Purdue's latest recruiting class is ranked No. 25 by 247sports.com

West Lafayette star George Karlaftis will challenge for a starting spot

The addition of more talented receivers will help the secondary show improvement

The Boilermakers are a 3.5-point underdog to Auburn in the Music City Bowl

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Nick Holt will never forget his 55th birthday.

It was more than a year ago in October when Purdue’s co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach received one of his best birthday presents.

That’s the day West Lafayette star defensive end George Karlaftis committed to the Boilermakers.

Five days later, Karlaftis announced his decision and finally made it official by signing Wednesday. He was Purdue’s first commitment in the 2019 class, which is ranked in the top 25 by 247sports.com.

“That’s a good memory,” said Holt, who turned 56 in October. “Now that you remind me, that was a helluva birthday present. He came up to the complex with all of his family – grandma, grandpa, everybody, aunts, uncles … godfathers, everybody was here. It was great. Just a fantastic family. We have a great relationship with the young man.”

Informing Holt of his decision on his birthday also helped cement their relationship throughout the recruiting process, even when other schools – most notably Michigan – were still trying to change Karlaftis’ mind.

“George and I have a really good relationship, a pretty special one,” Holt said. “The first time he stepped foot on campus, he might have been just a sophomore in the spring when he came up with his granddad and I saw his granddad just walking around here, needing some help and no one was giving him help.

‘(I said), ‘Can we help you?’ I didn’t know who he was – the granddad of George Karlaftis. That’s how our relationship built from there.”

It continues to be strong to this day.

Karlaftis will enroll in January and participate in spring practice. Although Karlaftis is expected to compete for a starting position immediately, Holt doesn’t want to put too much pressure on the talented prospect.

“I want him to come in here and learn the system, to be who he is, compete and we’ll take it as far as we can go,” Holt said. “We don't want to put too much pressure on some of these guys, right? He’ll develop, he’ll make his mistakes but he’s going to get in there and play.

“We’ll see how quickly he’ll learn it. It’s not that hard. It’s just the physicality of the game but he’s a big strong kid. It’s going to take some time.”

Receivers impact

No question, the Boilermakers signed three gifted receivers in Milton Wright, TJ Sheffield and Mershawn Rice. Not only will the trio boost the passing game, but they’ll also challenge the secondary each practice.

That’s something freshman Rondale Moore did this season but next season there will be more talent on the field.

“It makes being an assistant coach on the defensive side a lot harder,” cornerbacks coach Derrick Jackson said, laughing. “That’s the fun part as a player and as a coach to me is you get a chance to know that you’re working against other elite players.

“If we can do well in practice, whether it be a Rondale Moore type player, that’s going to translate to us having a chance to be pretty successful in the game.”

The secondary added more talent with Detroit natives Jalen Graham and Marvin Grant at safety and Cameron Allen and Nyles Beverly at cornerback in the 2019 class.

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Combine those four with what the Boilermakers brought in last year, and the secondary looks totally different than when Jeff Brohm and his coaching staff arrived prior to the 2017 season.

“They ultimately have to prove they can make plays but physically we look like a different position group than when we walked into the program,” Jackson said.

No movement

Jackson doesn’t anticipate any of the current safeties moving to cornerback following the bowl game. Purdue cornerbacks Antonio Blackmon, Tim Cason and Kamal Hardy.

Jackson said Simeon Smiley, the primary nickel back, is a candidate to replace Jacob Thieneman along with current freshmen Cory Trice, Elijah Ball and Kadin Smith. They'll also compete against Navon Mosley at the other safety spot.

Kenneth Major and Derick Mackey return at cornerback with Major receiving a bulk of the playing time during the second half of the season.

“We’ll have enough of the young guys,” Jackson said. “After the bowl season, we’ll re-evaluate the roster and figure it out. We have five guys returning to corner before we bring in the two freshmen.”

MUSIC CITY BOWL

Dec. 28

Nashville (Nissan Stadium)

Purdue (6-6) vs. Auburn (7-5)

Time: 1:30 p.m.

TV: ESPN

Radio: WAZY (96.5)