Purdue’s New AD Just Made a Fool of Himself With Off-Mark Jab at Curt Cignetti, Indiana Football

New Purdue athletic director Tommy McClelland missed the mark with this joke about the school’s longstanding rivalry with Indiana. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Perhaps Tommy McClelland needs to Google Curt Cignetti.

Purdue’s new athletic director took the podium for his introductory press conference on Thursday, and within minutes he got his tenure off to a pretty lame start. McClelland, who was recently hired as the Boilermakers’ fifth athletic director since 1942, tried to give a motivational message to the school’s recruits but instead made himself look like a bit of a fool on his very first day.

One particular line from his presser has since gone viral on social media: “If you don’t want to win championships, go to Indiana,” McClelland confidently stated with what appeared to be a straight face.

Yes, he really said that. Mere months after Cignetti’s Hoosiers took home—checks notes—the national championship.

Already less than impressed with Purdue’s new athletic director hire.

Why????

Why in god’s name would you say this?

Do you realize how dumb this makes you look??? pic.twitter.com/UAcyiXwZ9I

— Nick Yeoman (@NYeoman) August 6, 2026

For full context, here’s an extended portion of McClelland’s quote:

“So what’d you expect of our athletic department: three promises. Number one, our student athletes will come first in every decision, in every time. Each of them will have the opportunity to receive a world-class experience and education and compete for championships. We will develop championships in the fullest sense. Young men and women who compete in their sport, in the classroom and in life, and who will lead Purdue, prepared to lead and serve and change the world. Every recruit, every current student athlete will hear the message repeatedly. We are here to win championships. If you don’t want to win championships, go to Indiana. Purdue may not be the place for you.”

McClelland’s chest-puffing Indiana jab elicited a few chuckles from the audience, and a member of Purdue’s staff later confirmed it was meant to be a joke.

“Our new athletics director knows there is a passion-fueled rivalry between our two schools, and his comment was obviously made in jest,” senior associate athletic director Patrick Crawford said in a statement to The Athletic. “We look forward to continually spirited competition with the Hoosiers.”

Even if McClelland was attempting to incorporate some deadpan humor in his opening statement to the media, his biting words arguably missed the mark considering an undefeated Indiana football team just clinched its first national title last season under second-year coach Curt Cignetti. Timing, and comedic timing, is everything. McClelland would do well to remember that.

That’s not to fault the new AD for trying to make a bold, rah-rah declaration on an intense decades-long rivalry. Cignetti infamously kicked off his Indiana coaching stint by taking a similar and blunter jab at the school’s in-state foes—only his landed.

"Purdue sucks! So does Michigan and Ohio State!” Cignetti thundered into the mic as he was introduced as the Hoosiers’ new football coach during an Indiana basketball game in December 2023. Simple but effective, and Cignetti, for one, has backed up his trash talk over the last few years.

A brief look back at Purdue’s football rivalry with Indiana

McClelland’s embarrassing attempt at an iconic zinger wouldn’t have looked so bad if Purdue currently had the upper hand in its football rivalry against Indiana. Historically, the school does, and maybe McClelland was trying to remind the media and fans that the Boilermakers lead in their all-time series record against the Hoosiers (77-44-6) and boast eight Big Ten titles to Indiana’s three.

Yet recency bias clouds all of that, especially given how incredibly dominant Indiana football was in 2025.

Last year, a Fernando Mendoza-led Hoosiers squad crushed Purdue, 56-3, to cap off their first-ever perfect regular season in school history and also secure a Big Ten championship game berth. That game made Cignetti the first Hoosiers coach since Bo McMillin to win his first two matchups against Purdue and marked a dramatic momentum swing within the fierce in-state rivalry.

Over the last two seasons combined, Indiana has outscored Purdue 122-3 (the Boilermakers have amassed a meager seven total wins over their last three campaigns), with Cignetti’s side showing no sides of slowing down come the imminent start of the new college football season.

The two schools will face off in the 2026 regular-season finale and annual Old Oaken Bucket game on Nov. 28 in Bloomington, at which point McClelland may want to more seriously rethink his messaging to Purdue’s faithful.

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