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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 28 Digital 4

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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 4 31 "All of these young men will get as many repetitions as our starters when they get here," Brohm said on the December signing date, "and we'll see where they're at and go from there." Purdue's 2018 class obviously reflected personnel needs and such, but also reflected how recruiting is go- ing to be carried out under Brohm's direction. First off, this is clearly a staff that won't force the issue early simply to pile up early commitments in a recruiting arena where they're increasingly difficult to retain. Purdue was actually the last school from the Power 5 ranks to land a verbal commitment last summer, but once June hit, camps began and summer unofficial visits began pouring in, things took off quickly, 20-plus com- mitments coming in between early June and into August. But the recruiting process didn't stop at the commit- ment, as Purdue showed it will play the recruiting game as it's more widely played these days, or as Brohm puts it, continue the evaluation process post-commitment. At least five commitments went by the wayside through the course of the process, by Purdue's choosing, whether it was due to senior-year performance or health or aca- demic concerns. A sixth, defensive end Willie Lane, will be signed in December should he im- prove his academic standing this fall. In a stark departure from the chaos of the Darell Hazell years — during which every non-binding commitment made seemed to be a 50/50 proposition on whether it would stick — Purdue did not lose a single commitment it didn't proac- tively walk away from. "I think we developed a good relation- ship with our guys," Brohm said. "(We tell them), 'Hey, if you're not ready to com- mit, don't commit. If you still need to see some other places, then don't commit. We don't want a commitment that's not solid.' While we are trying to get people to tell us Purdue is the spot for them, we're not go- ing to force anything. If someone doesn't want to be at Purdue, we don't want them here. We want guys who want to play for Purdue, they want to help us help them achieve their goals, they believe in us, they believe in our program, they believe in the people and we want to make sure they're comfortable. So I think all these guys felt comfortable when they got on board. They understood we earned their trust, they earned our trust and we're happy that everyone stayed solid. "Throughout the course of it, certain things may change here and there, but we're going to constantly evaluate senior video. We're going to make sure our play- ers understand that. Everybody is possibly going to make a mistake here or there, but we feel like our relationship was solid with all these guys. … I'm not interested in telling somebody something that's not true to get them on board. That's not me. I don't want any part of it. We want to be honest in what we're doing, and I think our players have appreciated that. Because of that, everyone stayed true." Those Purdue held on to, it sought to lock in. It handled the new early signing period with a stance that if a player committed early, he was expected to sign, or else his scholarship offer might dry up. It signed all but two of its 24 signees during the new Dec. 20-22 signing window, waiting on Moore to an- Home of Boilermaker Hospitality

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