It is set to be a brand new offensive line for Purdue in 2025, with all five starters from last year's group either heading to the NFL or transferring out of the program. That has put new offensive line coach Vance Vice in a position to mold his unit to his liking throughout the Boilermakers' spring practice.

Vice spoke to the progress of the offensive line, addressed potentially adding reinforcements via the transfer portal and dished on a handful of current Boilermakers on Friday morning.

Vice will have five fresh bodies along the offensive line when the Boilermakers take on Ball State to start the 2025 campaign, which will come after months of working to build cohesion and chemistry within the unit.

The Boilermakers are looking for its starting five to be solidified as spring practice comes to a close, which has been Joey Tanona, Jalen St. John, Giordano Vaccaro, Ethan Trent and Bakyne Coly over the last couple of weeks. While that group has stood out among the rest, Vice stressed the importance of the entire unit coming together and finding the five that work best together, which does not necessarily reflect the best "player" at each spot.

"It's not necessarily every time, maybe physically, who your best five guys are. It's the five guys that can work best together and get communicated and get on the same page," Vice said.

In attempting to build chemistry within the group, Vice shared that the Purdue offensive linemen do everything together, including eating breakfast every single morning.

"I mean, we do everything together. We eat breakfast every morning together, and we don't eat till everybody's there. And just building that bond, it creates depth," Vice said.

Vice has started to see that bonding pay off for the Boilermakers, as they've continued to improve day by day throughout the month long spring practice slate.

"One thing about them, they've shown up every day this spring, and they work, and that's going to give us a chance, you know? Obviously, up front, you've got to have relationships, working relationships with each other, and just as many reps as we could take, we need, and we're trying to provide those opportunities for them right now," Vice said. "From day one to number 14, there's been quite a few improvements, and just meshing together."

While the new offensive line for Purdue doesn't have much experience together, a pair of veterans have stepped into starting and leadership roles for Vice and the offensive line unit this spring.

Jalen St. John was called the leader of the group to date, which is none too surprising considering his track record at the college level. The UNLV transfer was an All-Mountain West selection last season at left tackle, but moved to guard this off-season with the Boilermakers. His play on the field speaks for itself, but it's the inside knowledge of what Vice and Barry Odom want that has been valuable during his time in West Lafayette.

"Well, one of the one of the hidden values is he'd been with me for two years, and Coach Odom, he knew exactly what was in front of us. Some of those other guys would lean on, hey, what we're doing today. What's this like? That's value. It's almost instant leadership," Vice said. "He's grown up now. He's a grown up, and he's focused. He's got some goals that he wants to go get, and he wants to do it here, and I'm very appreciative for that. But he's kind of the leader of the group right now and he understands to be that guy, you got to do it every day, and he's definitely done that."

St. John is penciled in as an anchor for the Boilermakers this spring, as so too is fellow transfer, Giordano Vaccaro. The Canadian import is set for a step up in competition, while also learning a new position at center. Vaccaro has made major strides in the communication department, according to Vice.

"The thing that he's adjusted to is the communication piece. Because he's a quarterback up front, he makes every call, gets us all on the same page, and of he gets us on different pages, it's not a good play, but he's gets a love hate relationship," Vice said. "He's vocal. I mean, he's got a lot of confidence. If you don't have confidence, you're never going to be physical, you're never going to have any swag about you. But he's very confident in himself, which, that's what it takes."

The Boilermakers have a pair of anchors in place, while the likes of Joey Tanona, Bakyne Coly and Ethan Trent continue to show signs of progress in the eyes of Vice.

While Vice is confident in his bunch of offensive linemen as the end of spring practice nears, the transfer portal will open back up in less than a week, offering he and the Boilermakers the opportunity to add to the unit.

Still, Vice spoke to the depth in his room and continuing to put a competitive edge into his players throughout the spring and into the summer.

"Depth I can be, if everybody understands and play multiple positions, I can be three deep, with seven or eight guys. Now we've got, first group, second group, third group, and we've even got a fourth group. Every single one of them has gotten better," Vice said.

"I've never named a depth chart after spring, because you know that a lot will take the summer off, but I gotta keep them hungry somehow, but they're working. And we've got some guys. We've got some guys that we're very, very excited about and I'd love to have 10 or 15 that are, yeah, no matter who's out there, but that's never the case anywhere. But we're getting some depth. We're building it day to day," Vice said.

Vice did not share the Boilermakers plans for the transfer portal when it opens on Wednesday, but did disclose that if they felt that they needed to add to the group, then Purdue would do so.

"I mean, I don't know the answer to that. I don't know if anybody does. You know, obviously the portal is changes every 30 minutes,. I like to develop young guys and keep them together, because that's how you get good, when you play next to the same guys for extended period of time. But if you lose old guys or need old guys, you've got to go get them, that's been in battles before, and bring a little bit of experience and on the field. If you don't recruit, you're not going to be anywhere very long, so we obviously have to stay on top of all that," Vice said.