Precocious Purdue S Dillon Thieneman primed for long, prosperous career
Ryan Walters thought about the question for a moment: Has he ever coached anyone like Dillon Thieneman?
“No, I haven’t,” said Walters. “Not at 18. Not as talented as he is. Not with the work ethic and the hunger that he has.
“If I was a betting man, I would say he’s got a long time to play football.”
Thieneman already is pretty good. The 6-0, 205-pound product of Westfield (Ind.) High is Purdue’s leading tackler with 6.8 per game, which ranks second in the nation. His 53 stops lead all freshman in America after earning a starting spot at safety coming out of camp and arriving early and impressing in the spring.
He’s coming off a solid effort at Iowa, where he notched his third interception of 2023 to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors for a second time this season. Thieneman is the lone freshman in the nation to have three interceptions. By the end of the year, he should be on every freshman All-American team.
“It’s like he was created in a lab somewhere,” said Walters. “You try to find things in his game, things in his personality, things in his life where you’re like, oh, he needs to pick it up in this area.”
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Thieneman will be put to the test this Saturday, when Ohio State (5-0 overall; 2-0 Big Ten) visits Purdue (2-4; 1-2) for a noon ET kickoff on Peacock.
Thieneman is carrying on a Boilermaker family tradition, as older brothers Jake and Brennan also played safety at Purdue. But, without a doubt, Dillion is the best of them all.
“He comes in, he studies film and he practices the right way,” said defensive coordinator Kevin Kane. “You don’t tell him twice, he’s gonna get it done. And that’s a credit to him. That’s how he was raised. That’s how he’s always played. That’s how he’s attacked that position since he’s gotten here. And it has not changed.
“Sometimes, you see kids kind of see their name in the limelight and they relax. He doesn’t do that. He just continues to put his head down and work. And that’s kind of the Boilermaker mentality, you just gotta go out and work.”
NOTE: Purdue does not allow freshmen to speak to the media.
