After serving one season as the director of player personnel, Brian Anderson was named an assistant coach for the Purdue wrestling team in September 2026. He enters his first season as a Purdue coach and his second season overall with the program in 2026-27.
Anderson originally joined the staff in April 2025 and was responsible for scouting and developing talent, assisting in recruiting, and managing the Boilermaker Regional Training Center. He also helped manage fundraising, sponsorships, NIL initiatives, budgeting, and oversees alumni relations.
Anderson came to Purdue after working in a similar role as the executive director of Hoosier Wrestling Inc. and the Indiana Regional Training Center in Bloomington, Indiana.
Prior to Indiana, he was the head wrestling coach at Wabash College from 2004-2023. Over nearly two decades, he built the Little Giants into one of the nation's premier Division III wrestling programs, producing eight individual national champions, 36 All-Americans and 84 Academic All-Americans. His teams captured six Midwest regional titles and earned four national team trophies during his tenure.
In 2022, Anderson guided Wabash to second place at the NCAA Division III national wrestling tournament, its best finish in program history.
Before Wabash, Anderson was the head assistant wrestling coach at his alma mater, Manchester University, from 2002-04, and the head wrestling coach & physical education teacher for Michigan City High School from 1999-02.
As a coach at Manchester, he helped produce seven national qualifiers and three All-Americans. Manchester placed 15th at the 2003 NCAA Division III Championships and followed with an 18th-place finish the next year.
A 1999 graduate of Manchester with a Bachelor of Science, Anderson was a four-year starter and key contributor to two sixth-place national finishes. He compiled more than 100 career victories, claimed two Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference crowns, and captured the 184-pound Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference title. His senior season was highlighted by Academic All-America honors along with Manchester’s Senior Leadership Academic Award and the Jim Gratz Leadership Award. Anderson later earned his Master of Arts in contemporary leadership from Manchester in 2004.
Anderson came to West Lafayette with his wife, Lauren. Together they have three daughters: Brynn, Kelsey and Annabel.