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ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 24, ISSUE 6 29 f get on the field. I think our quarterbacks are the types of quarterbacks that can really distribute the ball. They can use all 53 yards — width-wise — and get the ball deep as well. Our concepts really aren't that different, but we are trying to put our best 11 players on the field. I do think, while our wideouts are young and many of them were freshmen last year, they're sophomores now and that's good." Gold and Black: Darrell Hazell talked about how the team could use more "11" personnel — one back, one tight end and three receivers — but it could be tweaked with Akeem Hunt or Dolapo Macarthy in the slot. So do you just kind of look at it as putting those guys in a position to take advan- tage of their strengths? Shoop: "I think we have some guys on our team that can kind of be in hybrid roles. If you were to say to me is Dolapo a tight end or a wide receiver? I'd say, 'Yes.' Is Akeem a running back or an inside receiver? Yes. … Those are two guys specifically, but you may see more of it as well as we go. I think a guy like B.J. Knauf is really good with the ball in his hands as well. There's some guys who can do a lot of things. So you're right, is it '11' personnel? Well, there might be three or four different types of '11' personnel." Gold and Black: You would seem to have depth at tight end. With Justin Sinz, Gabe Holmes and Macarthy, how do you mix double tight ends in with being spread? Shoop: "Those guys all have a chance to really help us. We like what we call Y-Y sets where there are two tight ends right next to one another. It creates an ex- tra gap. It takes a superstar defensive end and makes it so he doesn't know just where to fit. He could have four hands on him in a millisecond. He might be two steps wider from the quarterback in a pass rush. So we do those a lot of times to try to paralyze a really good player. Coach (Gerad) Parker does a great job of coach- ing those guys to really work together in combination blocks and different things. … We do have some depth at that position that we didn't have last year. They all need to contribute. We do like those Y-Y sets. It can cre- OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JOHN SHOOP F rom the beginning, John Shoop was unrelenting. A former NFL offensive coordinator, Shoop brought a new system with him to West Lafayette last season, one that challenged players' football knowledge, required them to grasp new concepts and set a higher standard. Shoop didn't dumb it down for anyone. That's not how he works. Shoop expects greatness from his players, especially the quarterbacks in which he deals the most closely. And instead of seeing that as a burden, Purdue's group has cherished the approach. "He gives us all the tools that we need to be both college-ready and NFL-ready. He's training us for the long term," sophomore quarterback Austin Appleby said. "I would argue that no quarterback is getting thrown as much on their plate as Coach Shoop has given us, as far as the nomenclature, the verbiage of the calls, the run checks, the pass checks, getting protections organized, the reads. At the end of the day, it's going to pay off for us." Shoop's standards are evident in practice when he's constantly chattering and teaching, whether it's reciting long, wordy play calls for the quarterbacks to follow, showing the center and quarterback how to identify certain blitzes or challenging skill position players to deliver on explosive plays. Just to make sure the players get it, "Ya feel me?" is a common refrain from the 44-year-old, whose energy and enthusiasm rubs off on his players. "All you want to do is keep getting better because every single day he comes in with the same intensity," soph- omore QB Danny Etling said. "He's always excited about football. You can just tell he loves the game and what he does. He's very passionate about it. The way he attacks the game and approaches the game, he's always the same, crazy intensity every single meeting. He's trying to coach you up as hard as he can." — Stacy Clardie