6 Days to Purdue Football: Tyler Hamilton and T.J. McCollum

Today we have a promising incoming receiver and a player that has a lot of experience in playing under coach Brohm.

Tyler Hamilton – Fr.

Hilton Head, SC (Hilton Head HS)

5’9”, 175 pounds

Wide Receiver

2017 Projection: Possible Contributor at Wide receiver

Hamilton was an interesting commitment last season. He committed to Purdue after Hazell was fired, but before Jeff Brohm was named head coach. ESPN rated him as the No. 30 receiver in the nation as a fast and elusive slot receiver. We somehow managed to land him over offers from Arizona, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas.

Hamilton enrolled early and went through spring practice, but wasn’t quite able to nail down a spot on the two-deep. That’s okay though. There is plenty of time for him to develop even if he ends up redshirting this season. He left his high school with a career record 45 touchdowns after playing both running back and receiver in his career. He could potentially be a kick returner in the long run after returning two kicks for scores last year.

T.J. McCollum – Sr.

Birmingham, AL (Western Kentucky)

6’3”, 235 pounds

Linebacker

2017 Projection: Starter at Linebacker

McCollum has had a vagabond college career. He started his career at Alabama-Birmingham, but was forced to leave after a year when the program was shuttered following the 2014 season. He ended up at Western Kentucky, where he helped coach Brohm win a couple Conference USA titles as starting linebacker. He finished with 191 tackles in two years while also earning his degree.

With said degree in hand he followed Brohm to West Lafayette, where he will now start at outside linebacker. This will be a huge benefit to Purdue, as he already knows the defensive schemes we will be running. He will very likely be a leader on the defense and one of the top teachers too.