McCollum happy 'crazy' journey ending at Purdue; notebook

More on Purdue's offense: Brian Brohm Q&A | Blough says he's 'good,' goal to play Saturday | Sindelar preparing to play

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T.J. McCollum chose UAB, in part, because he desperately wanted to play safety coming out of high school in Birmingham, Ala.

Nearly every other school — including Purdue, which had offered, he said — wanted him to move into the box and play linebacker.

But McCollum knew that was not his destiny.

"I was like, ‘I’m really not feeling that. I’m not that big of a guy to be in the box hitting people,' " said McCollum, who entered college at about 190 pounds.

A small problem: As soon as he enrolled at UAB, coaches did what they said they wouldn't and what every other school said they would, and moved him to linebacker. He was not pleased initially — "They definitely lied to me," he said — but, four years later, he has finally seen the light.

McCollum is now a graduate transfer at Purdue and is projected to be the team's starting linebacker on Saturday against No. 16 Louisville in Lucas Oil Stadium.

"It worked out, but I never thought I would end up here. It’s crazy, how it all circled back around," he said after Wednesday's practice. "Most definitely, this is crazy. It blows my mind how far I’ve got, how far I’ve traveled in my journey. But it’s been great. This is the most exciting moment of my life. You get to play against one of the best quarterbacks in college, the Heisman winner (Lamar Jackson), the team, and you get to play in Lucas Oil Stadium. How cool is that? This is great."

McCollum never would have predicted his career would end up this way, of course.

He wouldn't say all of the reasons he chose UAB, hinting only there was more to the story than local boy staying home, but only two years into his career there, the football program folded. Like the rest of his teammates, he was shocked. They'd heard rumblings midway through the season but didn't believe it — didn't want to believe it — but in the team meeting following the finale, they were told it was over.

So McCollum had to find a new home, and he headed north to Western Kentucky, drawn by the school's coaches, especially linebackers coach Nick Holt. McCollum excelled in Holt's defense, racking up 100-plus tackles, before ending last season on a wicked note: A gruesome elbow injury kept him from the bowl game.

And then Jeff Brohm and Nick Holt fled WKU. And came to Purdue.

McCollum figured he'd finish his career at Western. But those coaches helped him blossom from that 190-pound DB into a mature 243-pound, gritty inside linebacker. So he followed them to West Lafayette.

And now he's ready to beat up a Heisman winner — as a linebacker — and lead a Boilermaker resurgence.

"I definitely don’t see me at safety no more. At all," he said with a smile. "Because, I mean, shoot, I get tired just running deep middle, going down the field. No, I definitely see myself as truly a linebacker now.

"(I'm) just really, really pumped (about Saturday). Of course, people have a nervous feeling before they walk on the field, but once you get that first hit out of the way, ah man, it’s going to be great." (SC)

Jared Sparks wasn’t surprised to see his name on the depth chart at wide receiver.

Nor would he be surprised if he gets into Saturday’s game at quarterback.

His role in the latter could be as a change-of-pace option.

“It’ll be a change of momentum in the game,” he said. “I can’t really get into too (detailed) with (what the package involves), but it’ll be something where we’ve been working on it every week. Hopefully it’ll work, but at the end of the day I’m just working hard to do whatever they put me on the field to do, whether that’s the package or receiver or whatever it may be.”

Sparks, a redshirt freshman, has the athletic versatility that makes him a dynamic possibility for the Boilermakers. The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder has a Wildcat-like package he can run, taking advantage of his mobility but also — presumably — his ability to throw. And after moving part-time to the position in the spring, Sparks has shown he can make plays as a receiver, too.

Earlier this week, Jeff Brohm said conditions will warrant whether Purdue goes to its Sparks package. While waiting, Sparks says he’ll stay patient, but he is more ready now than he was in the spring.

“With the (QB) package and playing two different positions, I’ve been steadily improving and trying to build every day,” he said. “I’ve been incorporated (in the offense) a little more.” (KC)

On Aug. 18, the day before Purdue’s end-of-training camp scrimmage, defensive back Navon Mosley briefly settled into his short zone, before seeing a receiver flash into the seam. Instincts took over, and the sophomore anticipated the pass, jumping in front of the route and picking the ball off.

For a player who has wanted to start making big plays in the secondary, it was a welcomed one.

“It was a good play, reading the quarterback and jumping the route,” he said following Wednesday’s practice. “… Ever since then plays have been rolling for me. Plays have been coming to me, so I’m feeling pretty confident.”

Sure enough, that’s been the truth. A day after the interception, Mosley made a second, picking off a quarterback during the Boilermakers’ second scrimmage of camp. Maybe it’s not a coincidence that Mosley’s performance coincided with a position change only a couple days before, as the 6-foot, 190-pounder shifted down from free safety, where he had lost his starting job to Jacob Thieneman, to nickel.

It’s been a good shift.

“He’s smart,” co-defensive coordinator Nick Holt said. “He’s a man who wears many hats. He understands zone coverages and man coverages and he can get lined up vs. all the stuff. That’s really important.

“… And then being able to play in the run game if he needs to be in the box, and being a blitzer every once in a while. Not that we’ll often use nickels to blitz, but there will be times when he’s called upon to do that.”

Mosley has experience at nickel. As a true freshman last season, he played the last four games there — making two starts — after being an eight-game starter at safety. But he likes nickel because of the variety: Multiple coverage schemes, blitzing, run-stopping.

“I understand the defense from both ends,” he said. “Playing nickel, you’ve got to do a lot of rerouting in zones, and I understand how to do that from playing safety. And then the man-to-man covering, I’m pretty swell at doing that, so they can trust me.”

And after being blanked during the season in 2016, he has a couple interceptions in practice in ’17. Now, he has only to do so on game day. He can feel it coming.

“Sometimes you get frustrated when things aren’t going your way,” he said. “But once you finally get that big play to come to you, you feel like a monkey is off your back.” (KC)

A few days into camp, special teams coordinator Tony Levine said Purdue would decide its place-kicker based on numbers. In practice, it’d keep the variables the same for J.D. Dellinger and Spencer Evans — the snapper, holder, length, environment, defensive rush, etc. — and then chose.

But less than a week until kickoff, the two are both listed on Purdue’s depth chart, separated by an “and,” suggesting that they each could have opportunities vs. Louisville.

Why?

The statistics showed Dellinger and Spencer have been even.

“Like honestly dead even,” Dellinger said following Tuesday’s practice. “Literally, we both missed about five kicks the whole camp.”

A credit to Dellinger for his offseason improvement, physically and mentally. The sophomore, who hit 10-of-14 last season, is significantly bigger and stronger, up to 195 pounds at 6-foot-2. But he’s mentally tougher, too, he says, trying to take each individual kick of its own — “Go 1-for-1,” he says — rather than letting one, particularly a miss, affect the next.He was doing that early as a rookie, when he made only two of his first five through four games. He finished by making eight of his final nine.

But Dellinger faced another mental hurdle this summer, when Purdue brought in Evans to compete — and potentially replace — him. The former Baylor PK was an outstanding Bears’ kickoff specialist who has shown ability as a kicker, too, because of his strong leg.

Yet Dellinger took it in stride.

“Competition is great,” he said. “He’s a really good kicker, as you probably know and have seen from (highlights on) his Twitter. A good field goal kicker, a great kickoff guy and he’s been a really nice guy. He’s been a pleasure to be around and it’s been really good competition. It’s made both of us better, I think.”

And now both might play. Dellinger deflected when asked who would get Saturday’s first kick, saying only that Purdue had a plan. Perhaps that could involve one being a short kicker, presumably Dellinger, and Evans being the long option.

“It might be,” Dellinger said. “You’re going Coach Levine and watch on Saturday.” (KC)

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