Upon his arrival to West Lafayette, Purdue defensive backs coach Charles Clark was tasked with overhauling the secondary of the Boilermakers, one that played a significant role in being one of the worst passing defenses in the country last season. To add insult to injury, the Boilermakers saw their All-American safety split for Oregon, four other starters hit the portal and leave just 249 combined snaps of experience in the depleted secondary coming into 2025.
After having no prior connection to Barry Odom, Clark packed his bags and moved from Memphis to Purdue for the opportunity to run his own room in the Big Ten, and hit the recruiting trail as hard as any Purdue assistant during the winter portal window. That push featured netting commitments from six transfer defensive backs, all of which could have significant roles with the Boilermakers in 2025.
Defensive coordinator Mike Scherer was impressed by Clark's efforts recruiting the portal, shining light on the additions to the group back in February.
"I think Coach Clark did an incredible job of recruiting those guys and finding the right ones for us and and then getting them here, I think, talent wise, and the turnaround of what we need and what we've got. I think you look at that defensive back position from either safety or corner, they did a heck of a job in the portal, and I think we got some really good players and guys that are gonna be able to step in and help us right away," Scherer said.
The Purdue secondary has come together in West Lafayette from very different walks of life and unorthodox paths on the gridiron to get to this point.
Take senior safety Crew Wakley, for example. The BYU import quit football over two years ago to become a solar panel salesman and is a 25-year-old senior that has been married for five years already. Tony Grimes was a five-star talent in the class of 2020 and is now on his fourth school in college after following Barry Odom and staff from UNLV to West Lafayette. Stu Smith began his career at Holy Cross before transferring to Purdue as a walk-on prior to last season and has become one of the biggest surprises of the spring.
The examples are endless.
Despite the differing paths to this point, however, the Purdue secondary is coming together this spring as it looks to become one of the most improved units on the roster.
"A big part of being in the secondary is getting to know each other and communication's the biggest thing. So getting closer to each other, just on the field and off the field, has helped us a lot. It's kind of cool, because there's so many of us that are coming from different backgrounds and different schools and whatnot, kind of, a melting pot, in a way. It's been good as like, you see, the closer we get off the field, the better our communication is on the field," Wakley said.
While they all have different paths to Purdue, the thing all of the incoming transfers share is a wealth of experience at the collegiate level. Grimes, Wakley, Richard Toney, Chad Brown, Ryan Turner and Tahj Ra-El are all veteran voices in the secondary that can help ease the transition for Clark and company.
"Those guys have played a lot of snaps at other places, so they bring in the experience. The one thing you can't simulate, you know, as far as game day experience, you can't simulate that in practice. And so those guys have all stood out, and like I said, have brought a lot of game snaps into this program," Clark said.
Along with that experience, which totals nearly a combined 200 games played by the incoming talent, comes leadership as well. Wakley and Grimes are at the forefront of that movement, both stepping into roles as leaders for the Purdue defense. Both have relished the opportunity to do so upon arriving in West Lafayette.
"I think a little bit of it is natural. Being older in the group helps, and having experience helps, but a lot of it just comes from I played quarterback all growing up," Wakley said. "You always you want to get started a young age, but having that development has helped me now. So I would say biggest thing is, you know, just being a quarterback growing up, you're kind of forced into that role, and it's just carried over."
"Since I was in his system last year, I came over this year, being one of the leaders, one of the people that other players look up to, one of the people that Coach Odom wants to stand out and take control. So obviously, I got the guys on board early. I got them working early on, you know, being better teammates, studying the playbook, working hard, running extra," Grimes said.
That group of six new defensive backs joins an intriguing group of young and rising members of the secondary that have stood out during the spring, including Stu Smith, Smiley Bradford and Hudauri Hines.
Grimes pointed to that trio by name on Thursday as defensive backs that have stepped up on the field or stepped into leadership roles for the Boilermakers this spring, coinciding with his own efforts on the practice field.
The unit on the back end of the Purdue defense has also been filled with competition, as Clark and Scherer aim to put the new pieces of the puzzle together this spring. That competition aspect of practice has brought out the best in guys and allowed the staff to fully evaluate what it has.
"I think first and foremost, we got guys competing. And anytime you can create a competitive situation throughout the entire back end, whether it's corner, nickel, or other safety positions, it's good for your defense. We're able to move guys around in multiple positions. And like I said, as long as we're competing at a high level with multiple guys, and the depth, I think we become a better team," Clark said.
The defense of Mike Scherer fits the same mold of what the secondary has become. Somewhat of a melting pot, where Scherer looks to use his players' strengths to his advantage and mold the defensive identity around them, as oppose to the contrary. That has made the spring a fast paced environment, according to Wakley.
"I mean, it's a lot, but that's part of the process, right? Let's kind of overload and see how much we can handle and the quicker we can get everything installed, the quicker we can work on the fine details of it. So there's a little bit of that. And everybody, being new, you've got so much to catch up on, so we've really been pushing hard to maximize our time and and doing some extra stuff when we get the chance to really get all this installed. Because, you know, you like to think fall is far away, but it comes quick. So we got to get as much in as we can this spring," Wakley said.
If Purdue is to become the stout defense that the players and coaches expect, a much improved secondary will be a big reason why. That pursuit is well underway with a fresh batch of veterans on the back end to help in the process.
