Grading Purdue Football's 2025 Offseason Coaching Staff Changes
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After posting a 2-10 record and failing to win a Big Ten game in 2025, head coach Barry Odom knew he needed to make some changes to the staff. But did he make the best moves for the program moving forward?
Purdue parted ways with offensive line coach Vance Vice and running backs coach Lamar Conard quickly. Last week, it was announced that Mike Scherer would no longer be the defensive coordinator. Odom had to replace three staffers, and also mixed up a few of the position coaches.
What grades do those coaching changes receive? This isn't the best report card I've ever handed out, that's for sure.
Cornell Ford, running backs coach
- Grade — B+
I'm not entirely convinced parting ways with Lamar Conard was the best decision, but moving Ford to lead the running back room is a natural fit. He was the running backs coach for two years at UNLV, leading a group that rushed for 5,838 yards and 68 touchdowns across the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
Ford also spent time as the running backs coach at Missouri, working for both Gary Pinkel and Odom for nearly two decades. He has a lot of experience leading that group, which should help Purdue develop a more complete backfield.
Bilal Marshall, wide receivers coach
- Grade — B-
Marshall is still relatively new in the coaching world and spent last season as an offensive analyst who also worked with the wide receivers. In 2022, at VMI as the wide receivers coach, and spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons in the same role at West Virginia. Before that, he worked as a graduate assistant for the Mountaineers.
Obviously, Marshall played the position when he was at Purdue and understands what it takes to be successful. However, there's no question that the Boilermakers' wide receivers struggled last year, leaving a lot of room for improvement. Can someone with so little experience be the one to provide a spark to that room?
Zach Crabtree, offensive line coach
- Grade — C+
This is another move that is interesting. Crabtree comes to West Lafayette with just one year of experience as the full-time offensive line coach, having worked in that role with Fresno State last season. However, he does have a lot of familiarity with offensive coordinator Josh Henson.
Crabtree was the assistant offensive line coach at USC in 2024 and was a graduate assistant in 2022 and 2023. Henson was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the Trojans during that time. Crabtree also played for Henson at Oklahoma State.
Having that familiarity is a positive, but Purdue's offensive line needs a lot of work. Much like Marshall, can someone with such limited experience provide the fix needed?
Charles Clark, defensive pass game coordinator
- Grade — D
Clark will remain in his role as the defensive backs coach and will also serve as the pass game coordinator for the 2026 season. That's an interesting move by Odom, as the secondary was arguably the worst position group defensively last year.
Purdue's pass defense surrendered 241.7 yards per game, which ranked last in the Big Ten and 107th nationally. The Boilermakers gave up more than 200 passing yards in eight games and allowed Illinois, Rutgers, and Ohio State all to throw for over 300 yards. Those are pretty eye-popping numbers, and not in a good way.
Kevin Kane, defensive coordinator
- Grade — F
The decision to make Kane the defensive coordinator makes no sense. I have searched high and low for positives, but have found nothing. He was the defensive coordinator in 2023 and 2024 under Ryan Walters, going just 5-19 and fielding a historically poor defense.
In that 2024 season, Kane's defense surrendered 39.9 points per game, which ranked last in the Big Ten and 131st nationally. Take away the shutout against Indiana State, and they allowed 43.5 points per game.
When Kane was the defensive coordinator at SMU from 2020 through 2022, the Mustangs allowed more than 30 points per game in two separate seasons. He hasn't had a track record of success, and his previous run in West Lafayette was one of the worst for any defensive coordinator in program history.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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