Body of work lands Etling starting job
DannyEtling's"bodyofwork"helpedhimsecurePurdue'sstartingquarterbackjobforthesecondconsecutiveseason,coachessaidMonday.
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Fromaturnover-freespringtoanincrediblyproductiveoffseasonintermsofstudyingtheBoilermakers'offenseandopposingdefensestoamostlysteadytrainingcamp,Etlingcontinuedtoshowprogressafterbeingthrownintothefireasatruefreshmanin2013.
Etlinghadsaidhefelthestillhadsomethingtoprovethiscamp,despitestartingsevengameslastseason,becausehedidn'twinagame.Heansweredthecoaches'challengetocompetehard,and,inturn,beatoutAustinAppleby,Hazellsaid.
"Ithinkthebiggestthingiscomingoutofthespring,hewasalittlebitahead,"HazellsaidwhenaskedwhyEtlingwaschosen.
Hazellsaidhesawa"muchmorecomfortable,muchmoreconfident"Etlingduringcamp.ThesophomoreshowcasedabetterknowledgeofnotonlyPurdue'soffensebutinidentifyingdefensesaswell.That'slargelyduetotheamountoftimeEtlingspentworkingalongsidequarterbackscoachandcoordinatorJohnShoopintheoffseasonwhenNCAArulesallowedplayerstogetfilmstudyinwithcoaches.
"Therearesomanythingsthataresohardtolearnandweresohardtolearnlastyear,butthiswholeoffseasonjustgettingtositdownwithCoachShoopasmuchasIcanandhimexplainingeverythingtome(washelpful),"Etlingsaidthissummer."Becauseduringtheseason,thingsaremovingsofastandyou'rejusttryingtogameplan,gameplan,gameplanandputinplays.Intheoffseason,youcankindoftakeabreathandexplainwhyweweredoingeverythingweweredoing.I'vejustreallycomealong,longwaysincelastyearoflearningcoveragesandunderstandingwhatcoveragesareandwhypeoplearecomingandunderstandingeachzonehastobecoveredinsomewayandifitisn't,youcantakeadvantageofit."
Etlingsaidhe'sseeingthegamefasternow,andwhathe'sseeingonthefieldissimilartowhathe'sstartingtoseeinthefilmroom.
"I'mstartingtogrowmorementallyasaplayerandI'mgoingtocontinuetokeepworkingthat,"hesaidMonday.
GettingplayingtimeasarookielastseasonhashelpedEtlingbebetterpreparedfortheloadandpressurehe'llfacethisseason,hesaid.
PartofstudyingandbetterunderstandingdefenseswastotrytospotpotentialblitzesandthenbeingabletoadjusttheprotectionwiththeO-line.PurdueallowedmoresacksthananyotherteamintheBigTenlastseason,andEtlingborethebruntofmostofthatpressure.
Heshowedconsiderabletoughness,though,nevermissingasnapbecauseofinjury.Eventhoughhecouldhave-EtlinghurthisleftshoulderagainstIllinoisandplayedthroughitinthefinaleagainstIndiana.
"Ithink(lastseason)preparesyoualotto-firstoff-getridoftheball,"hesaid,smiling,"but,secondoff,toknowwhattoexpect,togetyourbodyrightintheweightroomfortheseasonandthingslikethat.Soit'sreallyhelpedmeoutintheoffseason.
"It'dhavebeentoughtomaturethewayIhaveanddevelopmygamethewayIhaveifIhadn'tgoneinthereandplayed."
TeammateshavechangesinEtlingsincetheseasonended.
Especiallyinanintangible,butincrediblyimportant,qualityforhisposition:Asaleader.
TherewerepointslastseasoninthehuddlewhenEtlingwasn'tenoughofapresence,wasn'tvocalenough,tocommandtheauthorityneededatthespot.Buthe'sworkingonit,andteammateshavenoticed.
"We'veobviouslyseenhimfromwherehebeganlastyeartotheendoftheyear,thenevenintheoffseason,we'veseenhimmaturequiteabitandtakemoreofaleadershiprole,"tightendJustinSinzsaid."(Thequarterback)needstobetheleaderoftheoffenseandgetthebestoutofthepeoplearoundhim."
DolapoMacarthy,whowasEtling'sroommateinthedormsduringcamp,saidEtlingisaquieterpersonwhowillopenuponcehefeelsmorecomfortablewithothers.Now,afterspendingtwoweekswithhim,Macarthyjoked,hecan'tgetEtlingtoshutup.Butheneedsthattospread.
"WeneedDannytotalkupmoreandspeakmoreandkindofbemoreassertive,"Macarthysaid."That'sapositionthatrequiresthat.Weneedthatfromhim,tostepupalittlebitandtalkmore.Hehasn'tbeendoingabadjob,butheneedstobealittlemoreoutspoken."
Etlingadmitshe'snota"rah-rah"guy,butprefersmoretoleadbyexample.He'slearningtodoboth.Thelatter,he'sdemonstratedconsistentlysincehisarrival,earningrespectwithhisworkethic.
"Asaleader,helooksmuchbetterandhe'sholdinghimselftoahigherstandard,"receiverB.J.KnaufsaidofEtlingthisyearcomparedtolast."Helovesthegame,he'sanutaboutit,andthat'swhatyouneedatthequarterbackposition."
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