Welcome to Boiler Upload!

It feels surreal to be sitting here as the new publisher of Purdue’s Rivals site. One month ago it wasn’t even on my radar. Now I am here, taking over for Alan Karpick and his team that has done such a great job covering Purdue sports for over 20 years. Honestly, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them, as I got my own start by publishing links to my first blogger posts on the free board as far back as 2006. I have to give the GBI folks their proper due before we even begin this new adventure.

As many of you know, for the past 13.5 years I have been manager of Purdue’s SB Nation site, Hammer & Rails. It is a site that has grown by leaps and bounds over the years, and it was a path that led directly here, as I was asked personally by Rivals to take over with Gold and Black’s departure. It is a tremendous honor, and one that I hope the new staff here can live up to.

As far as that new staff goes, I have been able to bring over three guys that will be able to provide a fantastic voice for Purdue sports. Casey Bartley and Jace Jellison have been with me for several years now at Hammer & Rails, and they have agreed to come over as full-time writers here at Boiler Upload. They will be the main voices at this new venture. I have already secured the credentials with Purdue for football and basketball and they will provide the same on the scene coverage you're used to.

Both are local to Lafayette. Casey is a Lafayette native that has written for me since 2017. He has a deep well of basketball knowledge and has been on site for most of Purdue’s NCAA Tournament games since 2017 for me. Jace is a 2022 graduate of Purdue and has been with Hammer & Rails since late 2019 as our on campus correspondent. In addition to developing his own successful podcast, he has covered men’s and women’s basketball as well as football for us even while attending classes.

I have also brought over Kyle Holderfield in a part-time role. Kyle is a teacher and football coach at Harrison HS in West Lafayette, so he will be able to provide some great game analysis and breakdowns as well as recruiting information.

As for me, I am planning to write less here and be in more of a managerial role. I will still publish some editorial stuff and I plan to branch out into providing more coverage for sports like baseball, volleyball, women’s basketball, and more here, but Casey and Jace will be the driving voices.

Casey and Jace will still be on scene to talk to coaches and players at practice and after games just like in the GBI days, but we have some new things planned. Jace has done tremendous work with his podcast independently, having interviewed Matt Painter, Katie Gearlds, Mitch Daniels, and more. He will be bringing that over with regular interviews involving Purdue players, coaches, administrators, and all-time greats. In fact, expect a debut podcast today with Katie Gearlds to kick things off. There is even talk of a regular show with Raphael Davis during basketball season. Casey will also bring a unique voice to his coverage and analysis that will be very beneficial. Finally, my in-season football podcast called Behind the Rails with Kory Sheets will continue over here, and Kory is excited to continue sharing his thoughts on the season. He has also expressed that other former players are interested in stopping by on occasion.

It is an exciting time. I know that football is in the middle of what can be a special season and basketball is just around the corner, so we are ready to hit the ground running. Thank you for being with us as we transition. I know you’ll enjoy it.

All Aboard!