Career unfolding as planned for Purdue RB Devin Mockobee
Kids are flocking around Purdue running back Devin Mockobee. They want an autograph, a selfie, a moment … anything with their hometown hero.
The former BMOC of Boonville (Ind.) High is back to watch his school play under the Friday night lights. And Boonville denizens bask in Mockobee’s aura, an aura that began glowing seemingly out on nowhere this fall at Purdue.
Mockobee seems like an overnight sensation, but his transformation from anonymous walk-on to rising Big Ten star has been years in the making. The Mockobee phenomenon didn’t just happen. It was hatched through his hard work … and a well-orchestrated plan.
“Oh, we had a plan,” said Devin’s dad, Conrad Mockobee.
It was all about creating a digital footprint that ultimately landed Mockobee at Purdue as one of the best stories in the Big Ten in 2022.
Mockobee went from being a way-off-the radar Class 3A sensation to a recruitable player who was drawing interest … and offers.
“That was the goal,” said Conrad.
Look at Mockobee now. He has become one of the most surprising players in the Big Ten on a team that’s dreaming of a West division title. The redshirt freshman produces like a scholarship player … but is paying his own way to school. He’s the best bargain in the Big Ten.
“He really wanted to be here, he’s a competitor,” said Jeff Brohm. “He figured he could be here and compete and do a good job in a very humble and modest way.”
Mockobee’s resume glistens with 561 yards rushing, six TDs, 13 catches and myriad oohs and ahhs. He’ll look to augment his stats this Saturday when Iowa visits during a do-or-die November when Purdue needs to win all four of its games to reach Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game.
“Devin is a humble kid,” said Conrad.
Mockoee has a shot to become Purdue’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Kory Sheets in 2008. What a steal for a Purdue program whose moribund rushing game has been awakened by a player who looks poised to be one of the school’s best running backs in the last 40 years. Really.
Wait, there’s more: Mockobee is the first Purdue freshman to have three 100-yard rushing games in a season. And he should set the school single-season rushing mark established by Markell Jones in 2015 (875).
After the Minnesota game in October when he ran for 112 yards and iced the contest with a 68-yard run, Mockobee was thrown this question: When will you ask for a scholarship? Mockobee smiled.
“Never,” he said shaking his head. “I don’t ask.”
HOW DID MOCKOBEE HAPPEN?
Conrad Mockobee had navigated recruiting waters before with his daughter, who ran track at IUPUI. But, the selling of Devin would be different.
“I knew I had to show people what Devin was about,” said Conrad.
Devin had a lot to show. His evolution began after his sophomore season at Boonville High, a Pocket Conference school of about 900 students located roughly 15 minutes from Evansville. He spent most of that season as a defensive back, waiting his turn to carry the ball. Finally. Mockobee got his chance as a junior in 2019. And it was impossible not to notice his 1,384 yards rushing and 17 TDs, which he piled up in 10 games.
By then, Conrad had started taking Devin to camps … Kentucky, Tennessee, Purdue, Notre Dame. Get in the car and drive.
“It was about trying to get him noticed,” said Conrad Mockobee.
But the real key to spreading the word was creating a digital footprint.
“The best advice I ever got when we first started was if you had two athletes with the same height, same weight, same speed, they could bench-press the same and basically all the measureables were the same, what was going to be the difference?” said Conrad. “It became pictures and videos.”
So, Conrad Mockobee become a video expert. He bought a video camera, took photos with his phone. Heck, he sometimes mounted his phone on his camera to take photos when he was shooting video.
“You may be able to tell somebody, ‘Hey, I was at that Notre Dame Sunday Night Showcase. But I’m gonna be able to show somebody. So, we started documenting. You can send a 2:10 video on Twitter. You learn how to do those things.”
Conrad Mockobee enlisted help from Evansville TV stations to augment his library of footage.
“They had good sideline video,” he said.
Once video files were built, the Tweets and DMs went out. With help from brother Craig Mockobee and half-brother Josh Castle, the gridiron gospel of Devin Mockobee was spread via social media.
“If a coach had open DMs, he likely was getting a DM from me,” said Josh Castle.
Highlights, measureables, stats … there was interest from what Josh estimates were over 2,000 DMs.
“I probably got about a five percent response rate,” said Josh.
Cal and Nevada were intrigued. Rutgers sniffed around. So did Iowa and BYU, all based on a digital footprint of game highlights and workouts.
“You should have seen the gym Devin’s dad put together for him during COVID,” said Josh Castle. “It was nice. He bought a bunch of weights from a body builder who was moving and didn’t want to take his equipment. Leg press … the whole works.”
Those videos were posted and sent.
If you Google “Devin Mockobee” you will find a treasure trove of highlights and information.
“That was the plan,” said Conrad.
The plan was working. Buzz was being created. Coaches were curious about Mockobee as small school offers dribbled in. Staffs wondered: Were we missing out on something? Did they need to check him out? The Ivy League started kicking Mockobee’s tires.
“Devin had his own recruiting service,” said Conrad Mockobee. “He knows it. You can do a lot of things to sell and position your kid.”
Finally, an offer from: Navy. Devin Mockobee wanted to jump on it, but his dad told him to wait … be patient. Now that one school had offered, others likely would, too.
Sure enough, Army and Air Force then wanted info on Mockobee after the Navy offer. But, the Mockobee’s couldn’t convince any other FBS schools to offer. Some were close, but …
Mockobee was packed for Navy in the summer of 2021. He’d leave in two weeks. But then, Purdue called. Could Devin come to campus to meet?
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DREAM SCHOOL
Mockobee had been to a camp at Purdue after his sophomore year … as a defensive back. This was the school the aspiring engineer and car enthusiast always wanted to attend.
“I knew from the time they called he was going to make the change,” said Conrad.
Once on campus, Mockobee got the full-five star recruitment after a senior season that saw him run for 1,820 yards and 24 TDs. And when he and his father got to the running back room, that’s when Conrad knew Purdue was serious.
“They had Boonville plays Devin ran matched up with similar Purdue plays,” said Conrad. “I knew then Barclay had made (G.A.) D.J. Knox splice stuff up. They did their home work. I was like ‘Ok, I know they are serious.’ “
This was the opportunity Mockobee had been waiting for.
“Always wanted to prove himself,” said Conrad. “This began when he started high school. We knew how much he needed to weigh each season, what he needed to work on and focused on that. Devin proved himself on the field.”
And Mockobee is doing just that at Purdue. He has a blue-collar mentality and work ethic that is endearing and relatable to the Boilermaker fan base. Mockobee is a high-knee runner–crazy legs–who doesn’t go down easily.
“He’s kind of one of those guys that I think that he’s going to be a tough guy to tackle,” said Barclay. “I call him a wet bar of soap. Very slippery in there and does a good job finding the extra and hard yards.”
When Mockobee scores a TD, there is no celebration. He acts like he has been there before because he has. It’s a mentality his dad calles “Mock Train,” an apt label that embodies the family’s blue-collar work ethic.
“We kind of saw it early, we saw it in the spring, just the way he moves on the field is different,” said Barclay. “And, you know, I’ve coached a little while and I’ve seen a few kids and I haven’t seen many kids move the way he’s able to move, to twist and contort his body and able to get into some of these holes that not everyone is able to get into.”
The Mockobee story is still being written. It will be interesting see how it ends.
