The 2021 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented

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

during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. 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. The stadium was dedicated on November 22, 1924, and named in honor of Purdue alumni George Ade ...

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister cit ...

, 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) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. This was head coach

Jeff Brohm Jeffrey Scott Brohm (born April 24, 1971) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current head football coach of the Louisville Cardinals. Brohm played college football at the University of Louisville for coach Howard Sc ...

's fifth season with Purdue.

Previous season

In a season limited by the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the

Boilermakers A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dep ...

played a conference-only schedule and finished the 2020 season 2–4 to finish in sixth place in the West Division. Games against

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

were canceled due to concerns about COVID-19 outbreaks, which marked the first time Purdue did not play Indiana since the

Old Oaken Bucket The Old Oaken Bucket is a traveling trophy awarded in American college football as part of the rivalry between the Indiana Hoosiers football team of Indiana University and Purdue Boilermakers football team of Purdue University. It was first awa ...

trophy was created.

Offseason

Coaching changes

On December 17, 2020, Purdue announced that defensive coordinator

Bob Diaco Robert Albert Diaco (born February 19, 1973) is an American football coach and a former linebacker who is the defensive line coach for the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at the Universi ...

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 (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Later that month, Brad Lambert from

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

was hired as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, while

Ron English Ron English (born June 6, 1959) is an American contemporary artist who explores brand imagery, street art, and advertising. Career English has produced images on the street, in museums, in movies, books and television. He coined the term POPa ...

from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

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

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

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 David Elson (born August 26, 1971) is an American football coach. He is the linebackers coach, and was previously a quality control coach, at Purdue University, a position he has held since 2021. Elson served as head football coach at Western Ken ...

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

References

{{Purdue Boilermakers football navbox Purdue 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. ...