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Tom Campbell Etling���s goal is to help lead Coach Darrell Hazell���s program back to prominence. But Etling insists he will rely on the coaches to tell him when he���s ready to play. initially. But knowing that Etling wasn���t the most athletic quarterback, Englehart also stressed being a ���facilitator��� at the position, getting the ball out quickly and on target. Soon after arriving at Terre Haute South, Etling met fellow graduate and longtime NFL coach Cam Cameron, who also quickly got the gist of Etling���s personality. Cameron, now the offensive coordinator at LSU, called Etling���s work ethic ���legendary��� in the community, and he has proof. Cameron has pictures of Etling throwing balls with his receivers on a relatively clear field during the winter. There was no snow because Etling and his buddies had shoveled it. Not that Tyler Seibert, Logan Steward and Jacob Johnson loved the idea. They���d suggested to their QB to go inside the gym and throw where it was, well, warmer. Etling didn���t have keys to that gym, he joked, and besides, that wasn���t the best way to prepare. ���I told them, ���I want to be playing in the cold because that���s when the playoffs are and that���s when the games matter the most,��� ��� Etling said. He called on those same teammates to run the ���big hill��� in town, too, to get some training and conditioning. He says there were never really organized plans to race up Deming, even going as far as to call the workouts enjoyable. But that���s just how he���d come to think of preparing for football. ���My receivers would be like, ���You need to take a day off.��� A day off what?��� Etling said. ���School work, I need a day off. Not football. I never saw it as that. Same thing here, guys tell you to slow down, that you���re going to get worn out. But this is my fun time. Hopefully, I never lose that feeling when it turns into more of a job and I work a lot harder at it.��� The drive and willingness to work may be Etling���s best qualities ��� ���He probably didn���t have the skills and the natural talent that a lot of kids have, but he worked himself into being good,��� Englehart said ��� but his skill set isn���t too shabby either. Cameron, who has been an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at high-level college programs and in the NFL, said he has watched nearly all of Etling���s high school games on tape. He had only praise for Etling���s abilities, even saying ���there���s not a whole lot I can help him with at this point, other than to encourage him.��� Fundamentally, Cameron said Etling is technically sound. He said Etling���s mechanics are sound. Cameron likes Etling���s athleticism. He likes his accuracy, evidenced, in part, by not seeing a ball hit the ground when he got Etling on the field throwing to Baltimore Ravens��� players Anquan Boldin, Ray Rice and Dennis Pitta before a game in Cincinnati during Etling���s sophomore year. GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com But then Cameron inevitably starts talking about those intangibles again. How he loves Etling���s toughness, as evidenced by Etling playing with fractured ribs and a high ankle sprain during his senior season at South and continually getting drilled against tough conference competition. And how hard of a worker Etling is, how his leadership is such that teammates respond, his intelligence and willingness to prepare for all situations. ���He���s in a habit of preparing. Going to Purdue is not going to be a shock to him in terms of added preparation. He���s bright,��� Cameron said. ���You don���t have to be intellectually smart to be a smart quarterback. You���ve just got to have a feel for the game, have good common sense, you���ve got to be tough. A smart guy who is not tough is not going to make good decisions in college or pro football. The good news is he���s tough, so you don���t have to worry about that. He���s very coachable, very teachable. He knows a lot of football right now, but what he needs to do, and he knows this, is to know what the Purdue coaches want him to know, and that���s the most important thing.��� That process already has started. Etling sat down with quarterback coach/ offensive coordinator John Shoop for nearly two hours on signing day, getting a feel for what Shoop envisions for Purdue���s offense and what he expects from his quarterbacks. Shoop mentioned wanting a facilitator and someone who counts accuracy as a top priority. Etling thinks he can deliver in those categories. But he says he trusts the coaches, and they���ll play him when he���s ready. Etling is eager for that to be soon. ���Back when I was a kid, Purdue beat Notre Dame with (Kyle) Orton and those guys. I would watch them and it was so much different,��� Etling said. ���Everybody would be in the stands. I really want to bring the fans back. I know what it can be. All the kids here don���t quite know that. It can be something that���s great and it can change everything. ���I want kids to be like, instead of being an idiot like me and liking Notre Dame as a kid, they can be a kid in Indiana who could be the next great quarterback for Purdue. Instead of going to Notre Dame, they could be like, ���I want to be the next Danny Etling and go to Purdue.��� ���I want to make that happen here.��� j I���ve got service, yes I do ... Trent B Johnson, Agent 249 E State Street West Lafayette, IN 47906 Bus: 765-743-9595 trentismyagent.com And I am ready to prove it. Call me for your insurance needs and see how it feels to be on a #1 team. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. CALL ME TODAY. �� P097275.2 State Farm, Home Office, Bloomington, IL Gold & Black IllustrateD ��� volume 23, issue 4 ������ 25