Transfer portal CB additions seek to balance Purdue football's defense on 'revenge tour.'

WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue cornerback Markevious Brown remembered sharing a dorm with transfer portal addition Kyndrick Breedlove as teammates at Ole Miss.

Breedlove is among the latest additions made by the Boilermakers, who dug into the transfer portal.

Brown made 43 tackles and led Purdue with two forced fumbles. Now he's reunited with Breedlove, who played last season at Colorado under Deion Sanders. Brown also trained with 6-1 Georgia transfer Nyland Green.

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"We have a lot of history together," Brown said. "Coach (Sam) Carter does a great job of having us around each other a lot even outside of the facilities. We are always at each other's house, talking on the phone. Always communicating with each other."

Breedlove reflected on the experiences he had from playing under both Lane Kiffin and Sanders.

"I've got love for both schools with Ole Miss recruiting me straight out of high school," Breedlove said. "Then going to Colorado was an experience of a lifetime. Just being with Deion Sanders and him playing the same position as me."

It was the allure of reuniting with Purdue cornerbacks coach Sam Carter that convinced Breedlove to come to West Lafayette. Carter coached at Ole Miss in 2022 where he connected with Brown and Breedlove.

Now the trio is reunited and looking to improve a Purdue team that finished 4-8 in its first season under Ryan Walters.

There's plenty of work for the Boilermakers which ranked 90th in third down conversion defense and 95th in passing yards allowed at 241.5 yards per game.

"Whenever you're a football player regarding to the whole team, everybody is on a revenge tour," Brown said. "Everybody wants to be better than they were last year and the day before. The entire team is coming out trying to be better than they were before. We are trying to do something special here."

Improving its passing defense starts with Carter who previously worked with coach Ryan Walters at Missouri before heading defensive back units at Arkansas and Ole Miss.

The athleticism provided by Brown, Green and Breedlove should be a significant boost for the Boilermakers and Walters who was defensive coordinator for the No. 1 ranked defense at Illinois in 2022 before taking over in West Lafayette in 2023.

"When you go 4-8, you go back at the things you did good and things you thought you did good and correct it," Carter said. "We are working on our technique, being physical and route recognition. Our offense is doing a hell of a job giving us different routes and different things we have to ID. As a corner, the littlest thing can get you beat. The details matter."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue football hopes transfer addition CBs can shore up defense