Brohm OK with playing spring and fall of 2021, if need be

With rumors swirling about the prospects of playing this fall being slim, some have opined about moving the season to the spring of 2021. Would fourth-year Purdue coach Jeff Brohm be OK with that?

"Yes, I would," said Brohm after finishing his second training camp practice of 2020. "I think it's important that we find a way to play. Obviously, the hope is to play this season in the fall, and I think that's what everyone is working hard to do from the higher ups all the way down is to do our part to see if we can make this work. But, without question, if it couldn't happen at this point because of all the things going on in our country, I would 100 percent be in favor playing in the spring."

If playing six, eight or 10 games in the spring happens, that could impact how a fall of 2021 season would look. Still, Brohm thinks playing in the fall of 2021 is doable on the heels of a spring season.

"I actually think you can," he said. "And, you know, there's gonna be some things you would have to do. I mean, you look at an NFL season for teams that go to the playoffs and Super Bowl and preseason games, you could play up to 24 games. Now, I think it's important that we take care of our players, and health and safety is important."

Brohm thinks if it gets to having a 10-game spring season, it will be key to when the spring season window is. Would it be mid-February to mid-April? Would the season bleed into May? Would you start the fall season toward the end of September or early October to make sure there's enough of a buffer from the spring season?

"I think there are ways," said Brohm. "I'm not an expert. I don't know how it will play out if we get to that point, but I would be 100 percent in favor of trying to make it work where we can have a spring season if we can't go on in the fall. And then trying to figure out a way to make the fall season work for 2021 even if there's minor adjustments.

"And I think there are ways to excite things up. Maybe for two years, you change the playoff format and you have an eight-team playoff and you make it exciting. But I think everyone wants football at some point. Players, fans and everyone included, and we'd like to be able to give it to them."

Jeff Brohm is busying trying to put together his team. And--like every other coach in the nation--Brohm has to do so under the specter of the season being cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the Boilermaker boss has been pleased with his team through the first two practices.

"Believe it or not, for us so we've had two really good days and we've come out of those two days healthier than we ever have been," said Brohm. "And I feel like we've made a lot of progress and our guys have been excited to get back out there and play. We've had a good summer."

But COVID-19 has taken a toll on Purdue's roster.

"Like every team, with the COVID situation, people testing positive and contact tracing, yes, we're out some people right now and have been for quite a while," said Brohm. "And that's something that you would have to go through the entire year and that's why depth is very important. That's why everyone knowing that at any point they can play is very important.

"So, we see what's going on. We're obviously hopeful for the best. We understand the situation, but our guys to this point have done a great job and we've concentrated on and we're looking forward to having some good practices this week as well and we'll see where that goes."

The team has taken myriad safeguards.

"So, that's spacing out all the meeting rooms, taking advantage of this entire facility we have," said Brohm. "Making sure we keep our social distance at all times throughout the building. Wearing masks. Spacing out things in the dining hall, making sure we're occupying every last ounce of space we have."

Purdue didn't use the locker room and showers until it started camp on Friday.

"I think ourselves and probably numerous other teams have probably done a pretty good job of keeping guys safe at the building," said Brohm. "And that's been the Number One concern and priority for us. I feel like our team of doctors and medical experts, along with our coaches working with them, that's gone very well."

The worry comes when players leave the football facilities.

"We talk about it," said Brohm. "But all it takes is one or two bad decisions and a lot of people are knocked out. It’s unfortunate, because you can't really live your college life like you want to, but if you want to play football in today's world this year, you have to find ways to make sacrifices. So, that's the dilemma that I think a lot of teams are in.

"When they leave this building, what's going to happen and how can they stay safe and how can they make sure they keep their distance and hope for the best. But that's where I think a lot of teams have run into problems."

Brohm has been happy with his team's approach to protocols.

"We talk about it a ton with our team," said Brohm. "I've talked about it with other coaches a ton, as well. You can't really put handcuffs on your guys. You can't really follow them around 24 hours a day. But you can communicate things with your team.

"I think our guys are trying hard to stay safe, but we've still had issues. And we were going really good for a while. I mean, we were going really good for a while, and then we just had a little hiccup a couple weeks ago and that has kind of knocked some guys out and made guys miss quite a bit of time. We’ve had multiple people contact trace twice, and had to miss a lot of time when they had no symptoms whatsoever the entire period."

On Saturday, the Big Ten issued an edict that schools will not progress to padded football practices, which is known as "Day 3" of the acclimatization practice period. Only helmets will be worn for the time being. Brohm expressed no worries about that hindering the development of his team.

"I don't think it'll put us behind," said Brohm. "There's been some teams in conference, Wisconsin didn't even start on Friday, they backed things up to Monday. Northwestern had already decided to go with just helmets until they got some more clarification on some things. I think every team has treated it different.

"For us, being able to practice in helmets and continue on that progression will be just fine. I don't think it put us behind at all. We've had two full weeks of walk-throughs. We've gotten a lot of good work. So, right now, I feel like we're on schedule. The fact that we can get pads on--as long as sometime in the near future we can--I don't think it'll affect us a lot."

• Players are wearing special splash guards on their face masks to quell the spread of the virus.

"It's not that bad," said sophomore defensive end George Karlaftis. "When you exhale, it fogs up sometimes. But you get used to it. It’s not that bad and you can still do what you regularly do. If that really prevents everything, if that allows us to have a season, I’m all for it."

What else is the team doing on the field to stay safe?

“We're on the field, we try to keep the distance and take all those kinds of protocols and that kind of stuff," said Karlaftis. "And then when we're doing breaks and all that kind of stuff, you got to stay distance and we've got trainers that sanitize everything. We don't share water bottles, we don't do all that kind of stuff. But, you know, it's been good. Smooth-sailing for the most part."

• Jeff Brohm had no clarification on the eligibility status of Iowa transfer cornerback D.J. Johnson. He has been practicing with the team for two days. "He has looked very, very good," said Brohm. "And we are hopeful to get him eligible to play this year, for sure."

• Center Viktor Beach and linebacker Crishawn Long are on medical redshirt. The loss of Beach (back) stings. Junior Sam Garvin will be the No. 1 center. He started the final seven games last year after Beach went out.

"That is a position we have some concern," said Brohm. "There isn't a ton of experience."

Brohm says redshirt freshman Spencer Holstege and true freshman Gus Hartwig are the backups to Garvin. Sophomore Will Bramel also will get some work snapping.

• Brohm was asked if his team is missing many players at the moment.

"We're missing guys," said Brohm. "It's more than a handful of guys due to the situation going on right now in the country. Now that testing is going to be more prevalent here and everywhere, it's probably going to continue to happen. I think that is the main concern with a lot of teams is, you know, if it's happening now, is it going to get any better? Are you going to miss a lot of key guys during the season with contact tracing knocking out even more?

"At lot of these guys have been asymptomatic the entire time. But yet they've got to be out for an extended period of time, regardless. That's, I think, what we're dealing with, and many teams are dealing with. That is going to be tough to manage, but you got to find ways to get it done."

Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast

Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2020. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.