When Graham Harrell was hired as Purdue's offensive coordinator by new head coach Ryan Walters, he didn't have time to celebrate. It was straight to business. Harrell was in Texas recruiting for West Virginia when he landed the Purdue job and didn't have to leave the state for his first assignment with the Boilermakers.

Walters picked Harrell up in a plane, and the two flew straight to Austin to go into the home of transfer quarterback, Hudson Card. Harrell hopped on the plane, threw on a Purdue shirt for the first time, and went to work. The newest members of Purdue's fresh coaching staff shared the same sentiments about the former Texas Longhorn signal caller and made him their top priority.

"It was immediate. You know, I think that we were both in agreeance that, you know, as far as portal quarterbacks, in our opinion, he was the best one in there," Harrell said. "We wanted to get him and got fortunate enough he wanted to come here and play for us."

Card had a long list of potential suitors after officially entering the transfer portal in December, including Notre Dame, Oregon State, and Illinois, in particular. However, the Boilermakers moved quickly and made quite the impression on the former four-star recruit.

"I remember the first time they came to my house I think it was like, I don't know, 24 hours or 36 hours right when Coach Walters got hired. So you know, just recruiting me I just felt important to them, and obviously, they're important to me, and we just clicked right away," Card said.

Coaching staffs constantly make players a priority on the recruiting trail, whether they are high school prospects or in the transfer portal, but rarely does the pursuit go to plan. The Boilermakers did not have to go through that in this scenario and were able to land their top target this off-season.

After meeting with Ryan Walters and Graham Harrell, along with taking a visit to West Lafayette, Card landed with the Boilermakers. While he was considering dozens of opportunities, the Austin native went with what he was feeling inside.

"Honestly, I went with my gut feeling, what Coach Walters is building here, Coach Harrell and everything. I just prayed about it and felt God was leading me in this direction," Card said.