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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 4 48 McCollum Upgrades Linebacking Corps Western Kentucky graduate transfer could start BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com T.J. McCollum had seven tackles in his only season playing at UAB, in 10 games. McCollum averaged 7.6 tackles per game in his first season with Nick Holt as his linebackers coach and de- fensive coordinator at Western Kentucky in 2015. McCol- lum finished with a team-best 106 that year and followed that with 85 in only 11 games this season, which ended prematurely because of an elbow injury. That's 191 tackles in two years — and includes 15.5 for loss — as McCollum developed into a consistent play- maker and run-stopper in Holt's defense. That's the kind of production McCollum hopes he can bring to Purdue, where he enrolled in mid-February as a graduate transfer. "I see they gave up a lot of rushing yards this past year, so I was like, me coming in, it could definitely help," Mc- Collum said. "I've seen some of the (current) guys (on film). They're pretty good linebackers — I'm not going to take that away from them. But I feel like with me coming in, it can definitely help and bring more depth to the line- backer crew." McCollum thinks he can help because of his experience in Holt's system, one that utilizes linebackers' strengths and puts them in position to make plays. For the 6-foot-3, 240-pound McCollum, that meant getting him downhill to make tackles from an inside linebacker spot. According to WKU stats, 80 of McCollum's 106 tackles in his first season were on run plays. He says he's aided there by film study, prompted by Holt's insistence on it, and that's allowed him to get in the right positions to make plays. He's also a sure tackler, he said and takes advantages of the opportunities in a system that keeps him mostly in the box. "I'm patient. I read stuff really well," he said. "Some- times I know what they're going to run even before they run. You've just got to be smart with the game. I think I'm pretty smart with the game. I move pretty well. I play in- side downhill. I've got a sense of where the ball is going. That's what really makes me better from other guys." Purdue fans will have to wait to see what that looks like — and how McCollum could fit into the depth chart — until the fall. McCollum had surgery in December to repair an elbow injury — he dislocated it and tore ligaments after being hit by a teammate while making a tackle in the C-USA championship game — and won't participate in spring practice. "It's getting better," he said in mid-February. "I got my motion back. I think I have probably two more months to really get cleared to fully go on everything. So I'm just waiting on that, just trying to rehab it, get it better and then get back with the team." j Western Kentucky In two seasons in Nick Holt's defense at Western Kentucky, linebacker T.J. McCollum had 191 tackles.