Last season, Purdue football coach Joe Tiller said he wanted to look over the crowd at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette and witness a sea of gold.

It wasn't Ross-Ade Stadium, but Tiller looked out over a sea of black and gold Thursday evening in Warsaw's Center Lake Pavilion as he spoke to the Purdue Club of Kosciusko County. Proceeds from the dinner will be used to fund scholarships for area students.

Approximately 155 members of the newly-formed club converged on Center Lake Pavilion sporting their black and gold to hear Tiller's speech.

Tiller spoke about growing up in Toledo and playing football in college.

"I wasn't good enough to play in the Big Ten, so I went out west and played at Montana State," said Tiller.

But during his freshman year at Montana State, he broke his wrist and tried to come back to the midwest. However, coaches were not interested in giving him a scholarship after seeing him in a full-arm cast, so he had to stay at Montana State.

"That was the luckiest break in the world for me," said Tiller. "I met my wife there, now we have three wonderful children. I was the captain of the football team and was later drafted by the New England Patriots - they were the Boston Patriots then.

"Now, I don't think that was a bad break at all."

He also spoke of his experiences at the Rose Bowl in the 2000-01 season and working with quarterback Drew Brees who now plays in the National Football League for the San Diego Chargers.

But his main focus was the future.

"I have had a lot of fun at Purdue," said Tiller. "I have every reason to believe that this year will be the best team since I've been here. We have several starters returning, and we have some good players ready to step up this year.

"We have higher energy level now than we did 12 months ago, and we are looking forward to the fall season."

Tiller spoke about recruiting, and more specifically this year's incoming class.

"We recruit 12 months a year," he said. "But sometimes it's not how good you are, it's how lucky you get."

He mentioned lucky breaks that led to Ray Edwards, Garret Bushong, Kyle Ingraham and Ryan Noblet signing with Purdue for next season.

One incoming freshman who looks very promising for the Boilermakers is Bill Foran, a 6-foot-1 quarterback from Dallas, Texas. In his senior year at Highland Park, Foran threw for 19 touchdowns and ran for 21 more. He also scored a 1500 on his SATs.

"He may be the next Drew Brees, I don't know," said Tiller.

After taking questions from the audience, Tiller signed two footballs were auctioned off and encouraged everyone to catch a game this fall.

"Make the trip down to West Lafayette," he said. "We've had a lot of fun so far, and we plan to have a lot of fun again this fall." [[In-content Ad]]