Jojo Hayden holds the MLB · Starter spot in Purdue Boilermakers’s linebacker room. Where he sits among the room’s front-line roles:

Jojo Hayden is a 6'2", 245-pound linebacker from East St. Louis, Illinois, who played college football at Illinois before transferring to Purdue. As a redshirt freshman in 2024, he appeared in 10 games and recorded eight tackles with 0.5 tackles-for-loss. In 2025, his sophomore season at Illinois, Hayden appeared in 11 games, totaling 26 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss, and one fumble recovery, with a season-high seven tackles against No. 21 USC. He recorded five tackles and a fumble recovery in a game at Purdue before joining the Boilermakers as a transfer.

Illinois2023 – 2025

Purdue2026 — present