Who's who: A look at Purdue football analysts
You don’t know their names, but they are important parts of the Purdue program. They are the analysts, who work to support the 10 full-time assistant coaches.
Most Division I football programs employ several analysts who under current rules can’t be involved in on-field coaching. But they can help in a variety of other ways off the field. There are no limits to the number of analysts a program can have.
Purdue has seven analysts: three on offense, three on defense and one dedicated to special teams. There are no plans to add more analysts. But Ryan Walters is still filling out his ranks of graduate assistants.
One G.A. is already on board: Austin Karr, who will work with defensive backs. He was a defensive intern last year at Minnesota. Before that, Karr worked at Weber State and Colorado.
Purdue plans to hire three more GAs: two for offense and one for defense. Plans are for them to be onboard prior to the start of spring practice on March 21.
Here’s a look at the Boilermaker analysts.
Offense
Stanton Keane, quarterbacks. He is considered to be offensive coordinator Graham Harrell’s right hand man, working with him at West Virginia and USC. Keane was a GA at WVU in 2022. He was in a similar role at USC and Texas Tech, where he played fullback.
Josh Miller, receivers. Last season, he was the OC at Division II Midwestern State. In 2021, Miller was OC at Division II Saginaw Valley State. At both stops, Miller worked with the quarterbacks. He brings an Air Raid background to West Lafayette.
Justin Sinz, offensive line. The ex-Boilermaker tight end has been on the Purdue staff for six seasons, three as offensive quality control and three as a graduate assistant. Sinz worked in recruiting last year.
Defense
Preston Gordon, defensive line. Billed as a “pass rush specialist,” Gordon was at Illinois the previous two seasons as a GA. He played d-line at Rice and Texas Tech.
T.J. McCollum, secondary. A holdover from the Jeff Brohm staff, McCollum has been at Purdue since 2017, when the former linebacker transferred from Western Kentucky and played his final season for the Boilermakers. McCollum has worked as a GA and in recruiting the last five years in West Lafayette.
Jeff Smart, linebackers. He arrives from Colorado, where he was a quality control specialist for the Buffs this past year-and-a-half before being promoted to linebackers coach during the 2022 season after a staff shuffle following Karl Dorrell‘s firing. Smart is a former Buff linebacker who played at CU with Walters.
Special teams
Chris Petrilli. He was outside linebackers/special teams coach the last two years at North Texas, working for close Walters’ friend Seth Littrell. For all intents and purposes, Petrilli is THE special teams coach despite his “analyst” title. Petrilli joined the North Texas staff in 2017 as a volunteer coach. The 2012 Boise State grad began coaching in the high school ranks in Idaho and also has worked at Charleston Southern, College of Idaho, Boise State and Drake.
