Browne comes ‘home’ to Purdue

Don’t tell Ryan Browne you can’t go home again.

The former Purdue quarterback made it official on Friday, when he announced he was committing—again—to the Boilermakers after leaving West Lafayette for North Carolina via the portal less than five months ago.

“I feel like Purdue has always been home, and it felt right to come back,” Browne told GoldandBlack.com as he waited on his return flight to North Carolina on Saturday morning. “When I got on campus (Thursday), it felt the same, but it felt different in all the best ways, and it felt right. That was really what it was.”

Browne will enter a quarterback fray that can be summed up in one word: muddled. Barry Odom emerged from spring drills not having a clear delineation on who is his No. 1 man. Malachi Singleton, Evans Chuba, EJ Colson and Bennett Meredith battled. Colson has since entered the portal.

“They want a guy who can do it all and be an athlete, but also be a thrower, be able to do stuff with your feet,” said Browne. “Yesterday, we watched a ton of film on the offense, and there’s a lot of checks for the quarterback and a lot of reads and stuff like that, which is awesome. So, I love that stuff.”

Browne is in town to stake his claim as the Boilermakers’ alpha signal-caller.

“It’s competition, no matter what,” said Browne. “But I think I’m in a good spot.”

It was a rapid 48-hour junket for Browne, who was sold quickly on running it back with the Boilermakers. The deal was consummated with dinner at tony Boilerhouse Prime, a new high-end steak house located in the Pete Dye Clubhouse on Cherry Lane.

Browne’s host: Devin Mockobee. Others at the table were OC Josh Henson, QB coach Darin Hinshaw, analyst Neal Posey and general manager Brandon Lee.

“It was awesome,” said Browne. “I was going to get a filet, and then Devin talked me into getting this Japanese wagyu, this four ounce little steak. It was unreal.”

Browne will move back to campus later this spring with three years of eligibility.

“It was great coming back into the building and seeing a bunch of guys,” said Browne “Coach Ro (Kiero Small) and his staff are still there. Seeing them and some of the people on staff who were still here from the previous staff, it was great. It was great to come back and see everybody.”

Browne showed promise last season as a redshirt freshman, playing in eight games with two starts when Hudson Card was hurt: at Illinois and vs. Oregon.

Browne almost engineered a victory at Illinois, but Purdue lost a wild 50-49 decision in OT. Browne’s full array of skills were on display that day in Champaign, Ill., as he threw for 297 yards on 18-of-26 passing (69 percent) with 3 TDs and ran for 118 yards on 17 carries (6.9 ypc) vs. the Illini.

Browne finished 2024 hitting 43-of-76 passes (56.6 percent) for 532 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for 155 yards last season (3.1 yards per carry).

Alas, at the end of a disastrous 1-11 season, Purdue made a coaching change. Ryan Walters was out. Odom was in.

“I hit the portal, and then I didn’t know who they were gonna hire,” said Browne. “And once they hired Coach Odom, I did talk to him a couple times, and they were trying to bring me back, but the GM wasn’t hired and other schools were talking to me. Just didn’t happen as fast as I would have wanted it to, and kind of brought me elsewhere.”

That elsewhere was North Carolina, where Browne would have the chance to learn at the feet of the master: Bill Belichick.

“It was amazing,” said Browne. “Didn’t realize how much I really didn’t know until I was playing for him. And it was amazing. I felt like I was learning so much. I feel like I look at the game differently because of the way that we watched film over there and the things that I was taught to see. It was definitely an experience that you’re not going to get twice.”

With North Carolina set to bring in another portal quarterback this spring, however, Browne opted to hit the portal–again. Could he have envisioned a return to West Lafayette?

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I didn’t think I would. But it feels surreal, for sure, but it does feel right. So, I’m happy where it’s at, for sure.”