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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 3 6 Number of Big Ten bowl victories, against one loss (Michigan's to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl), this season, the best winning percentage in NCAA history for a league with more than six entries. Academic All-America citations for setter Ashley Evans, who was named first team in December. The Liberty Township, Ohio, native, a mechanical engineering major, is the first three- time honoree in Purdue history. Only 21 volleyball players nationally are three- time honorees, dating back to 1952. Straight victories by the Boilermakers in the month of December, dating to the last loss, against Butler in the Crossroads Classic Dec. 19, 2015. Purdue will head to 2018 with the streak intact. Repeat After Me I promise I am not creeping on these guys.But at a couple of men's basketball games over the holidays, I noticed something: Coach Jeff Brohm and athletic director Mike Bobinski appear to really get along. How do I know that, you say? Well, my seats in Mackey Arena are one section over, and it hard to miss those two when they come into the build- ing and are seated next to each other while watching Coach Matt Painter's team. And while I swear I don't look over at them every minute, every time I turn my head to the left, they seem to be very engaged in conversation with smiles on their faces. Bobinski mentions in his Q&A, which starts on Page 18, about having a personal and professional relationship with his most important employee. That is apparent from where I sit (literally). Sure, there is a lot to smile about these days when it comes to Purdue football. And what I have come to know in my few times in the presence of Bobinski and Brohm is they won't left that comfort level get in the way of a desire to get better. Purdue football is arriving under Brohm, but it hasn't arrived. I sense that Bobinski and Brohm are keenly aware of that. But the point of all this is amidst the talk about Brohm leaving for a job opening at Tennessee, it is pretty clear that the first-year coach likes it at Pur- due. Really likes it. He likes his boss, is able to work with his two brothers and a 13-year-old son who is a fixture around the program when he isn't in school. Even, sometimes, when he is in school. Brohm lives one-half mile from a shiny, new state-of-the-art office and football complex. Brohm fits Purdue. Yes, Brohm has had success, and no one in the sphere of the Gold and Black wants to see him go anywhere. Yet, the Boilermaker faithful should consider it a compli- ment that other schools are interested in this coach, because you have to go back to around the turn of the century since the last time a Purdue football coach, Joe Tiller by Colorado if memo- ry serves, was hotly pursued by anoth- er school. Here's a New Year's resolution — or call it a daily affirmation, if you pre- fer — to our readers and all Purdue fans, and repeat after me: We (Pur- due fans) are good enough to have a guy like Brohm around. This is a great place to coach football, and I am not going to freak out every time the coach is mentioned for another job. I will just roll with it. If you do that, you will have a lot happier 2018 and likely 2019 and be- yond. Happy New Year to all. Boiler Index From Publisher Alan Karpick By The Numbers 16 3 7 Photos by Tom Cambell (bowl wins); Charle Jischke (Evans, December)