Moore's Tenure Tells the Purdue Story

As Rondale Moore prepares to be drafted this week, his exit from West Lafayette concludes the weird story of the Purdue Boilermakers while he was enrolled. His arrival put an exclamation point on Jeff Brohm's first surprising season, built some real expectations for a program looking to step forward, then was derailed in injury and finished with a weird COVID season with more questions than answers.

Moore was the only 4* recruit for 2018 and was a real sign of Purdue moving forward after the surprising 7-6 season in Brohm's first year. The season started 0-3 but the Boilermakers went 3-0 against ranked teams, including crushing #2 Ohio State 49-20 on their way to a consecutive bowl berth. Unfortunately, that ended with a 63-14 loss to Auburn to show how far Purdue still had to go, but was a sign of where Brohm could take the program.

This was followed up with the 25th ranked recruiting class with four to seven 4* freshman depending on the recruiting site. With Moore back as a freshman All-American, up seemed to be the only way Purdue could go. However, injuries derailed this season as Moore and QB Elijah Sindelar missed most of the season with injuries. This concluded a disappointing 4-8 season.

It took some of the wind out of the sails of Brohm's tenure but that strong recruiting class was now a season older and was joined by the 32nd ranked recruiting class with four more 4* players. However, the defense was in turmoil with a coaching change and ultimately a failed hire in Bob Diaco. More importantly, Brohm had trouble keeping players in the program.

2020 was always going to be a weird season and Moore's tenure continues to reflect that with him opting out, then in and out again. With no Moore, no decisive QB starter, still struggling to find a running game and a defense in disarray (made worse by George Karlaftis' injury) it was an awful season with a 2-4 finish.

Brohm found some success in his first season where there were no expectations and followed it up with a second consecutive bowl berth in Moore's first season. But with Moore's limited availability since his freshman season Brohm has gone 6-12 despite strong recruiting classes. Now, with Moore leaving the question is can Brohm actually find success?

The struggles of the program has taken its toll on the 2021 recruiting class. It's a small class at only 15 signees, anchored by Yanni Karlaftis as a 4* LB, but that was touch and go for awhile even with his brother on the team. Even with the talent still on the team with Moore leaving the luster has seemingly left the program and left questions of 'What now?'

Moore's tenure reflects perfectly the story of Purdue football and so does his exit. It was a mostly short of expectations tenure and leaves the Boilers possibly not much better than when Brohm came to West Lafayette. Is the coach who fans thought he was in his first two years? He brought in talent that hasn't been seen, maybe ever, but it hasn't led to success.

Unless Brohm really disappoints in 2021 I do not believe he will be fired, but the seat has to be awfully warm as he has disappointed with the talent and now his latest recruiting class has fallen short. The Boilers have brought in some SEC defensive players to try and boost that side of the ball, but will it come together for Brohm or was he just a flash in the pan that cashed in on a bidding war for his services?