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want to hear about it. If you don't do it, you're going to pay for it. From that standpoint, it's a major change I noticed." Macarthy says it's attention to detail that might be the big- gest change — the sophomore called it a "180-degree" move from previous years — with the coaches letting few lapses by. If a player cut a drill short, or didn't complete it successfully, he was forced into the "Hoosier box" at midfield. There, the intensity of the workout was cranked up another notch or two. "These coaches are really, really, really strict," Macarthy said. Q&A With jafar williams The following is a brief question-and-answer session with Purdue running backs coach Jafar Williams. Gold and Black: What do you demand of your players? Williams: "I just demand that those guys compete. I think you can deal with a lot of things. You can deal with somebody who might not be as talented as the other person, somebody who you may have to teach in one way or another way. But at the end of the day, when those guys step on the field, I want those guys to compete. Not only on the field, but in life. Everybody has their story. Everybody has some obstacle they have to overcome. I think the people who compete, who keep fighting, people who stay on course, they're the ones who are successful." Gold and Black: What are your strengths as a coach? Williams: "I think I'm able to easily relate to our players. I think they look at me and see me as someone who is honest. I'm real. I'm not going to do things just because the other coaches do things. I'm not going to say things just because someone else says it. Everything I do is who I am as a person and as a coach. I care about them. I want to build relationships with them. I always said I feel like a relationship with your players is something that's a lost part of our profession. There's a lot of people who believe you can't be their friend and be their coach. I beg to differ. I think you can. They just have to understand and you have to understand the boundaries. I always tell guys there's a time to work and a time to play. You have to understand the difference. But I've had an unbelievable relationship with my guys. So I look forward to that with guys here." Gold and Black: Being a younger coach, does it help or can it hurt? Williams: "That's the line, more so that you have to be able to judge more than the players. Those guys, they come in with an attitude every day, ready to play around, now Coach has to step in and say, 'OK, we can have a good time two minutes before the meeting, but the meeting is starting, let's go. Regardless.' Pre-practice, we can have a good time. But horn blows, it's time to go. That's your job. You have to be able to distinguish that, and they have to know it's not fake. They have to know it's business time." — Stacy Clardie Kyle Charters Rubin Carter is Purdue's latest coaching addition; he'll serve as defensive line coach. "They're really focused on attention to detail, so if we do something the wrong way, they don't want us to continue to do it. They want us to do it the right way, so that we turn it into habit." It's likely to be that way in every aspect of Purdue's program. After this final week of 6 a.m. workouts — the Boilermakers will have TWIN CITY DODGE CHRYSLER JEEP RAM 650 Sagamore Parkway South Lafayette, IN 47905 See the 2013 Jeep Wrangler! 800-562-4581 twincitysuperstore.com GoldanDBlack express • volume 23, express 24 • 25