Transfers, 2024 Boilermakers, new Big 10

INDIANAPOLIS — The only frustration of Gary Danielson’s experience at Purdue football came on the field.

Danielson, one of the 12 members of the Cradle of Quarterbacks, fueled the Otis Armstrong-led rushing attack. When he got a chance to use his arm in 1971, he averaged 9.5 yards per attempt and completed 61.7 percent of his passes — a Big Ten record at the time.

He wonders aloud whether he would have transferred in the present — the route taken by 14 of the Big Ten’s 18 projected starting quarterbacks. Later, though, he has a clear answer when asked whether he wishes he had had the option of immediate eligibility elsewhere.

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“I don’t, to be honest with you,” Danielson said during Big Ten media days at Lucas Oil Stadium. “I enjoyed every part of my career there. The frustrating part was on the field. But I loved going there. I chose Purdue for a lot of reasons other than just football. I felt comfortable with the school and everything at that point, and I still have great friends.

“I played with some great players: Otis Armstrong, Darrell Stingley. Dave Butz, Greg Bingham. I played against them in the NFL. So it would have been tempting when you’re 18 or 19. In retrospect, that disappointment in college shaped me as an NFL player.”

Danielson went on to a 15-year professional career, including 13 in the NFL with the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns. Now a veteran television analyst, he will be part of the broadcast team for CBS’s coverage when Notre Dame visits Ross-Ade Stadium on Sept. 14.

IndyStar spoke with Danielson about this year’s Boilermakers team and the Big Ten’s new players on the West Coast.

Q: What are your thoughts on Purdue going into the upcoming season?

A: I think the story at Purdue has always been the same. You have to have the right charismatic guy who makes great decisions on second-string talent. And then it has to be cornered by the right quarterback. I mean, that’s always been the story.

… But it all has to come together a little bit. It has to be like it was when Wisconsin won, when Northwestern won, when Iowa won. You have to build to that crescendo when you have your third-, fourth-, and fifth-year seniors. You’re not going to win with sophomores and freshmen at Purdue. So I don’t think much has changed.

Q: Two years ago, Purdue won the West Division and played in the Big Ten Championship Game. Doesn’t reclassification make those breakthrough seasons harder?

A: I think that’s the prevailing opinion. But I think it’s always been a bummer. I’ve seen it in the NFL. When you’re on a team that’s just got a lot more talent, you can hold out for a while, but they’re just better than you. You know, Aiden O’Connell plays great, but over time they just have more options to beat you. You go to an inside straight and they have a bigger deck to play with.

So I think it’s better this way. I really think it’s better. I mean, I grew up with the goal of every Big Ten team to win the Big Ten championship. Even the Rose Bowl was, ‘OK, whatever.’ But now it’s going to work for everybody to say, we don’t have to be over the top five teams in the country. We have to be over the next 20 teams in the country. I think it’s more realistic for everybody.”

Q: So you’re not concerned that Purdue will be marginalized after adding four more strong programs from the former Pac-12?

A: I just thought it was unrealistic. Teams were down and winning the West just didn’t give people any credit. I just think it’s better this way. You’re going to compete against everybody. The number of teams you’re going to play against is going to be good. But I think the right guy — the Barry Alvarezes (at Wisconsin), the Gary Barnetts when he went (to Northwestern), with George Perles at Michigan State, Hayden Fry when he did it (at Iowa), even Jeff Brohm when he did it — you can put together a team that can win at the second level. Then you get into the playoffs and anything is possible from the playoffs.

Q: How much of a contrast in playing style was there between the Pac-12 and the Big Ten, and which group now needs to adapt more to the other?

A: I think it’s significant. I’ve done a bunch of Pac-12 games. They don’t have the size on the defensive line and the offensive line. They’re just a little bit smaller. And then the big guys that they’re allowing to get that parity aren’t as athletic as Ohio State and a lot of the SEC. You can just look at the draft. The big, athletic guys are being taken early and they’re not coming out of the Pac-12.

So they look good against each other. But to get that physical strength that they’re going to feel, they’re going to have to be really good, because it gets old trying to score 35-40 points a week to win. That’s really hard to do.

Follow IndyStar Purdue Insider Nathan Baird on X at @nwbaird.