Kevin Kane happy with progress of Purdue defense early in fall camp
Perhaps the biggest reason Purdue's Ryan Walters was in the position to fill the Boilermakers' head coaching vacancy last December was his leadership of one of the top defenses in the country at Illinois. Now that Walters is the head man in West Lafayette, he is passing the torch to the new defensive coordinator, Kevin Kane.
Kane will be looking to continue the success of the newly coined "Air Strike" scheme for Purdue this fall and is set to call a defense for the first time since he was the defensive coordinator at SMU in 2020. It is a role he is chomping at the bit to do.
The plan is for Kane to be down on the field calling the defense, but the unit is still looking for its eyes in the sky. Kane identified safeties coach Grant O'Brien as a top candidate to fill that role due to his excellent feel for each position group of the defense.
"I'm stoked. I'm super excited. You know, something I love to do, and I think with the last few years with Coach Walters, I learned a lot from what he does, how he does it, why he does it. Now we have both of us together. You know, I think we're just gonna continue to build this thing together," Kane said.
After spending much of the spring and early summer installing the new defense, Kane and the Boilermakers now move into the final step of preparation ahead of the regular season. Purdue's defensive coordinator is thrilled with where his unit is at less than 30 days until kickoff.
"Very happy. To think it's year one in the system with the new coaching staff and to see where our guys are at mentally, going out there and execute at a high level," Kane said. "We're three days in, and I feel like the majority of our package is already in. So the recall from the spring and the extra work these guys have put in over the summer really paid off this first three days."
It is a different-looking group than the one we saw during spring practice just a few months ago between the wave of incoming transfers and a handful of contributors returning to the practice field from injury.
Veteran outside linebackers Kydran Jenkins, Scotty Humpich and defensive linemen Damarjhe Lewis and Isaiah Nichols did not suit up for Purdue during the spring, while the likes of Khordae Sydnor, Cam Allen, and others missed varying time as well.
Getting potential starters and key contributors back off the mend has been a welcomed sight for Kane, who likes what he's seen from the returning defenders.
"Just seeing those types of guys back on the field, and you know what they could do on the field from what you saw on film last year. Now to see how they're executing within the package right now, it's been very exciting," Kane said.
In addition to getting those players back on the field, the Boilermakers also revamped the defensive line and secondary through the transfer portal. Marquis Wilson and Markevious Brown are possibilities to start at cornerback, as too is Salim Turner-Muhammad when he returns from an undisclosed ailment.
SEC-turned-Big Ten defensive linemen Jeffrey M'Ba, Isaiah Nichols, and Malik Langham are also fighting for starting spots during fall camp.
With all of the new faces along the Purdue defense, Kane feels that the group is coming together and getting more comfortable by the day.
"There are a lot of new faces, which is nice. I think they're starting to get a hang of how we coach and how we operate as a unit. And there gonna go out there and play how they've been playing, you know, so we're getting used to them, they're getting used to us," Kane said. "I think we've added more depth and I think we graded in certain areas."
As the on-field product continues to take shape, Kane is also focused on building leaders within the unit, which he says will be an integral part of the success of the group.
"We talked to the defense at the beginning of the summer and even more so this last couple weeks. The best defenses that anybody's ever been around are player led, so we need we need leaders on this defense," Kane said.
Returning safeties Sanoussi Kane and Cam Allen are two veteran players that could step into that role, along with Kydran Jenkins, Cole Brevard and Jamari Brown.
However, senior inside linebacker OC Brothers believes he is the one to step up to the plate in that regard. The man Kane calls the "eraser" spoke about his desire to become a leader for the Boilermakers this fall.
"I really took it upon myself, you know, to try to lead the young guys even if their not in my position group, but just lead the freshmen, sophomores, everybody who just got here to try to break them up the right way, bring them up the Boilermaker way," Brothers said.