The brand new iteration of Purdue's defense is far from being set in stone, but the Boilermakers are already looking to establish their overarching identity under defensive coordinator Mike Scherer during spring practice. Fast and aggressive.
It's a philosophy many defenses strive to achieve, but few master. Scherer laid out his vision for the personality he wants the Purdue defense to adopt under his watch, which revolves around playing fast and flying around the field making plays, while being calculated in doing so.
"We like to play offense on defense. We're gonna come after you. So we're gonna come after you, but in ways that the guys playing behind, they can play fast and they can run to the football and everybody's eyes are on the football," Scherer said after Saturday's spring practice. "There are layers to it. We'll have layers to our defense, but we will be attacking up front and creating layers on the backside."
The fine line of remaining disciplined while being an aggressive style of defense is something Purdue is all too familiar with, considering the results of last year's unit, one that was among the worst scoring defenses in all of college football. Scherer's goal is to eliminate the big play, you know, the ones that Purdue struggled with in 2024, forcing offenses to put together complete drives.
Doing so allows for more opportunities to create game changing plays for the Purdue defense.
"You've got to make a team work it all the way down the field. If they can do that, you got to go to the sideline, adjust your defense and be able to fix it next time. But, you've got to force them to. I'm sure you guys have seen many big plays, one play drives is what leads to letting up 60, right? So we don't let those up, we run around, we play fast, we got a chance," Scherer said.
While it's still early in the spring, the Boilermakers is taking steps in the right direction in doing the things Scherer is expecting out of them. Scherer did acknowledge that his guys are learning as they go and going through growing pains at times with mistakes, but their aggressiveness is helping yield encouraging results in the early going.
"We got a long way to go, but they're playing hard. We're getting turnovers, so things that you like to see in the defense, you're seeing. But as you expect day three of practice, new team, new guys learning a new system. We make mistakes, but they're making mistakes and they're playing fast, which is giving us a chance. So I like where we're at right now, but we have a long way to go," Scherer said.
That pursuit starts up front with a new cast of pass rushers on the field. Along with returning Boilermakers CJ Madden and Trey Smith, Purdue added Akron transfer CJ Nunnally IV and Michigan transfer Breeon Ishmail into the mix. When that group has the freedom to pin their ears back and play off instincts, Scherer says he's been pleased with how they've performed.
"They've been doing a heck of a job. Like I said, a long way to go, but I think we're understanding the importance of getting a pass rush, getting sacks, getting takeaways, getting tackles in the backfield, and how that wins football games," Scherer said. "There's talent there. And when you can unhook the wagon, per se, where they're not thinking and they can just go run and be themselves, which is what we're trying to do, they're getting back there."
Scherer has also been pleased with the amount of turnovers the Boilermakers' defense has been forcing this spring, one of which leading to perhaps the biggest moment of Saturday's practice in West Lafayette.
During a two-minute drill at the end of practice, safety Crew Wakley picked off quarterback Malachi Singleton to win the battle between first team offense and first team defense. That interception ended up with the entire Purdue defense celebrating with Wakley in the end zone.
It was an important moment for Purdue, as Scherer had been pointing to the Boilermakers learning how to win and relishing those instances. His defense cashed in on their next opportunity to do so.
"Now, we have fun. You saw everybody running around, I encouraged that yesterday, I said 'we don't have enough fun when we win.' We're also learning how to win around here. So when we won a two-minute drill, yeah everybody's going to go crazy because we got to learn how to win too," Scherer said. "So we're gonna have fun, but that doesn't come without the work. And I think everyone here wants things to be different, player wise, they want things to be different, and understand that there's only one way to get it. So, it's a mix of mixing the fun stuff with the work. You understand that, hey, if we work hard, then that's what makes it fun. And I think that's what we're getting to."
While Purdue has shown signs in the early going of its first spring practice under Barry Odom, Scherer and company are still learning their players and how to utilize them moving forward. The Boilermakers' defensive coordinator used defensive backs Stu Smith and Crew Wakley as examples of guys that have played multiple positions already this spring, which will be done to see where players fit best.
"You do that with the entire defense through spring ball through fall camp until you kind of figure out what you're good at. Like I said before, it's what they're good at. It's not what I know. A lot of defenses out there, you can Google them. You can look them up, and then you can print them off and hand them to people, but that doesn't mean much, it's just what the players can do and do fast," Scherer said.
Purdue was the unfortunate owner of the worst defense in the Big Ten last season and Mike Scherer is tasked with reversing those fortunes heading into 2025. That desire and potential payoff will only take place if the Boilermakers can build on their shining moments this spring and into fall camp, according to Scherer.
"There's only one way to turn things around, but to them, there's only one way for them to become a better football player, and that's to work. That's for us as coaches to be honest with them in what they need to work on and be honest with them on the field about what we see, and then they have to be honest with themselves and have the desire to want to work," Scherer said.
