Purdue fans will see a very familiar name in the Big Ten Network’s college football coverage this fall.
Ryan Kerrigan, the former Boilermakers defensive end and NFL standout, is joining BTN as an analyst for the 2026 season. It will be his first year with the network, and Big Ten Network has not yet announced which games he’ll be assigned to call.
Kerrigan’s Purdue résumé still jumps off the page. He played in West Lafayette from 2007 to 2010 under Joe Tiller and Danny Hope, earned two first-team All-Big Ten honors, was the 2010 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and picked up unanimous All-American recognition that same season.
Over four years at Purdue, Kerrigan piled up 210 tackles, 57 tackles for loss, 33.5 sacks and 14 forced fumbles. That production made him the No. 16 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, and he went on to play 11 seasons in the league with the Washington Commanders from 2011-20 and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021. He was selected to four Pro Bowls.
Earlier this summer, Kerrigan was also placed on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame for the second time.
BTN said Kerrigan is one of three new analysts joining its broadcast team for the 2026 college football season. Former Oregon running back Kenjon Barner and former UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley are also coming aboard.
The network is scheduled to air 43 college football games this season, marking its 20th year.
For Purdue, the BTN connection is already front and center. The Boilermakers are set to open the 2026 season on Friday, Sept. 4 against Indiana State at Ross-Ade Stadium, with kickoff at 7 p.m.
ET on Big Ten Network. Two weeks later, Barry Odom’s team heads to Los Angeles for its first Big Ten matchup of the year, a late-night game at UCLA on Saturday, Sept. 19 that will also air on BTN and begin at 11 p.m.
ET.
Purdue has two other kickoff times on the books: a noon matchup with Wake Forest on Saturday, Sept. 12 on FS1 and a Friday night game against Washington on Friday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
In Other News...
What Purdue's Win Over Calgary Really Said About This Team
Purdue kept rolling through its Canada trip with a 79-48 win over Calgary, moving to 3-0 behind another performance that leaned more on defense and depth than on any one hot hand. Antione West Jr. led the scoring with 14 points and four steals, while Omer Mayer and Gicarri Harris added 11 apiece and Daniel Jacobsen chipped in eight points, six rebounds and four blocks.
The more revealing part for the Boilermakers was how the game came together after a slower start on the glass. Purdue was only ahead 22-18 in rebounding at halftime, but the second half brought a much firmer finish inside, with Raleigh Burgess again making his presence felt early and Jacobsen helping control the paint as the lead grew. Even with the perimeter shot not falling at a high rate, Purdue still found enough balance to separate, which is exactly the kind of sign a staff wants to see in August. [Read more 🡒]
Barry Odom Just Sent A Telling Message About Purdue's Rebuild
Barry Odom used his turn at Big Ten Media Days to frame Purdues rebuild as something more than a roster reset. The Boilermakers first-year coach talked about the progress the program has made since he arrived, thanked athletic director Mike Bobinski and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, and pointed to the work being done behind the scenes with his staff, the culture and even the connection he has built with mens basketball coach Matt Painter.
There was also a clear sense that Odom views the quarterback room and the rest of the roster through a more stable lens than Purdue had a year ago. He said the program knows more about what it has heading into the summer, and he sounded encouraged by the direction of Ryan Brownes development, even as the larger question remains how quickly all of those pieces can come together once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]