As a player, CJ Cole went from walk-on roster member to a full ride scholarship and ultimately being named a team captain earlier this decade at West Virginia University.
Still in the game while climbing the coaching ranks, Cole is poised to make another move that points to his determination.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Cole is departing his role as a top special teams assistant to Rice Special Teams Coordinator Mark Hogan in order to reunite with Bilal Marshall at Purdue. There, sources shared, Cole will become the Boilermakers' quality control coach for the wide receivers under Marshall, who was elevated last month to take over the position group.
Cole played multiple seasons under Marshall while the two were at West Virginia from 2022-23. Cole finished his playing career with the Mountaineers in 2024.
Last year, as Scott Abell worked in Year 1 to turn around the Rice Owls program after his long-standing success at Football Championship Subdivision program Davidson (North Carolina), Cole teamed with Hogan to help the Rice program begin its turnaround.
The Owls, who were 5-5 late in the season and earned a postseason bowl-bid to the Armed Forces Bowl, averaged almost 20 yards per kickoff return -- four more yards than they surrendered; they also converted all 29 of their extra points and hit 11-for-14 on field-goal attempts. Rice also averaged more than 40 net yards per punt.
Marshall and Cole now rejoin each other as Purdue seeks to turn around its fortunes under second-year head coach Barry Odom, the former Missouri and UNLV skipper who was hired away from the Runnin' Rebels after the 2024 season to rebuild the mess left behind by Ryan Walters in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue ha won just seven games combined the past three seasons after winning eight games in 2022, Jeff Brohm's last at the helm before he departed to take over at his alma mater, Louisville.
Purdue closed Odom's Year 1 on a 10-game losing streak. It is scheduled to open the 2026 season on Sept. 5 at home against FCS program Indiana State. The Boilermakers also have opening-month home games against Atlantic Coast Conference program Wake Forest on Sept. 12 and against in-state, long-time rival Notre Dame on Sept. 26.
The Boilermakers and Fighting Irish are in the midst of playing six times in eight seasons, from 2021-28, in a series that was played annually from 1946-2014.