested at a school like Purdue so I’ll maintain a sense of cautious optimism.
Kyle:
Aside from the presser, what comes to mind is that his family and himself seem like very nice, genuine hard working people.
He has a deep background in fundraising, which is somewhere that Purdue needs to improve at, so it was needed for the modern day collegiate athletics.
I would say that many think it was an outside the box hire, which I personally believe to be a good thing.
He is young, energetic and has a young family he will want to keep around for a while.
Welcome to Purdue!
Travis:
I already ranted about the presser content, and there are now over 100 comments on it. One thing I have learned over the years is that press conferences mean very, very little. Darrell hazell and Ryan Walters snowed us over with solid press conferences to start. They then went out and won 14 games in a cumulative eight years, with five of those wins coming as virtual guaranteed wins over FCS opponents.
McClelland opened his mouth, stuck his foot in it, then already had to recant it. That’s not the best start. The man has a gigantic task ahead of him in making football at least relevant so it can be the engine that drives the rest of hte athletic department. Morgan burke never saw this. Mike Bobinski saw this, made a good hire in Jeff Brohm, then a disastrous one in Walters that undid all the work Brohm had done. Arguably, McClelland is starting even further back than Bobinski did. Matt Painter and Dave Shondell can only carry him so far. McClelland needs to find a way to increase the NIL budget, likely hire a new women’s basketball coach soon, then figure out a plan to turn around a moribund football program. That’s where I am going to judge him.
Drew:
I’m going to keep it real with y’all. I simply don’t care. I have no framework to judge this guy and I couldn’t tell you what he does on a day to day basis.
My current college sports survival mechanism is to focus solely on the field / court because that’s what I enjoy. Everything currently surrounding the game makes me want to spend my fall Saturdays fishing on some secluded mountain lake without cell service.
I hope he’s so good at his job that I never have to learn his name.
Casey:
I don’t know how many sports fans you talk with, but really stupid, oblivious but braggy comments do kind of hit for a certain populous. That said, what a weird weird choice of trash talk. It’s the only time in like thirty years where that line couldn’t hit worse. But whatever.
McClelland seems to be a signal from Purdue that the same ole same ole isn’t going to be the way Purdue operates in this new arm’s race of collegiate sports. I still have some doubts about how well Purdue will do with it. Purdue basketball, the sport that is thriving by bucking the trend in college basketball, seems more how Purdue would want to operate. But that ain’t happening with football. It probably isn’t happening with football no matter what. I think he’ll be fine. I think Purdue probably needed someone younger to navigate this new space. I don’t think it’s going to be neat or clean. It’s a school doing stuff it’s not used to doing with a personality that doesn’t tend towards safety. Money guys, right?
What was the question? Oh I think this is a weird fit between person and school and it’ll be interesting to see which side flinches first.
Ryan:
I would like to move past the presser. He made a mistake, walked it back, and decided to move on. We should too. What I truly believe Tommy McClelland was brought for is to bring in as much money as possible for athletics. McClelland has a proven track record of doing so, but be warned that revenue may also require measures that the fan base may not like (prepare for sponsors on jerseys). If, and it’s a big if, McClelland can make Purdue competitive in football (men’s basketball and volleyball seem almost self-sustaining), he has done his job and worth every penny of this contract. Let’s hope.
