Feb. 6, 2008
Signing Day Release
Watch Coach Tiller's Signing Day Press Conference (Purdue All-Access)
2008 Purdue Schedule
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On the coaching transition affecting recruiting ...
"We wanted Danny Hope to meet these guys and their families as quickly as possible. I called the recruits to reassure them that philosophically things weren't going to change dramatically at Purdue. I also told them they were going to be able to meet Danny now instead of them being on campus and having no idea who their head coach would be. That seemed to satisfy everyone."
On what he likes about this recruiting class ...
"This is a good class that has a lot of upside to it. I like the athleticism in this class. I think of a guy like (6-foot-6, 240-pound defensive end Monroe) Brooks who when he walks through the door I'm like `Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. That looks like a Big Ten defensive lineman.' He isn't 6-foot-1 3/4. I've got to look up to see him. I like that in a player. I like the guys in this class."
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On what positions needed to be addressed with this class ...
"The biggest area we were able to address was the offensive line. We were able to bring in four or five offensive linemen that have a chance to get on the field early in their careers and be long-time players for us. We like our defensive line candidates. If you look at our freshman class from last year, where we were able redshirt all four of them, and we add that group with this year's group, I think the future looks very bright for Purdue on the defensive front. We've never had this many athletes at one time on the defensive line who will be on our roster next year and for the next three or four years. That makes you feel good about that area."
More on areas that were addressed ...
"Well, offensive line certainly. Typically speaking, offensive line is where the real skill is. Those guys are usually developmental guys. Outside of the quarterback position, the area on the football team where I love to see experience is offensive line. We knew if we could add some Big Ten bodies and Big Ten minds to this class and combine them with what's currently on campus we could feel good. We also needed to get linebackers just because of our numbers, and we feel good about that. I'll leave Purdue without ever experiencing back-to-back defensive line classes like this."
On multi-talented Ralph Bolden ...
"Ralph is one of those five or six guys that could play for us right away. We just found out that he was voted Georgia Player of the Year at his level. He's a guy that rushed for over 1,900 yards and was clearly a 2,000-yard rush guy if he'd have stayed healthy that last game of the year . He comes from a great family. Ralph is an excellent football player and we recruited him basically as an athlete because we think he could be a running back, we think he could be a receiver and we think he could be a corner. He has that type of explosiveness. We'd love for him to come here and settle in at the running back position."
On 6-foot-4, 210-pound junior college wide receiver Arsenio Curry ... "He is a big physical guy. That's the thing we like about him. He has played some tight end. In fact, he is kind of the opposite of Dustin Keller in that he has played tight end, but then moved to wide receiver. He played tight end because that was what his team needed. He's a Florida kid, and he seems like a very nice gentleman. He's a respectful kid, and those are things you look for in a recruit. He seems very anxious to do whatever is asked of him. But just the physicality that he brings to the position is the most impressive thing about him."
On the recruiting process in the Big Ten ...
"I don't think it's that bad, quite frankly. You've got guys decommitting, there have been guys decommitting forever. One of the things that has impressed me since 1997 being in the Big Ten Conference is that it's a pretty honorable conference. I mean, recruiting is recruiting, but it's been kind of an unspoken rule in the Big Ten and you've been recruiting him hard, you always call and say, `Are you sure about this?' and he says, `Yes, I am. I'm going to go to that school.' Then, you back away and get on to the next guy. I think the Big Ten Conference is a pretty honorable conference. I go back to what I said at the beginning of the press conference, if we had an early signing date, then it would clean up a lot of this nonsense."
On what he considers an ideal early signing date ...
"I think Dec. 1 would be an acceptable date by most people. Certainly not a preseason signing, however, because our sport is different from basketball in that we don't have AAU football. A lot of people make their trip now in the fall. And that's one thing that has changed. People always ask me what I'll miss when I'm done coaching. There is a lot of things that I am going to miss - games, staff and people - but one of the things that I am not going to miss is recruiting during the season. Now we have so many guys come in during the season that have to make their decision during the season, I don't think we'll ever see an Aug. 1 signing date, but I think we could definitely see a Dec. 1 signing date."