Purdue’s new AD, Tommy McClelland, began life at the program with a rousing speech in which he called out the program’s rivals. However, while doing so, he made a comment about Indiana that hasn’t gone well with a lot of Hoosiers. Former Indiana OL Mike Katic took it upon himself to deliver a rebuttal.

“The most recent champions, like seven months ago, Indiana University, won a national championship in football,” Katic said on Wake Up Barstool on August 7. “I think Purdue has won five national championships across all sports. Two of them are cheerleading. I respect cheerleading, but that’s not a mainstream sport.”

“And they are just such little brothers. And this guy, what? He came from Vanderbilt or Rice, and he doesn’t understand the Big 10. He was a long snapper at Northwestern State University. That one should tell you all you need to know… He probably saw Coach Cig’s first press conference and how he started his career at Indiana, making noise throughout the whole country, and this guy thought, ‘Hey man, I’m gonna take a jab at Indiana.'”

When McClelland entered Purdue during his introductory press conference, he made a statement to lure in recruits. “We are here to win championships. If you don’t want to win championships, go to Indiana.” It was bold for him to wish that for his team, but it backfired online. You can’t say that about defending national champions in college football.

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Interestingly, when Cignetti took over at Bloomington, he also had a famous speech, in which he called out not just Purdue but also other Big Ten programs. “Purdue s**ks!” So does Michigan and Ohio State!” Cignetti said. The good thing is that the Indiana head coach delivered on his words. He started with a ‘Google Me’ remark and proved it by taking the Hoosiers to the national title.

The former anchor of the Indiana offense, Katic, did not like the disrespect given to his former program. The two programs share a very intense in-state rivalry, one of the oldest in the country. Their annual football game used to reward the winner with the historic Old Oaken Bucket traveling trophy.

However, the peak of the rivalry between the two programs didn’t happen on a football field. Instead, Purdue and Indiana settled scores on a basketball court. During the 1980s and 1990s, Bob Knight coached Indiana, while Gene Keady led Purdue. Both programs used to compete for Big Ten titles.

And since Cignetti took over Indiana, the rivalry game has become a joke. In 2024, Indiana beat Purdue 66-0. Last year, the score was 56-3. That also coincides with Purdue’s 3-21 overall record over the last two years. Of course, the new AD wants to energize the program. But it doesn’t look like Purdue can match their AD’s ambition on a football field any time soon.

Even the Purdue fans were having mixed feelings about his statement. Many comments echoed sentiments like, “Please tell me he didn’t actually write this down beforehand,” and “I apologize to the world on behalf of our athletic department.”

The damage control Tommy McClelland did after his comment went viral

McClelland’s comment did not sit well with a lot of people. He had to do damage control before it got any worse. From his perspective, he wasn’t calling out the national champions but rather reigniting the former in-state rivalry. On the Pat McAfee Show, he made sure to clear the air on the comment he made on his first day. He claimed the remark was not heavily planned. 

“I had a great day yesterday, giving our vision, and I made an offhand, unscripted comment about an in-state rival that didn’t land well. I knew it the second it left my mouth.” 

To move past the controversial comment, he joked about his public speaking. He also made it clear what he is trying to achieve now at Purdue. “We are going to build programs here that are better at winning championships than I am at one-liners.” Even McAfee laughed at the AD’s candid admission of his major blunder.