Purdue’s best NFL draft—20 years later

It was an NFL draft like few had seen at Purdue. The names kept coming off the board.

Nick Hardwick, Stu Schweigert, Gilbert Gardner, Landon Johnson … by the time the seven-round 2004 draft had ended, nine Boilermakers had heard their name called. It was the most Purdue players picked since 1960, when 10 were selected in what was a 12-round draft.

Not only were nine Boilers picked in 2004, but they all were productive, as each made rosters and enjoyed multi-year careers. Not bad for a class that had no first- or second-round selections.

This year? Purdue probably will be fortunate to have one player picked: RB Tyrone Tracy.

Of the nine Boilermakers selected 20 years ago, seven were on defense with DE Shaun Phillips, LB Niko Koutouvides, DT Craig Terrill and CB Jacques Reeves joining Schweigert, Gardner and Johnson. The only offensive players drafted were C Hardwick and T Kelly Butler.

Those seven defensive players selected in 2004 were the core of a unit that allowed just 302.0 ypg in 2003. No Purdue defense has allowed fewer yards in a season since.

“Those guys were incredibly fun to coach,” said Brock Spack, the Illinois State coach who was the Purdue DC for 12 years under Joe Tiller from 1997-2008. “I look back at my time there as a coordinator, I had a lot of great guys to coach there. But, as a group, that was maybe the best, most talent we had there during my 22 years at Purdue (as a player, GA, LB coach and DC).”

Spack looks back at all nine players picked in 2004 on the 20th anniversary of Purdue’s most impressive draft haul ever.

Nick Hardwick, Chargers, 3rd round/66th overall: NFL career 2004-14 (Chargers); Pro Bowl 2006; Chargers 50th anniversary team

Spack: “He didn’t play high school football, he was a wrestler. Went to the Rose Bowl as a student … tried out for the team and ended up making it. He started out on defense. … (OC) Jim Chaney came into our meeting room and asked if he thought we could use Nick Hardwick, if he was gonna play (on defense). I said I didn’t think so. Yeah, I think he’d be great (on offense). He moved over right away and took off. He played guard and center and he ended up becoming one of the greatest centers in San Diego Chargers’ history.”

Stuart Schweigert, Raiders, 3rd round/67th overall: NFL career 2004-08 (Raiders, Redskins, Giants, Lions)

Spack: “He loved to compete. He had really good length. Coach Tiller said our defense really, really improved and didn’t give up many long, big plays when Stuart Schweigert started playing in our secondary. I wouldn’t classify Stu as a big hitter, but he could. He was an excellent, excellent open-field tackler. He gets you on the ground. Open-field tacklers have to be really good athletes. He could hit plenty hard. What I remember him tackling, he just didn’t miss. Those safeties are big-play preventers.

Gilbert Gardner, Colts, 3rd round/69th overall: NFL career 2004-08 (Colts, Titans, Lions, Bears); Super Bowl champ XLI

Spack: “Gilbert was a receiver when he came to Purdue and he had never really played defense much. I think he played safety, maybe, and we moved him to Mike linebacker. We were looking for some speed. I think Joe (Odom) was banged up. He had a back issue in 2000. Gilbert started against Notre Dame and played really well, and so the rest was history for him. Just to think back to those guys, how athletic they were. It’s a tribute to them and Jim Lathrop our strength coach. He did a great job and got them prepared to play big-time football. It’s a very physical league, as everybody knows. It takes a village to raise a child. When they became grown men, there were a handful and really enjoyed coaching them.”

Landon Johnson, Bengals, 3rd round/96th overall: NFL career 2004-10 (Bengals, Panthers, Lions)

Spack: “Landon was extraordinarily intelligent, great person. He’s a two-time captain. The only other one I could think of who was was Rosevelt Colvin. You couldn’t ask for two different people. … He was very gifted athletically. When he ran by, he was like a feather. He was so light on his feet. … Really good length. He looks like he’s 6-3, but he’s only about 6-1.5, but he was really a big hitter and he was a outstanding player. I think he led the Bengals for four years in tackling … What a great player he was.”

Shaun Phillips, Chargers, 4th round/98th overall: NFL career 2004-14 (Chargers, Broncos, Titans, Colts); Pro Bowl 2010; Super Bowl XLVIII

Spack: “He came in as a tight end, but Shaun was really athletic and broke Rosevelt’s sack record. Was a tremendous athlete. He’s very athletic and a four-year starter. He started in that Rose Bowl as a redshirt freshman. I think five of those guys started in the Rose Bowl in 2000. And then seven of them all rotated. And all seven got drafted four years later. … He turned into a really special pass rusher. He was one of the better ones I’ve been around here. I put Rosevelt as probably the best, but he was awfully good.”

LB Niko Koutouvides, Seahawks, 4th round/116th overall: 2004-12 (Seahawks, Broncos, Buccaneers, Patriots); Super Bowls XL and XLVI

Spack: “Niko is a great story. He was a quarterback in high school. … I’ve never seen a guy make such a transformation. He came at mid-year after his one season in prep school. … I didn’t think he’d play that next fall. He was very weak. He wasn’t a real strong guy. He ran OK, he was pretty good. But I’ve never seen a guy work as hard as he did. … he could play Mike and Sam. I think the one thing about Niko, he was kind of underrated as an athlete. He could run. He ran 4.6 at 235, 240. He obviously was very physical. He’s one of the tougher, meaner, nastier players I’ve coached there.”

OT Kelly Butler, Lions, 6th round/172nd overall: 2004-08 (Lions, Browns, Cardinals)

Spack: “I recruited Kelly and Stu at the same time. And Kelly had a lot of offers. It came down to us and Michigan, and he came here. He was a specimen. I still to this day wish he would have stayed another year in college. I think he would have been a first two-round guy, but they get antsy and they want to go play pro football. I get it. But he was a very talented player. Big, long kid, really good athlete. His dad played at Michigan State, was a very good athlete. Kelly was very good player. Very good prospect.”

Craig Terrill, Seahawks, 6th round, 189th overall: 2004-10 (Seahawks); Super Bowl XL

Spack: “Craig Terrill, for my money, is the best inside pass rusher I’ve ever been around. Now, I don’t know if we would ever saw that based on his workout when he came here. But, back in that time, when we had camp, they stayed for three days and he just kind of wore on us because he showed us toughness every day and he wanted to be here. He ended up being a really good player.”

CB Jacques Reeves, Cowboys, 7th round/223rd overall: 2004-12 (Cowboys, Texans, Chiefs)

Spack: “Jacques could really run. He was fast. I think he was a 10.4, 10.5 100-meter guy in high school … He had good length. We liked long guys and length is really important, particularly in the secondary now but even then. He was well above 6-0 and he had really long arms. He’s kind of like Landon (Johnson), he looks taller than he really was but he was built. He was a sleek athlete and could really run.”

2004 Purdue NFL draft picks