Purdue football recruiting returned to its Midwest roots for its 2019 class.
That Midwest footprint symbolized how and, more importantly, where Purdue intends to find players for its program's build. The early signees put Purdue on track for its highest-rated class by Rivals.com since 2004's class ranked 20th, but also provides a literal and figurative road map to where the Boilermakers want their talent.
Nine players from the Ohio and Michigan area, one player (so far) from the Chicagoland market, an impact player from near-by West Lafayette High School and one coveted receiver from Brohm's hometown of Louisville. Add it up and it totals a dozen signees from the markets Purdue wants to draw from.
"There's a lot of people we've come to realize in those areas that love Big Ten football and there's a lot of those people that recognize Purdue so that's been the footprint of where we'll go first," Brohm said. "Without question, that's where it all starts and some guys will take pride in playing for Purdue. It's important we make sure we take care of our home state and home area."
Under previous coaching staffs, Purdue has felt the need to concentrate on the Southeast, looking for hidden gems or developmental prospects that may have gone unnoticed, under-recruited or unappreciated by Southeastern Conference programs. While recruiting Georgia, Texas and Florida along with everyone else, Brohm has made his intentions clear, with 26 of the 47 announced signees so far in the last two classes being from either neighboring states or Big Ten markets.
It is from these Big Ten states and neighboring markets — his native Kentucky most notably — that Brohm believes can produce players potentially ready for action next season.
"Our goal for (George Karlaftis) is make him a difference maker as fast as we can," Brohm said. "It made a difference that he got on board early and showcased to the rest that you can get on board, do your part, play early and see if we can help Purdue inch up the ladder."
Karlaftis is a name most people recognize in the recruiting world as the four-star prospect gave Purdue a ground-breaking commitment very early in the process and maintained his pledge despite national powers pursuing him. Brohm said Wednesday Karlaftis, who will enroll this spring, will be able to earn playing time and possibly a starting role in his first season with the Boilermakers.
Milton Wright, a four-star receiver from Brohm's hometown of Louisville, turned down scholarship offers from Alabama, Georgia, LSU and both in-state Power 5 programs to play for Purdue.
Kyle Jornigan, an offensive lineman from Youngstown, Ohio, who Brohm said Wednesday is already up to 6-foot-4 and 330 pounds, plans to be in the mix for playing time as he enters Purdue for the start of fall camp in August.
Purdue may have landed its starting safeties of the future with the Detroit duo of Marvin Grant and Jalen Graham, who played in the same city high school league against each other.
Every one of Purdue's four offensive line signees came from a Midwest market as Dave Monnot III's father played at Ohio State and the Joliet (Ill.) Catholic product won a Class 5A state championship last month.
While certain positions were filled from locales such as Texas, California, Tennessee and Virginia, Purdue clearly showed an objective to get back to its Midwestern roots with one of its most successful classes.
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