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28 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED adjustments must be made on the fly? Not as easy. Herman has been able to trans- late knowledge from the film room and the meeting room onto the field, though. He says his biggest attribute is knowing the defense and his re- sponsibilities well enough to quickly diagnose mistakes and correct them. Coaches don't like players making the same mistakes, he says, so he strives not to. "You tell him something one time, he gets it," Freeman said. "He just understands. He's naturally blessed with being smart." What's that mean practically? After three-plus years in Purdue's system, Herman not only has a firm grasp on the defensive concepts enough to be able to disguise coverag- es — a huge advantage for the Boil- ermakers, coaches and teammates say — but he also better understands offenses now, too. "He knows situations and he knows checks in and out of different things," weakside linebacker Danny Ezechukwu said. "For example, we were at practice the other day (in camp) and if it wasn't for him, we probably could have gotten into a mix-up. But he called the check out to me and Ja'Whaun (Bentley) and we ran it smoothly, and that's just him knowing the ins and outs of the defense. He's a really, really smart guy." Maybe that increased knowledge will help Herman accomplish one of his goals for this season: Grading out at 85 percent, at least, in every game. It's one "B" he's had a bit of trouble achieving so far in his college career. Each position coach "grades" play- ers based on a variety of categories. For the linebackers, Freeman gives pluses for tackles, assists, intercep- tions, etc., and minuses for missed assignments, missed tackles and "loafs" — when a player doesn't hus- tle. A player usually needs to get a plus total in that production category to have a chance at a "winning per- formance." Freeman grades hard — few play- ers get more than a couple winning performances in a season, and lead- ing 'backer Bentley had maybe two last season. Herman had one. But he has a feeling there will be more coming soon. "I definitely have an exciting feel- ing about everything," he said. "I'm never going to be satisfied with where I am. I'm kind of a perfectionist. But there's a little bit different feeling, I'd say. I definitely feel more comfortable with everything I'm doing. Playing faster, playing confident, it's just so much easier. You're more physical. The whole game improves when you think that you can do it, whether you can or you can't, if you think you can, you're going to be making the plays you didn't think you were going to make. "Just knowing where you're sup- posed to be and being able to go right at it and know that that's ex- actly where I'm supposed to be, I can fly in there and bang somebody around instead of going in and sec- ond-guessing myself. Have I physi- cally improved? Yeah, a little bit, but it's more mental than anything. It's a mental game, it really is. There are guys who are bigger and faster you'll play against, and if you're in the right spot and you know what you're doing, you can be just as good of a player as anybody." FREAK ATHLETE A comfort level in assignments, knowing the purpose of the defense and thorough knowledge of opposing offenses, it all adds up to Herman being able to use one of his biggest weapons better: His athleticism. A self-described long-legged kid who loved going fast, Herman was a decathlete in high school and fin- ished second in the state in hurdles as a senior. Herman joked he didn't go very far, but he went fast, and that served him on the football field, too. "I got a little bit of a reputation for being able to jump pretty well and be- ing able move pretty well in space," he said. "So whenever I see the ball going somewhere, I'm trying to get as fast as I can to there." It's changed how Purdue plays de- fense. Typically against a spread offense, defenses will pull a linebacker and go to a nickel package, inserting an extra defensive back to handle the multi- ple receivers. Purdue, though, likes to keep Herman on the field against three receivers — and more — even in those extra-DB packages. That means Herman can be stuck in a position where he's asked to line up against receivers. It's rare Her- man would be on his own in that sce- nario — even if he's initially in man, there's built-in help somewhere — but if he is, he's built up confidence he will handle the assignment.