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Silence.
That was the sound from Purdue with the start of the second football signing day on Wednesday. While it was unexpected, the Boilermakers announced no new additions to the 14 players who had signed in December during the early signing period.
Purdue received a verbal commitment from Australian punter Jack Ansell last month. But Purdue made no announcement of Ansell signing a letter-of-intent today. Players have until August 1 to sign. Ansell told GoldandBlack.com he planned to arrive on campus in May.
No doubt, signing a small class hurts that ranking. Yet.Purdue's 2021 recruiting class ranks last in the Big Ten (No. 75 in the nation), according to Rivals. Purdue's 14 signees are the fewest in the Big Ten (along with Indiana), as Jeff Brohm has said he wanted to maintain room to add transfers with few scholarships to give. Still, for some it's difficult to ignore the low finish.
"I mean, momentum is important during the game," analyst Gerry DiNardo said on BTN's signing day special show on Wednesday. "And it's important program-wise, and it's important in recruiting."
Purdue has added three transfers via the portal this offseason: guard Tyler Witt (Western Kentucky), defensive end Joseph Anderson (South Carolina) and linebacker O.C. Brothers (Auburn). And Purdue is expected to add additional help via the portal for a program that welcomes back four players who are taking advantage of an NCAA waiver permitting an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic: WR Jackson Anthrop, OT Greg Long, LB/DE Semisi Fakasiieiki and DT Anthony Watts.
DiNardo pointed out that Purdue's win total has fallen each of the last three seasons, from seven in Brohm's first season in 2017, to six, to four and to two last year during a season shortened to six games by the pandemic.
"I mean, this is a program that has lost momentum," said DiNardo. "They'll have their third defensive coordinator in three years. First, it was Nick Holt (2017-19). Then, it was Bob Diaco. Bob Diaco only lasted one year."
This offseason, Brohm replaced Diaco with Brad Lambert, who was coordinator at Marshall. Brohm also has a new defensive line coach (Mark Hagen) and a new cornerbacks coach (Ron English). It has continued a churn of defensive coaches under Brohm with only one defensive assistant remaining from his original staff: co-DC/safeties coach Anthony Poindexter.
"And so, again, this is an offensive coach, much like (Maryland's) Mike Locksley, that really needs a strong, strong defensive staff and needed strong, strong recruiters on defense," said DiNardo. "And so, momentum is a tricky thing. It's a really hard thing to get back."
Coming off a 2-4 season in 2020, Purdue reportedly will begin spring drills on February 19. Four members of the 2021 class already are enrolled to take part, including the most prized signee: linebacker Yanni Karlaftis. He's joined by fellow linebacker Tristan Cox and wideouts Deion Burks and Preston Terrell. They all hope to help the Boilermakers reverse a trend that has seen the program post three losing seasons in a row.
"And to complicate Jeff's challenges at Purdue is all of the momentum that's going on in Bloomington," said DiNardo. "When Jeff first got to Purdue, he got the momentum right away (7-6 record and bowl win). Tom Allen was doing a good job at Indiana, but he wasn't smoking like he was last year, right?
"Now, Indiana is the hot school in the state. They're losing momentum at Purdue. So, this is gonna be a really important year, obviously, for Jeff Brohm. But when you don't have success on the field, some programs it doesn't hurt you in recruiting. A program like Purdue, it hurts you in recruiting. I think (for now) that's what we're looking at."
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