Purdue AD Makes Bizarre Comment About Indiana, Championships During Introductory Press Conference

Tommy McClelland wasted no time endearing himself to Purdue now that he has officially taken over as the university's new athletic director.

During his introductory press conference on Thursday, McClelland used part of his speech to shade the Boilermakers' chief Big Ten rival by calling out Indiana University.

"We are here to win championships," McClelland said. "If you don't want to win championships, go to Indiana."

It's unclear if McClelland had someone go over that particular part of his speech beforehand, but the timing of the joke wasn't the best with the Hoosiers seven months removed from winning their first national title in football.

The video shows a hint of laughter from the people in the room, though it seemed more awkward than genuine. McClelland did redeem himself by adding it's "time to raise the bar on what is possible" with Purdue athletics.

McClelland was potentially attempting a similar tactic that Curt Cignetti took when he was first hired by Indiana and told the crowd at Assembly Hall that "Purdue sucks, so does Michigan and Ohio State."

Another problem with the Indiana joke is that Purdue has only won three national titles across all sports. The most recent coming in 2010 when the women's golf team defeated USC by one point.

The Boilermakers men's basketball team reached the national title game during the 2023-24 season before losing to Connecticut.

Purdue does have bragging rights over Indiana in the all-time series in men's basketball, women's basketball and football with a combined record of 260-183-6 in those three sports.

The recent results in football, though, have not been kind to the Boilermakers. Indiana has won the last two games for the Old Oaken Bucket by a combined score of 122-3.

McClelland's hiring was announced by Purdue on Wednesday after spending the past three years as Rice's athletic director. He will take over for Mike Bobinski, who is officially retiring at the end of this calendar year.