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Purdue AD clarifies controversial comments about winning championships
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Purdue athletic director Tommy McClelland has had quite a first few days as the Boilermakers’ sports boss.
During McClelland’s introductory press conference on Thursday, as he took the podium with fresh ideas and a fresh perspective on Purdue athletics, McClelland had quite a lot to say. And some might say he said a little too much.
Like, maybe Indiana fans, to be precise. The rival school in Bloomington was apparently high atop McClelland’s mind as he addressed reporters.
“Every recruit, every student-athlete will hear this repeatedly. We are here to win championships,” McClelland said. “If you don’t want to win championships, go to Indiana.”
For those who don’t recall, it was Indiana that won the football national championship last season, going 16-0 as a bonus. The Hoosiers had a dream season, in football of all sports, and Indiana has become a football power in the past few years under Curt Cignetti. But McClelland apparently wanted to say loud and clear that Purdue was turning over a new leaf.
On Friday, during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, McClelland was back at it, only this time he was a little more measured than he was a day earlier at that press conference.
“This is an incredible opportunity to reestablish what can be possible. … You’re in the Big Ten Conference, and you have an incredible coach like (men’s basketball coach) Matt Painter, who’s doing remarkable work. We want to make sure that standard he’s set permeates through the entire, all of (our sports),” McClelland said.
Then he even poked fun at himself for his comments about Indiana on Thursday.
“While the one-liner joke that I gave, about an in-state rival, it didn’t land well,” McClelland admitted. “But I can tell you this, Pat, we are going to build programs here that are better at winning championships than I am at one-liners.”
Purdue will have a lot of work to do over the next few years to become relevant in the Big Ten. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the best odds to capture Big Ten football supremacy in 2026:
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