New Year’s Resolutions - Purdue Football

With the New Year fast approaching I’m sure many of us are looking ahead to how we can be better people in 2021. Maybe that means you’re going to try and be more patient with your loved ones. Maybe it means you’re going to get back to the gym (or whatever is open around you) so that you just feel better physically. Perhaps you’ll go after that dream job or dream degree you’ve always wanted for yourself. Whatever that is I hope you do it. In that vein Purdue athletics has some things they should resolve to work on in 2021. In the second of a three part series we will see what Purdue Football should resolve to work on in 2021.

1. Perhaps the biggest thing that Purdue needs to do starts at the time. In politics there’s a saying “personnel is policy” which basically means that who you hire reflects on who you are and what you’re going to do. That’s true in the sports world as well. Jeff Brohm made a terrible hire in Bob Diaco and it cost Purdue a year of development. In order to show recruits and the rest of the football world that Purdue is serious Jeff Brohm needs to make a home run hire. So the first resolution is to bring in the right people to fill the holes on the defensive staff.
2. The second resolution also relates to Coach Brohm. Coach Brohm resolves to be more trusting. This relates to an article that Drew wrote not long ago arguing that one of the best things that Brohm could do is to give up his play calling duties and focus on being a head coach. When Jeff Brohm was out due to Covid we saw his brother Brian Brohm call the plays and it resulted in a win for our beloved Boilermakers. It’s a small sample size sure but if Jeff Brohm can take one thing off his plate maybe he can run a tighter ship and have more oversight over the team as a whole.
3. Beating a dead horse here but another thing Coach Brohm has resolved to do in 2021 is go back to his roots. Jeff Brohm was known as a gunslinger when he came to Purdue. The staff used to talk about how many trick plays there were going to run and how no matter what happened the game play on the field was going to be exciting. What happened to that guy? We miss him. More creativity in the game planning is a must in 2021.
4. More from Brohm. He’s resolved to be more open and honest with the media and the fans. As the writer here at the site who read all the press conference transcripts I can’t tell you how many times Brohm didn’t answer a question or obfuscated. These aren’t state secrets, these are questions about if someone is playing in a college football game. Let’s realize what and who we are and just be a little more open about the situation in the locker room.
5. The Purdue defense has resolved to be more selfish. They gave too much to opposing offenses in 2020 and want to really focus on making themselves happy first before letting anyone else prey upon their happiness.
6. The Purdue offensive line has resolved to stay in the weight room for the next eight months to continue to build on their improvement from 2019 to 2020.
7. Whoever the offensive coordinator is next year for Purdue, probably Jeff Brohm, resolves to spread the wealth at the WR position. With Rondale Moore gone it’s time to recognize the number of talented receivers on this team and find a way to get as many of them involved as possible.
8. The Purdue defense has resolved to figure out a way to pressure and sack the QB. This season was less than ideal in that respect but I’m gonna chalk it up to Diaco.
9. Lastly, recruiting needs to be a focus. And not just incoming freshman recruiting but transfer recruiting as well. The NCAA transfer portal is quickly becoming the wild wild west and if the Purdue staff can figure out how to properly evaluate the talent in there it could be a boon for their chances next season.

There’s a lot to work on but with the right attitude and if they put in the effort there’s no reason Purdue football can’t reach many of these goals in 2021.