New Purdue athletic director Tommy McClelland admits his attempt to take a shot at Indiana, the Boilermakers' rival and the reigning college football national champion, was out of bounds for his first day on the job.
"I'm having a great day yesterday, giving our vision and sharing what we're going to do here at Purdue," McClelland told "The Pat McAfee Show" on Friday. "... I made an offhand, unscripted comment about an in-state rival that didn't land well. I knew it the second it left my mouth."
On Thursday, McClelland told reporters at his introductory news conference that "we are here to win championships" at Purdue, adding "If you don't want to win championships, go to Indiana."
The comment landed with a thud, especially entering a 2026 football season in which Indiana opens a title defense and Purdue is seeking its first Big Ten win since the end of the 2023 season.
Owning the mistake, McClelland likened the comment to his golf game.
"Every now and then, you line it up on the first tee and you're really excited about that round, and I put it right into the water," he told McAfee. "... I got 18 more holes to play."
The Boilermakers have been a powerhouse in men's basketball of late, making it to the 2024 national championship, where they lost to UConn. Purdue hasn't won an NCAA national championship in any sport since the women's golf team in 2010, the school's only national title this millennium and third overall.
McClelland said he regretted that his off-hand comment distracted from his real goal and that there is "an incredible opportunity for us to reestablish what can be possible [at Purdue]."
He also offered an amended version of his quickly infamous Hoosiers dig.
"We're going to build programs here that are better at winning championships than I am at one-liners," McClelland said.
Information from ESPN's Jake Trotter was used in this report.
