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68 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com W hen Purdue begins spring ball under Coach Darrell Hazell, it certainly won't feel like the fourth season of those practice sessions. Instead of a firm grasp of systems and personnel, the Boilermakers will use 15 practices to implement a new of- fense, a new defense and get adjusted to five new coaches and two others in new roles after being promoted. It'll likely be a Year 1-type feel for the players on March 8. But after going 6-30 in Hazell's first three seasons, maybe that's not such a bad thing. "There's a freshness right now that's happening," Hazell said in mid-February. "I feel like right now there's so much positive energy in the building that guys are in there trying to learn. They're loving being around those new guys and figuring out what we have to do to win football games. I don't think it's a challenge in terms of bringing those guys together because there's a different type of energy in there right now." Clearly, installing both systems will be the top priorities for Terry Malone, who was promoted to offensive coordina- tor after John Shoop was fired after the season, and Ross Els, who was hired in December as defensive coordinator to replace dismissed Greg Hudson. Neither coordinator has revealed much publicly about their schemes. Els built most of his defensive foundation at Nebraska as a linebackers coach for Bo Pelini and at Ohio as line- backers coach for Frank Solich, but it's unclear if Pelini's primary nickel/dime package look will be utilized at Pur- due. All Els will say is the Boilermakers will be "diverse" and "balanced." That could mean a four-man front with an occasional three-down look, could mean a bunch of two- high safeties and zone coverage, could mean some sin- gle-high looks with press man sprinkled in. Though Els has the package down and has been teach- ing the other assistant coaches — he spent nearly a week in meetings with only co-coordinator/linebackers coach Marcus Freeman while most of the other coaches were at the coaches' convention in January — he says exactly how Purdue's defense is defined could depend on the person- nel. "If we're really fast, we want to be that swarming de- fense you see flying across the field. If we're not very fast but we're really physical, we need to plug things up front. I really can't answer that yet because I don't know what we have," Els said. "I've watched film, but when you don't know what the kid is taught, it's really hard to say whether he's doing it right, whether he's doing it full speed, wheth- er he is confused, whether he is just told just to turn it loose and go and there's no responsibility. So that's really hard for me right now: To define what we're going to be like defensively." Instead, Els said it's crucial that his group focuses on five core fundamentals: Defeat blocks, pursue the ball, tackle, cover and ball disruption. "We're going to be really good at those five things," he said. "We're going to keep preaching those five things be- cause you can have the best scheme in the world but if we can't execute those things, it's not going to work." Els had two defensive meetings with players after they arrived back on campus in January and stressed those 'Freshness' Entering Spring New coaches, new styles, new beginnings Tom Campbell Terry Malone is one of only four returning assistant coach- es for 2016, but he'll have a significant new role. As new offensive coordinator, Purdue's tight ends coach will have the challenge of reviving a unit that ranked among the Big Ten's worst in scoring, total offense, rush offense and pass efficiency in 2015.