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���They���re getting a great coach. Coach Hud really, really cares about his players. I think that���s the most important thing you can say about him.��� Former Florida State linebacker Vince Williams on Greg Hudson ���I think Coach Hud gives you what you need,��� Williams said. ���We had a delicate balance of younger guys and older guys when I was at State and for the older guys, like myself, we had been through that, we didn���t need a disciplinarian, someone who was tough as nails. ���For us, it was more of preparing our mind, being responsible, teaching us how to be men. We had already learned all of that. ��� But for those younger guys, he was going to demand that you be responsible and demand that you don���t show up late. And he can be a (jerk) if you chose to not listen.��� Hudson has high expectations, but he produces results, too. At Florida State, the Seminoles��� defense improved from 108th in yardage allowed in the FBS the year before Hudson arrived to second last season. In Hudson five seasons as the coordinator at East Carolina, the Pirates ranked as one of the top-10 FBS teams nationally in takeaways, accumulating 145 in that stretch. Their defense was No. 1 in points allowed in the conference in Hudson���s final season there in 2009, giving up fewer than 22 points per game in the offensive-happy Conference USA. But Hudson says those Saturday results begin in preparation. ���I want to make sure that we do things the right way when nobody is looking,��� Hudson said. ���I want to make sure that if it doesn���t have to do with talent, we���re the best. If I wanted to just coach talent, I would have stayed where I was (at Florida State). That���s not a knock on them, but this is a very intangible conference. I want to get these young men believing in themselves; if you do something right when nobody is looking, it will pay off eventually when somebody is looking. Just being on time, dressing right, lining up right, going to class, never having your name on a list, helping somebody out with a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, just things like that. ���But I also want them to know that there���s a price to be paid when you don���t. A man does what he���s supposed to do, when he���s supposed to do it and how he���s supposed to do it. And when he doesn���t, he takes his consequences like a man. To me that says a lot.��� Hudson wants his defenses to play with a similar blue-collar style. The defensive scheme he���ll implement at Purdue will be a base 4-3 front, supported by a zone defense in the secondary, but multiple too, with an ability to switch to a three-man defensive line or sneak in a man defense in the back. ���I���m also aggressive in my style of play more so than in my style of call, but I do love to have fun when it���s time to have fun on down-and-distance situations,��� Hudson said. ���I have no problem bringing the house. I think creativity on third down helps you and I think it also keeps the players involved in that you���re giving them enough little toys to play with that they can enjoy.��� Purdue will work hard during the week. The Boilers, Hudson says, can expect to be in peak condition, with training for that having already started with grueling 6 a.m. workouts in mid-February. Purdue will tackle in season, too, a bit of a change from Danny Hope, who tried to lessen contact during the week to keep his guys fresh for Saturdays. ���We���re not going to play the game on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but we���re going to set our pads and keep an edge to ourselves,��� Hudson said. ���It���s like a guy who works construction. If he works construction and takes a bunch of days off and then all of the sudden has to work really hard hauling bricks and wood and hammering nails, the guy is sore the next day. We���re going to eliminate the soreness early and we���re going to rest after the bowl game.��� It might be an intense approach to game day, but the pay off is worth it. Williams says the preparation allowed Florida State���s defense to play within the system but free. ���They���re probably not going to be used to the kind of freedom they���re going to have,��� he said. ���Those who are Tom Campbell mature enough to handle it, he���s going The 46-year-old Hudson will be joined to let them go out there and make plays.��� by son Garrett, who will begin his But for as much as Williams rememcollege career as a preferred walk-on linebacker. bers the on-field success ����� at Florida State there was plenty of it, with the Seminoles��� defense ranking as one of the best in the country last season, when they won 12 games, including the Orange Bowl ��� the off-field memories might be the best. Hudson would invite players over to his house, letting them talk and lounge about while watching games on the back porch; they���d talk football or life or whatever. That bond allowed for emotions to flow freely, too. When Williams was awarded a defensive captaincy prior to his senior year, he said he and Hudson both cried. ���So we had a pretty good relationship,��� Williams said. ���Once he believes in you, nobody can take that away.��� j Bar Barry Liquors Your Tailgating Headquarters Bar Barry i 1110 Sagamore Pkwy. W. Lafayette 765-463-2206 ! s o r G E iL o B GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com Bar Barry ii 1601 Main St. Lafayette 765-742-2112 Bar Barry iii 225 Northwestern W. Lafayette 765-743-6382 Bar Barry iV 2108 Veterans Memorial Pkwy. S Lafayette 765-474-8989 Bar Barry V 3000 S. 9th Lafayette 765-474-5274 �� Gold & Black IllustrateD ��� volume 23, issue 4 ������ 41