Jeff Brohm: "I just wanna play"
Jeff Brohm is like a lot of people. The Purdue coach wishes he was coaching his team right now. But, he was to wait.
"There still is some uncertainty right now as far as when we're gonna get the opportunity to play football games," Brohm said on the Purdue Sports Weekly show on Wednesday evening. "For us, once we got the news that there will be no fall season, we kinda gave our guys off a little bit of time off the football field and just kind of gave them a break, got back to workouts in the weight room, got back to doing school work."
The fourth-year Boilermaker coach said just this week, the team started to get back on the practice field a few days a week. This after the Big Ten announced it was postponing the 2020 season on Aug. 11.
"There are still some restrictions as far as how much you can do," said Brohm. "But I think our guys are eager and they are ready to get out there and hopeful at some point here in the near future we'll know when we are going to play and I know we are looking forward to it."
Brohm has done his part to get the Big Ten back in action. Soon after the postponement, he unveiled a detailed nine-page plan for a spring season that was well received.
"I just wanna play," said Brohm. "Our guys wanna play."
When does Brohm think the Big Ten could get back on the field?
"It looks like there are some plans being talked about now that will get back sooner, possibly in the winter," said Brohm. "I don't know the exact time frame. That's what I think probably will happen. But I think there still is some uncertainty. I know our athletic director Mike (Bobinski) and the commissioner and presidents are gonna make the right decisions and we're gonna do our part to make sure we're ready when our time is called."
Brohm feels confident in his personnel on offense, where no unit will be under more scrutiny than the line.
"I think our offensive line will have more experience," said Brohm. "There's more capable bodies up there. We just have to continue to progress those guys and get them ready to play physical football and to dominate up front as much as we can."
And even with sophomore Rondale Moore opting out, Brohm likes his receivers.
"While we did lose Rondale Moore, I think we have a lot capable guys that can go out there and make plays," said Brohm. "We are working hard to make sure we are going to utilize those, that we have a good plan together and that we can go out and execute and have fun and score some points."
David Bell will have to be a bellwether.
"(He) has worked extremely hard," said Brohm. "I'm looking forward to him following up a tremendous freshman year with another great sophomore season.
"We have a handful of guys that can go out there and get the job done. It's a matter of providing great competition in practice, it's a matter of spreading the ball around. I do think we have a little more balance and need to take some pressure off the passing game which we're working very hard to get that done."
The defense is in transition under new coordinator Bob Diaco, who is installing a 3-4 scheme.
"I feel like we have some experience on the defensive side of the ball," said Brohm. "We have some guys back healthy who have played quite a bit. We didn't play up to our standard last year ... playing sound, fundamental football, not giving up big plays, getting off the field on third down, finding ways to get turnovers, playing with great energy and juice is important for our defense."
For now, Brohm is left waiting for the green light on a Big Ten season. But he isn't passing time on Saturdays watching games.
"You try to keep yourself busy," said Brohm. "Do I watch a lot of football on Saturday? No, I probably don't. It's more getting outside, being with the family, going to some of my daughter's games ... but on the weekend, it's tough to watch football when you are used to being out there."
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