Same faces, new places. It's the name of the college football game that we are in now, with the transfer portal ushering in a constant state of outgoing and incoming talent to rosters each year.
With the revolving door of players in and out of the locker room, head coach Ryan Walters and the Purdue coaching staff put a heavy emphasis on two things. Getting the bulk of the roster in West Lafayette in January and growing relationships within the roster to bring the group closer together.
That desire has been realized, according to Walters, who has seen a rare kinship amongst his group heading into the season.
"I would say that this is probably the closest team I've been around, and that's not only as a head coach, but as an assistant as well. I think we did a lot of things in the winter, in the spring, in the summer, to provide opportunities for organic relationships to form," Walters said.
Between going to Escape Rooms in town, renting out The Tap, and having "the most competitive" dodgeball tournament, Walters and staff corralled players into small groups with teammates they did not typically hang out with.
Perhaps the activity that produced the most impactful result, however, was a series of breakout sessions, where players would get personal with one another and open up about life and their upbringings. Walters points to those talks as a catalyst for better communication.
"We did a lot of things where you had an opportunity to be vulnerable and talk about things that weren't football related to get to dive deeper into the individual," Walters said.
"Everybody's going through different things and different walks of life, and everybody's got their own problems. So, you kind of get to know why people act the way they do, why guys might communicate a certain way. Anytime you have that background and that understanding just allows for more efficient communication."
Not only did the Boilermaker players have the opportunity to grow closer, but the coaches also gained a better understanding of how each person needs to be coached, which can differ from player to player.
Defensive coordinator Kevin Kane saw his unit come together as a result of the team building work done behind the scenes.
"In modern college football, whatever team can gel the fastest has a chance to go have a lot of success, because there's a lot of new faces coming in there. And we've done a lot of things to create bonds and to create teamwork, and how to be a great teammate, and just to know each other, to kind of know what buttons to press, what not to press. So I feel like our guys have gotten to know each other a lot, not just over the summer and spring, but especially for fall camp," Kane said.
Offensive coordinator Graham Harrell also pointed to the on-field benefits of getting the majority of the roster on campus ahead of spring practice.
"Throughout winter, almost the whole roster was here. I thought that was something that coach Walters put a big emphasis on, was trying to get most of our roster here in January," Harrell said. "With the evolving landscape of college football, and having more new players than you used to have, with the transfer portal and things like that, getting guys here in January is a big advantage. Because now you can start to create your football team and get a whole lot of reps with each other throughout that spring before the summer starts."
The hard work, vulnerability and fellowship the Boilermakers have shared over the last eight months now come to the point where they can begin paying off... on the football field. Walters has observed a closer group this fall during practice, with competition still at an all-time high, but players also taking care of their teammates. While Kevin Kane is excited to see who rises to the occasion when the real bullets start flying in less than a week.
"I think that showed up in the way we practice. There wasn't a whole lot of lot of fights out there. There was guys that were competing at a high level, but also taking care of each other," Walters said.
"When the fire's hot, who's gonna explode, and who's not? The ultimate test is gonna come Saturday, when the real bullets are flying, and we gotta see what happens. But I feel really good about the growth these guys have had as a team, as a unit, going back from January through the summer and then going through this fall camp," Kane said.
Now, the Boilermakers have another task ahead in translating the work on and off the field this off-season to actual games, as Indiana State comes to West Lafayette on Saturday as Purdue looks to begin that quest.
