BoilerUpload: Purdue Boilermakers Football & Basketball Recruiting - Purdue tight end Max Klare welcomes pressure of newfound expectations (2024)

Max Klare hardly even remembers the last touchdown he scored.

It was a scoreless stretch for the talented tight end that spanned to his senior season at St. Xavier, where he caught five that year, before heading to West Lafayette the following summer. That was almost three years ago now. The near three season drought of finding the end zone has finally come to an end for the Purdue standout, who scored his first touchdown in the collegiate ranks on Saturday against Indiana State.

It was a moment Klare had been anticipating for awhile, but the satisfaction of reaching the end zone for the first time in nearly three years was more than he could hope for.

"It felt great. Obviously, never got to experience that before. I didn't know what it'd feel like, but it lived up to all the expectations.You know, I'm really excited about it, see if I can get a few more," Klare said.

Flash back to a year ago at this time, there was a strong likelihood that Klare would have been one of the top scorers for the Boilermakers as he embarked on what was supposed to be an introduction to the Big Ten.

That campaign crumbled as it was just getting started, with the starting tight end going down at the end of September due to a lingering ankle issue, that had been present since his first year on campus, giving out. Klare caught 22 passes for 196 yards in 4+ games before going down with the season-ending injury injury.

It was a "what-if" season for Klare, who had stepped into a prominent role for Graham Harrell in the absence of the now departed Garrett Miller and NFL bound Payne Durham. Despite a disappointing end to his redshirt freshman year, Klare believes he is better and stronger for what lies ahead.

"It's obviously frustrating. The injury was definitely frustrating, wasn't easy to go through, but at the end of the day, I think every time I've gone through an injury, I've only gotten better. It just really helps clear your mental and gives you time away from the game to really appreciate it when you come back," Klare said.

"A lot goes through your head. I mean, all the work you put in the offseason, just to have the season cut short like that, definitely not easy. But at the end of the day it was good for me."

Quarterback Hudson Card connected with Klare in the back of the end zone on the Boilermakers' opening drive to not only kickoff Purdue's season in impressive fashion, but also set the table for what could be the redshirt sophom*ore's true breakout season.

Klare hauled in five catches for a career-high 71 yards and the aforementioned score in Purdue's season-opening win, while he had another 30+ yard reception called back by penalty. We had to wait for it, but that is the type of tight end Klare Purdue expects to be in the Air Raid offense.

The connection between Klare and his quarterback was evident early into 2023, with Card constantly looking his way on key third downs as Klare began cementing himself as one of the pass catchers that Card trusted the most.

Part of the connection has come off the field, as Card considers Klare one of his best friends, along with being a big piece for the Purdue offense.

"Max is a stud. He's one of the best tight ends that I've been around, so just having him out there is definitely a good feeling for me. He's also one of my best friend, so just having that relationship on and off the field is something special. Having him back is going to be huge for us, and he's put in so much work, and I can't wait to see the year that he has," Card said.

"I think I recognized it pretty early. The first spring ball with him, we had a good connection right there. And that's when I realized he's extremely special, and he can do some really special things on the field, and that only helps me and so it makes it easy on me," Klare said.

Coming off of last season with the hopes of continuing his momentum, Klare was perhaps the trendiest pick to be a breakout player for the Boilermakers throughout the off-season and heading into the fall. That label comes with pressure to live up to the hype and be a difference maker on the gridiron.

Luckily for the Boilermakers, Klare relishes the pressure and expectations attached to his name this fall.

"I don't really put too much pressure on myself. I mean, I look at pressure as a good thing. It means they believe in me. I just go out there every day and attack every day as it's the same, whether that pressures on me or not," Klare said. "I think that's really where my mind stays at, I don't really think too much about it. Just go out there, do my job the best of my ability, and see what happens."

Klare has already begun to prove his supporters right, with an impressive showing in his season debut, which is what Ryan Walters and tight ends coach Justin Sinz were expecting from the redshirt sophom*ore coming into the year.

"I definitely think he's better this year than he was a year ago, just because he's got bigger, stronger and sort of understands the intricacies within the scheme. He's as talented a tight end as I've been around," Walters said.

"He's got all the potential in the world to be one of the best tight ends that's ever been here. So again, that's my job. That's his job to put into work, which he's an awesome kid, and he does that because he knows that he can be special. That's the type of player that we expect him to be," Sinz said.

There will be many more opportunities for Klare to showcase himself as the Boilermakers embark on a new campaign in West Lafayette, but the early returns for what was perceived as even better version of Max Klare have been fruitful for Purdue already.