The 2021 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

during the

2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 152nd season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision. The ...

. The Boilermakers played their home games at

Ross–Ade Stadium Ross–Ade Stadium is a stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, on the campus of Purdue University. It is the home field of Purdue Boilermakers football. History The stadium was built in 1924 to replace Stuart Field, which had been hosting Pur ...

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette ( ) is a city in Wabash and Tippecanoe Townships, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, approximately northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash ...

, and competed as members of the West Division in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. This was head coach

Jeff Brohm Jeffrey Scott Brohm (born April 24, 1971) is an American college football coach and former professional quarterback. He is the head football coach at his alma mater, the University of Louisville, a position he has held since the 2023 season. Bro ...

's fifth season with Purdue.

Offseason

Coaching changes

On December 17, 2020, Purdue announced that defensive coordinator

Bob Diaco Robert Albert Diaco (born February 19, 1973) is an American American football, football coach and a former linebacker. He is the defensive line coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels football, North Carolina Tar Heels of the Atlantic Coast Confer ...

would not return to the coaching staff. On January 10, 2021, the school hired Mark Hagen as defensive line coach, replacing Terrance Jamison. Hagen had coached at Purdue from 2000−10 and was most recently at

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Later that month, Brad Lambert from

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

was hired as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, while Ron English from

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

was hired as cornerback coach. In April, Jamal Adams from

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

was hired as cornerback coach. On June 16, Jeff Brohm announced that Lambert, English, and Hagen would all serve as co-defensive coordinators in addition to their regular coaching duties, with Lambert making the game-day play calls. Former graduate assistants Justin Sinz and TJ McCollum would move to recruiting positions. In August, David Elson from Marian University was hired as quality control assistant and Mel Mills was hired as director of player development.

Transfers

Outgoing Notable departures from the 2020 squad included: Incoming

2021 NFL Draft

Boilermakers who were picked in the 2021 NFL Draft:

Preseason

Recruits

The Boilermakers signed a total of 16 recruits.

Schedule

The 2021 schedule consists of 6 home and 6 away games in the regular season.

Roster

Awards and honors

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Weekly Awards

All-Conference Honors

All-American Honors

Rankings

Season summary

Oregon State

Illinois

500th game at Ross-Ade Stadium

Wisconsin

Michigan State

References

{{Purdue Boilermakers football navbox

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

Purdue Boilermakers football seasons Music City Bowl champion seasons

Purdue Boilermakers football The Purdue Boilermakers football team represents Purdue University in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football. Purdue plays its home games at Ross–Ade Stadium on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. ...