Gold and Black is a multi-platform media company that covers Purdue athletics like no one else.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/816762
GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 5 21 dence and getting them to believe they can achieve more than they think they can, if they're all committed to doing it the right way. I do think there's a lot to be said for that. If we can get that done, we'll have a chance in some of these games. But that's going to be an important part, guys who want to fight to get it done. You've got to have the fight in you and the willingness to lay it on the line each and every week regardless of what happened the week before, good or bad. That's the mentality we have to develop." Q: Can you coach competitiveness or does that have to come from within? Brohm: "We're going to attempt to coach it. I do think you can try to bring it out of everyone. I think everyone, really, has some type of competitive drive, spirit in what they do. When it comes down to it, I think everyone wants to win. It's just a matter of how bad do you want to win? In order for us to be successful this year, we're going to have to dig deep and get a lot of that. "I think I'm happy with where we're at with some of our players and I think they do want to win and it means some- thing to them, but we just have to make sure that all are on the same page and that all are willing to do their part and they understand it's not going to be an easy task, and it's something we're all going to have to be committed to. Be willing to fight the fight and battle through some times when maybe it's not going well and not always give in and give up and say, 'Here it goes again. It's happening again.' I think that has to be erased out of your mind. It just has to be a constant fight and battle 'til the end and when it's over, you look at the score and move on from it." Q: Do you have enough guys who are willing to fight the fight? Brohm: "I think we have quite a few that are. I think some guys that we have with experience, I like what they've shown and I think they will be very productive for us. The backups, we need to improve there. In certain areas, we need to improve a lot. I think the want-to is there with most of our guys, we've just got to make sure everybody is on the same page and everybody is willing to do their part. I think if all of us are willing to go the extra mile, including coach- es, including myself, normally you can get something out of it. But everyone has to understand: Don't be surprised when tough times happen and say, 'What the heck?' No, those are going to happen. So I think if we can prepare ac- cordingly and understand if you're willing to fight the fight, let's go. If not, then maybe this isn't the place for you." Q: So what steps did you take this spring in creating the culture you're looking for? Brohm: "I think we tried to have a competitive envi- ronment where we had quite a bit of 11-on-11 where we're trying to get better in a team setting. One side's trying to win. There were some skirmishes you like to see a little bit between both sides, when it's all said and done. I do think that certain guys have the mentality we want. It's just we've got to find a way to keep them fresh where they don't have to be out there all the time. We have to build depth in case somebody goes down. We have to find playmakers so that we can score some points. Those are some of the challenges." Q: Did you see what you wanted to from the de- fense this spring? Brohm: "I think our defense has a chance to do a good job and be very productive. Depth-wise, are we where we need to be? No. So that is going to be concerning and may factor into it, especially in the second half (of games). "How we do on offense will dictate how they do as well. If we're able to do our part to a certain degree and not have them on the field a lot, they can be productive. We have playmakers over there. While we may have a few areas we need to shore up, for the most part, guys have expe- Tom Campbell David Blough got the most first-team reps of Purdue's quar- terbacks this spring and improved in accuracy and deci- sion-making, but Brohm would like to see even more strides.