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70 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED again, but this time it was off the field. "We returned home late one night after some social time, and we were all hungry, and we decided to order Jimmy John's," said Kitchel, who serves as the sideline analyst for the Purdue Ra- dio Network. "As soon as we put down the phone, the doorbell rang, because even back then they were so fast, and it was Carl at the door. I don't think he knew who it was he was delivering to. We were kind of both shocked and we razzed him a bit when we saw him. "After that, every time we ordered late at night, we asked for Carl. And now he's running the whole stinking company. It is amazing. He went from a delivery driver to where he is now, all the way through the ranks. You have to respect a guy for that." It was that relationship with Brees that led Buergler to Jimmy John's. But Buergler did the rest. "When I was at Purdue, I had never eaten Jimmy John's," Buergler said. "In a quarterback meeting, Drew decided to order up, so I credit him for introduc- ing me to the brand. He'd rave about it and ate it all the time." Buergler's first job was assistant store manager at the store across from Mackey. And he stayed in touch, espe- cially during Brees' early years with the Chargers. "Drew would talk about how much he missed Jimmy John's living in San Diego," Buergler said. "They didn't have any stores out there and when he moved to New Orleans in 2006, the area had no stores there as well." By then, Buergler had risen through the ranks and was involved at the cor- porate level in franchise sales. He knew early on that the New Orleans market was going to be open for franchising. "I told Drew about it, just because I thought he'd be excited to be able to eat sandwiches there again," Buergler said. "But he let me know quickly that he didn't just want to eat sandwiches, he wanted to buy and sell them. He pays attention to business and knows the New Orleans market really well. So it was a really good fit." Brees has been a franchisee since August 2010 and now has six stores with 20 more in the pipeline. "That dude is super competitive," Buergler said. It takes one to know one. Brees has become "a hell of an op- erator" for Jimmy John's, but Buergler likes the fact that while he is on the same business team as Brees, the two are competing again. It is one of the trade secrets for Jim- my John's: Measuring everything. For a restaurant chain known for speed (a.k.a. the "Freaky Fast" mantra), a key to corporate focus and ultimately its success is the competition between the restaurants. "We have a lot of measurables that we force ourselves to compete in," Buergler said. "We try to make our sandwiches in 30 seconds or less. We try to get our deliveries out the door in less than four minutes. Drivethru time; we want to get people away from the window in 75 seconds. It's constantly driven by competition between stores and the data we have. "That's why in our business, we love people with sports backgrounds, be- cause they are so competitive." Buergler's efforts have helped Jim- my John's become one of the fastest growing chains in terms of store num- bers and total network sales in America in the last five years. Sales have grown on average 22.4 percent per year in the period, with totals reaching $1.9 bil- lion in 2015. The company is currently preparing its IPO that would value it at over $2 billion. With his COO role, Buergler spends about half of the time on the road trying to grow the business. His wife, former Boilermaker softball MVP (2004) Ange- la Knight — who he met because Buer- gler's sister Cheryl played the sport for the Boilermakers — fuels his compet- itive streak. But she also does a great job balancing work, home and life with their three children. "There's no way that I would be in the position I would be if it weren't for her," Buergler said. "The nice thing is, she's grown up with Jimmy John's too. Ever since I was a general manager, she's been through all of that. She has been so supportive." A supportive role is what Buergler knows best. That, and being freaky competitive. j Purdue As an understudy to Drew Brees and Kyle Orton, Buergler shined when he had his chance on the field, faring well in the 1998 and 2001 spring games.