One key moment in Orion’s playing career was in his sophomore season at Purdue. At the start of the season, he failed to even crack the top 3 in the safety depth chart. While he was already getting noticed for his play on special teams, it seems like his dreams of becoming a starter on the defense were off to a poor start. Undeterred, he continued to give it his all every day in practice and in his limited time on the field.
The pivotal moment happened in an early out of conference game, when the team’s best pass-catching linebacker had to leave the field after pulling a muscle. The Boilermakers were already short at the position due to a combination of transfers and bad injury luck, so Orion was substituted into the lineup as an outside linebacker during long-yardage situations. He made a few errors due to not having studied the position beforehand, but contributed enough that the team rolled to a big win.
The next day, while the rest of the team was sleeping off their victory party, Orion called up the linebackers coach and asked if he could review the film of his performance. This work ethic and willingness to learn endeared him to the coaching staff, and he would go on to play at several other defensive positions before earning the starting safety role as an upperclassman. If he hadn’t gone that extra mile and shown determination to be a good linebacker for a team that wouldn’t play him at his preferred position, he may never have cracked the starting lineup anywhere.
The pivotal moment happened in an early out of conference game, when the team’s best pass-catching linebacker had to leave the field after pulling a muscle. The Boilermakers were already short at the position due to a combination of transfers and bad injury luck, so Orion was substituted into the lineup as an outside linebacker during long-yardage situations. He made a few errors due to not having studied the position beforehand, but contributed enough that the team rolled to a big win.
The next day, while the rest of the team was sleeping off their victory party, Orion called up the linebackers coach and asked if he could review the film of his performance. This work ethic and willingness to learn endeared him to the coaching staff, and he would go on to play at several other defensive positions before earning the starting safety role as an upperclassman. If he hadn’t gone that extra mile and shown determination to be a good linebacker for a team that wouldn’t play him at his preferred position, he may never have cracked the starting lineup anywhere.