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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 27, Digital 3

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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 3 24 BY GOLD AND BLACK STAFF J eff Brohm wanted to let the bowl season play out, at least partially, before assembling his coaching staff. Specifically, Western Kentucky needed to play its bowl game. Brohm's former staff, led by defensive coordi- nator Nick Holt, played in the Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 20. Soon afterward, Brohm hoped he could start solidifying his nine-man coaching staff, saying that a lot of decisions could be made between Christmas and New Year's Day. "Not only (Western Kentucky's) bowl game but other bowl games are going to be played," Brohm said during his "Gold and Black LIVE" appearance Dec. 19. "I have been talking to quite a few people in the last couple weeks about possibilities that we could have and kind of have a little pecking order that if this guy ends up saying 'No,' here's the next one, here's the next combination. That work has been going on behind the scenes." Brohm has a healthy salary pool from which to draw, with Purdue approving a $3.5-million budget for assistant coaches, about $1 million more than the previous staff was paid in 2016. The assistant salary pool would rank the Boil- ermakers 24th in the country, in terms of 2016 dollars, and fifth in the Big Ten just behind Iowa and ahead of Michi- gan State, according to a USA Today study. "We'll pay people as market warrants," athletic director Mike Bobinski said, referring to the assistant salary pool. "There's no requirement that we use every nickel, but if we need to use every nickel, we'll use that." Brohm, who make $3.3 million in the first year of his six-year deal and could earn another $1.3 million in in- centives in Year 1, made his first hire quickly, bringing on JaMarcus Shephard to be an offensive assistant on Dec. 7, two days after Purdue's new head coach was announced. Shephard's duties hadn't yet been specified as of Dec. 20, but he might be best-suited to coach the wide receivers. He was assigned to inside receivers in his one season at Washington State but had coached under Brohm at WKU previously. But other positions are clear, even if they've not been formally announced. Brian Brohm, the younger brother of the head coach and a former star quarterback at Louisville Building The Staff Brohm looking at WKU assistants, others Assistant Brings The 'Juice' When others talk about JaMarcus Shephard, one of their first descriptions of the new offensive assistant is his energy. That exuberance was evident in his first days as a freshman at Northrop High School to his few years as a collegiate assistant. Shephard is the first full-time mem- ber of Jeff Brohm's new staff at Purdue, after his hire was announced Dec. 7. "He brings juice to the team, not just the receiver corps, but to the whole team. He just fires the guys up," said Jared Dangerfield, who spent two years playing un- der Shephard at Western Kentucky. "Especially as a for- mer player, he knows how to get the team hyped up, and he loves football. You can tell it. "One practice, he put the little clubs on (his hands), he was trying to jam all the receivers, trying to get real physical. He was actually trying to play cornerback in practice. We have pads on, he doesn't. That's Coach Shep for you. He'll do anything to get the players going and get us good." Shephard comes to Purdue after one year at Washing- ton State, where he was the Cougars' inside receivers coach. He had previously been at WKU for four seasons. — Gold and Black Staff

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