Tyrone Tracy Jr. to Play Running Back for Purdue Football This Spring
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Tyrone Tracy, an Indianapolis native and former Decatur Central standout, transferred to Purdue for an opportunity to prove himself as a versatile weapon for the team's offense under Jeff Brohm.
Playing both wide receiver and running back for the Boilermakers, Tracy compiled 336 yards from scrimmage on 45 touches.
But since Brohm's departure to Louisville in the offseason, the program has ushered in a new coaching staff led by head coach Ryan Walters. With new coordinators and assistants come adjustments to the team's personnel, and Tracy is among those who will transition during the spring.
With the tutelage of running backs coach Lamar Conard — a former Boilermaker from 1996–99 — Tracy will get repetitions out of the backfield as the team prepares for the start of the 2023 season.
"I can't tell you what's gonna happen next season, but I can tell you what's gonna happen this spring. He's running back," Purdue running backs coach Lamar Conard said. "And I'm gonna train him to be an every-down dog. I'm gonna train him to be the best version of himself out of the backfield."
Tracy left Decatur Central after recording 1,412 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. He added 54 catches for 1,132 receiving yards and another 17 touchdowns in the passing game before spending four seasons at Iowa as a wide receiver.
During his time with the Hawkeyes, he hauled in 66 passes for 871 yards and reached the end zone five times. As a redshirt freshman in 2019, he set a career-high with 628 yards from scrimmage and scored four touchdowns, but his production on the field declined in each of the next two seasons.
In just one season at Purdue, he had a career-best 17 rushes for 138 yards on the ground, averaging 8.1 yards per carry. At 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, he will add depth at the running back position after Kind Doerue and Kobe Lewis left the program via the transfer portal.
The Boilermakers are set to return Tracy alongside Devin Mockobee and Dylan Downing.
"If he can really buy into it and dig in deep to it, he's gonna be a problem," Conard said. "And I'm putting all of that on Tyrone because he has the talent, he has the intelligence and he has the fortitude to be able to do it."
Tracy has shown the ability to contribute in multiple positions during his previous five seasons of college football. How Purdue utilizes his talents in 2023 will be up to offensive coordinator Graham Harrell.
"At the end of the day, when you have someone who can maximize their talents at tailback, you'll find ways to get him the ball," Conard said. "Lining him up, splitting him out, playing him at other positions. If he handles his business in the running back room, the rest of that stuff is gonna take care of itself. Because one thing that I know all offensive coordinators do, is they get the ball to their best players."
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.