Purdue Ends March with Tuesday Practice

Interviews: Coach Odom | Coach Clark | Hudauri Hines | Don Saunders

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - As March comes to an end, Purdue Football held its ninth practice of the spring season on Tuesday morning. 

With less than two weeks to the program's spring showcase on Saturday, April 11 at noon, head coach Barry Odom continues to look at a balanced approach to the defensive game. With 18 additions on the defense via the transfer portal, Odom is looking for complementary football.

"I learned, years and years ago, the better the pass rush is that we have, the better we’re going to play on the backend," said Odom. "We’re focused on that, but also I think we have some guys on the backend, coverage wise, that we can do some things we weren’t able to last year."

Guiding Purdue's backend of the defense, Charles Clark enters his second season in West Lafayette. In an effort to revamp the unit and replace an experienced room from 2025, Clark went into the portal and grabbed eight defensive backs.

"The one thing they all brought was experience. Not only on defense, but on special teams as well," said Clark. "I look forward to having that bunch continuing to go together and be together on and off the field."

The eight portal additions join 12 returners and four true freshmen to make up the 24-member defensive backs room. Seven of Purdue's defensive backs have at least three years of collegiate experience.

Leading the room in experience is fifth-year senior Don Saunders, who spent time at Utah and Texas A&M over the last two seasons after a two-year stint at Cal Poly where he was an All-Big Sky selection. 

"Getting around on campus, it felt like this was a place for me," said Saunders. "I shut down all my other visits, and this was home."

Jaden Mangham and John Slaughter are two other portal additions coming to Purdue as seniors after strong careers at the Power Four level. Mangham is a former All-Big Ten Honorable Mention at Michigan State in 2023 before he spent two seasons at Michigan, while Slaughter has appeared in 34 games with three interceptions across three seasons at Colorado and Tennessee. 

Entering his junior season, Hudauri Hines has played 20 games at Purdue, including 11 starts last season. He was Purdue's leader in passes defended a year ago (nine) and looks to combine his skillsets with the talented group of newcomers. 

"All of them are ballers, and all of them are going to make an impact in the game," said Hines. "I can’t wait to see it happen."

Purdue heads back onto the field Thursday morning.