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and Kugler coming back because you want to be strong up the middle. Having those guys and a quarterback is a good place to start." Gold and Black: Tackle is a little concerning. You've got to get that solved after losing both of your starters. Shoop: "Well, it is concerning. I think that there's some guys on our team that are sure going to have that opportunity to step in and fill that roll. They're going to have to rise to the challenge. J.J. Prince, (Joey) Warburg, Cermin, who's played a bunch of different positions, those guys are really going to have to have a great, great spring for us. You're exactly right — we've got to find two new tackles." Gold and Black: You often used different personnel groupings on a weekly basis, even switching up starters. Was that a sign of trying to find guys who work or still trying to evaluate guys? Why the changes? Shoop: "A little bit of both. And sometimes when you're going through a tough season you try to stimulate people around by getting them in the game plan or involving them in the game plan. But we were trying to find some things that would work. Going to a bit of a bigger back that could bring his own blocker a little bit is (Brandon) Cottom, who showed us he could at some points. But he's got to do a great job this offseason of taking care of his body. Being healthy and being durable is a 365-day job. When we put him in, he got dinged up a little bit in that Michigan State game so we had to rotate back in. Endurance and durability are the most underrated qualities in football players. Some of that too had to do with endurance and durability, shuffling guys in and out and trying to find a spark." Gold and Black: How complex is your offense and is it difficult for freshmen to grasp it? Shoop: "I don't think it's that complex. I think that's a good question to ask guys like Etling, Yancey or Kugler. We don't lower the bar. The pace on a great team, the tempo in great programs is set by the strong. It's set by the guys that just work their tails off. We wanted them to push themselves like they've never been pushed before. And our whole staff just felt like at some point these guys were just going to burst through that wall and it will pay dividends in the future. I think if you were to ask some of these guys in August they would say it's really challenging. If you were to ask them right now, they would say we got it and that it's amazing what we can do and there's not a play we can't call. I think it's indicative of the hard work and mental f endurance that they showed, but we've got to continue to develop more and more mental endurance." Gold and Black: How big of a loss was Gabe Holmes and how nice will it be to get him back? Shoop: "It'll be great to get him back. We love to call what we call Two-Y sets, which is two tight ends right next to each other in a wing set. We think it's one way to paralyze really good defensive ends. And we got into those sets this year but certainly it will be great to get into those sets with guys like (Justin) Sinz and Gabe. Those guys will be a real potent tandem that's for sure. And I want to give Sinz a lot of credit, too. I think he did some really good things this year and grew as a player in ways that he wouldn't have if Gabe was there the whole time." Gold and Black: How quickly do you feel like you guys can be an offense that is more competitive? Do you think with the tools you have, there can be a quick fix going into next season? Shoop: "I feel like it is (possible). I sure feel like with a guy like Danny Etling and all the other freshmen that played along with him this year, we plan on putting that out in the first game of the season." Gold and Black: Did you feel like the offensive staff gelled pretty well this year and how frustrating was it for you guys to try to get this offense going? Shoop: "Going through tough times can really break guys apart or bring them closer together. With a coach like (Darrell) Hazell, who is so conscientious of chemistry, team and staff, it really brought us together. I feel closer to these guys. Sure, there were days we were frustrated and some of our players were frustrated, and some of those Sunday meetings were real tough. But this is a staff that all Boilermakers can be proud of and it's a privilege to work with." Gold and Black: Do you try and put being 1-11 behind you as quickly as you can or try to reflect on it? Shoop: "I don't feel like I put it behind me. I told our players, 'Dwell on the past, you'll lose an eye and forget the past, you'll lose them both.' We've got to learn from all of this. There were a lot of freshmen out there playing a lot of football. And if we don't remember the lessons that we learned this year, it will be all for naught. "That isn't going to be the case. We're not going to dwell on some of those things, but we aren't going to forget them either." j IllustrateD volume 24, issue 3 41