WEST LAFAYETTE − If you're looking for a strength on Purdue football's defense last season, it was the linebacker tandem, Mani Powell and Charles Correa. Powell is now playing for the Tennessee Titans as Correa slides over to assume the position vacated by Powell's departure. There wasn't much depth to speak of, so the Boilermakers went to the transfer portal to upgrade and brought in three players with Big Ten experience. Among them, Hudson Miller, who started five games for Purdue during the 2024 season before transferring to Toledo. Jojo Hayden (Illinois) and Anthony Speca (Penn State) changed their Big Ten zip codes. Purdue also added production in San Diego transfer Tre Moore, who has bulked up 30 pounds to transform into a 6-foot-5, 235-pound guy who will be asked to cover tight ends. Winston Berglund, who briefly entered the transfer portal after last season before having a change of heart, had a couple moments last season, namely a blocked punt at Michigan and three tackles against USC, in 11 games.
Purdue's linebackers Who is back (2025 stats): Charles Correa, junior (96 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 3 sacks, 2 PBU); Winston Berglund, junior (6 tackles); Parker Meese, redshirt freshman; Jaxon Ott, sophomore (1 tackle) New faces: Jojo Hayden, junior (26 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1 fumble recovery in 2025 at Illinois); Anthony Speca, junior (14 tackles in two seasons at Penn State); Hudson Miller, senior (10 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery in 2025 at Toledo, played at Purdue from 2022-24, starting five games and making 42 tackles in 2024); Tre Moore, senior (61 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 6 sacks, 1 INT in 2025 at San Diego); Brayden Sweeney, freshman More: Owen Davis leaves Purdue football team ahead of 2026 season Charles Correa becomes leader of Purdue defense The former UNLV linebacker has natural leadership ability. As the middle linebacker, he'll own more responsibility as a junior and was one of the first people to find out Kevin Kane was returning to Purdue as defensive coordinator when Kane reached out to Correa via phone call after accepting the position. After Kane returned, he popped in last season's game film, not to see defensive alignments, but mainly to see what Correa brought to the table and how Purdue could enhance his abilities in Kane's scheme. Correa should be Purdue's leading tackler based on previous production and a move into the middle of the defense. Who lines up alongside Charles Correa? The Powell-Correa tandem combined for 206 tackles last season. In some sense, Purdue will try to replicate that under a new defensive coordinator. Jojo Hayden probably has the inside track to start. Hayden and Anthony Speca split reps early in camp. Hayden, at 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds, also has the luxury of playing in 22 games over two seasons at Illinois. If it had remained a competition entering the third week of camp, Hayden would probably have gotten the nod after Speca had missed some time in the past week. "They both bring a lot of skillsets to this team," Correa said of Hayden and Speca. "They both have every capability to be successful." Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking. This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Charles Correa leads Purdue football's new look linebacker unit