Old National Presents: The 3-2-1 of Purdue football

Three things learned. Two questions. One bold statement. It’s time for The 3-2-1, a look at Purdue football.

Three things learned

1 – Kicking off Combine

Purdue offensive lineman Marcus Mbow is ready for his big moment in the NFL’s “underwear Olympics” which will commence in Indianapolis on Thursday, Feb. 27 and run until Sunday, March 2.

“I’ve been hearing a good amount of things from scouts, anywhere from late first-round to early third round,” Mbow told GoldandBlack.com. “It really just depends on how this draft process goes.”

Mbow is the lone Boilermaker invited to the talent gala, slated to work out with the other o-linemen on Sunday, March 2. Some draftniks think Mbow could be a Top 100 pick in the 2025 NFL draft that will run April 24-26.

“He’s a talented, athletic tackle,” an NFL scout told GoldandBlack.com. “He’s got range. He played well against some of the best competition. It will be interesting to see where he ends up on different people’s boards.”

Mbow already showed off for scouts during the Senior Bowl. Mbow will work out at Purdue’s Pro Day on March 5.

“Senior Bowl was a little up and down,” said the scout. “But, overall, he’s a talented dude. It will be interesting to see where he ends up. I can see why people say that (Top 100 pick) off the talent.”

2 – Director of Player Development

Barry Odom continues to build out his staff. The most recent addition: Kenneth Lee, who was hired as director of player development. Lee is the brother of Purdue general manager Brandon Lee.

Lee’s role will be as a de facto counselor to players, if you will, similar to the position Sean Pugh held–director of player development–during Jeff Brohm’s tenure. Pugh moved on to work in a similar capacity with the Detroit Lions. Khristian Carr held the job of director of player development under Ryan Walters.

According to Lee’s bio on LinkedIn, Lee will work on “fostering the holistic success of our student-athletes both on and off the field. I work closely with players to support their academic achievement, personal growth, career aspirations, and transition to life beyond football. Through mentorship, leadership training, and a comprehensive development program, my goal is to ensure our student-athletes excel in all aspects of their lives, leading to success on the field, academic graduation, and impactful careers after football.”

3 – Start pumping air into footballs

A week from today, Purdue will kick off spring football practice. Can you believe it? This will be a big milestone for Barry Odom as he continues to put the stamp on his maiden voyage. The spring schedule was released today.

Change has been the operative word in West Lafayette since Odom was named head coach on December 8. The lockerroom door has been a turnstile, with the roster stripped down to its studs.

How nutso has it been? Odom has imported 29 portal players. And he’s not even close to being done flipping a roster that went 1-11 last year. It’s thought Odom could bring in as many as 20 more portal players in the spring.

Two questions

1 – What’s Purdue’s mantra?

Hard. Smart. Tough. That’s the rallying cry of Odom’s program. He said those three simple words from the start of his tenure. And now, that Odom mantra is emblazoned in the Kozuch Football Performance complex weight room.

I never have been a big mantra guy. But, if a football is supposed to have a rallying cry, Hard, Smart, Tough seems apropos. Heck, Odom seems to be the personification of the Hard, Smart, Tough label he has applied to the program.

You know the phrase is coming to a T-shirt at University Book Store soon.

Stacking days…making progress! Excited for the next phase leading up to Spring Ball!! pic.twitter.com/wNTuZ40mKk

— Barry Odom (@Coach_Odom) February 22, 2025

2 – What did he say?

Odom retained just one assistant coach from the previous staff, RB Lamar Conard. And he offered some frank words when asked how Odom has raised expectations.

I don’t want to go into the past, like a previous staff versus this staff, but Barry just has a very simple mantra: I’m going to hold you accountable for everything you do every day. Do your job right. That can scare people, especially today. Kids could leave, right? Right now, he’s trying to get the culture the way he wants it, and the standard is the standard. If we adjust the standard from day to day, hey, the expectation is you go to class every single day, you turn in your work every day. You’re responsible that there’s no miss. You’re just setting the standard. That’s his approach, which I totally respect. I get it.

“If you want to be a disciplined program, if you say you’re going to be disciplined program, you got to be disciplined in all facets of the program. It’s setting the tone, not just for now, but for the near future, for the long term future, for future Boilermakers, for the guys who are here now, for the guys who have already graduated and want to come back that the expectation here is to do what you’re supposed to do when you’re supposed to do it, and do it that way every time, full stop.

“When you come off the season we came off of, and it appears that there are a lot of things that need fixed, the first thing that you got to put your foot down on is, “Hey, let’s be accountable to each other and get things done the right way.”

One bold statement: NIL won’t be policed

We all know about the $22 mil or so schools can devote to athletes via revenue sharing beginning in July. Beyond that, players can earn more via NIL deals. But, it has to be true NIL and vetted through a clearing house as being representative of the fair market.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

I think collectives will still pay whatever they want to players via “NIL” deals. Why? Can any entity tell someone how they can spend their money? If a business wants to play a player, say, $1 million for 10 Instagram posts, why can’t it?

I am fascinated to see how this plays out.