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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 4 45 BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com T he appeal of Jeff Brohm's offense is its versa- tility. Brohm can cater toward personnel, lining up in double-tight end sets if there's a strength at tight end, putting two backs in the backfield if that'll highlight tal- ent, and, of course, spreading the defense wide by lin- ing up four receivers or, even, emptying the backfield. Co-defensive coordinator Nick Holt, too, makes it a point to identify playmakers and structure things to get those specific players involved and into positions in which they can make plays. There's just one issue: Neither Brohm nor Holt, who will call plays on defense, quite know what Purdue's po- tential strengths are at this point. Brohm was hired on Dec. 5 to replace Darrell Hazell and Holt didn't come to West Lafayette until January — after coaching Western Kentucky in its bowl game — and essentially the focus over their first months on the job was recruiting. They each spent time watching film of Purdue's returning players, in part to learn what they needed to target in recruiting, but there's still much to be learned about the current personnel. Which is why this spring will be so crucial. When the Boilermakers take the practice field for the first time in the Brohm Era on Feb. 27, every player at every position will be evaluated closely. There seeming- ly is no one safe — perhaps there shouldn't be, con- sidering the team's inability to win of late — but there still clearly will be important battles throughout the 15 practices, which conclude with the spring game April 8. "There's a whole lot to get accomplished," Brohm said. "We want to make sure we get to know our play- ers and find out what they can and can't do. We want to preach competition and get guys who are competing out there, who are working hard to be their very best. As we get to know them, we'll have a better idea of what maybe post-spring we can and can't do and what guys can do it best for us. "You can find out about certain guys (on tape), but the ones who are probably in there are the ones who are probably serviceable. It's about finding out who else can we add to the mix, who's next in line since there were departures at certain positions. That's the unknown right now for us." Entering the spring, Brohm had a two-deep printed out that he said he studied daily and adjusted based on being around players and seeing them during pre- spring workouts with the coaching staff. It'll change frequently once spring starts, too. There is a lot of uncertainty and not much depth. Only five players on offense and six on defense have started dou- ble-digit games in their careers. And six of those 11 players were full-time starters for the first time only last season. "We'll be doing plenty of (rotating) now with this depth chart," Brohm said. "The young guys are going to get more reps than they can take. I don't like to waste a lot of reps … but the guys who need to be serviceable backups will get more reps than they've ever seen be- fore." Targeting personnel a priority in Brohm's first spring Identifying Pieces