Lamar Conard is all too familiar with Purdue. He's been walking around the campus since he got to West Lafayette back in 1991 as a player, coached under the legendary Joe Tiller and returned to his alma mater two years ago as the Boilermakers' running backs coach.
Conard's long history with the Boilermakers has reached a new chapter in 2025, as he embarks on the Barry Odom era in West Lafayette. The new Purdue head coach retained Conard from the previous staff, being the lone holdover in terms of position coaches. Odom entrusting him with the role meant more than just having a job, to Conard.
"For me, man, it's just a huge sense pride that he looked at the film, or he talked to the people he talked to, and said that this guy fits what I want to do, what I want to accomplish," Conard said. "It means the world. This is a great place, and I think that Purdue deserves the best, the best coaches, the best fans. You know, I can't articulate it well enough, but being able to stay home, it matters, man. This place has given so much to me, and I'm just grateful to be able to get back to it. And every day, I wake up with a smile on my face, and you know, I hope I make everybody proud."
Conard will look to make good on that desire as he leads the Purdue running backs through spring practice and into the 2025 season. It is a group that he was smiling ear to ear about on Tuesday morning, expressing his pleasure for when the Boilermakers' backfield sits at the end of March.
"I feel really good about the top end of the room, and the back half of the room, they're progressing. They're gonna help us in some capacity, whether its offense or special teams," Conard said.
Mockobee's time to flip the switch:
Conard wasn't the only returner in the group, as Devin Mockobee opted to remain in West Lafayette despite a mass exodus that saw many of last year's starters find new homes. Mockobee could have been a hot commodity on the open market, but it was his love of Purdue and quest to graduate with a mechanical engineering degree in West Lafayette that kept him in the old gold and black.
"That was like 95% of my choice and then the last 5%, I mean it's just that I love being here you know. Like that's all I want to do, because I just love Purdue. It's been my dream school since I got out of high school, so it's probably going to continue being that way," Mockobee said.
Now that he's back, Conard is challenging his top running back to take the next step in his football journey. That includes Mockobee flipping the switch and acting like the standout back that he is.
"He has a quiet confidence, if that makes sense. But the best version of him is when he is out here yapping. I can hearken it back to when he was here with Tyrone. Tyrone would get everybody flowing and get Mock ...
