WEBVTT 00:00:00.059 --> 00:00:04.889 Kevin Kane, the new defensive coordinator for the Boilers, but the Boilers are not new to 00:00:04.889 --> 00:00:10.009 Kevin Kane. He was the DC for Ryan Walters during his brief tenure here. Obviously, didn't 00:00:10.009 --> 00:00:15.929 go great, but had a good track record prior to that. Part of a defensive revival at Illinois. 00:00:16.129 --> 00:00:21.809 Had an SMU team that led the nation in sacks earlier in his career as well. Kane now with 00:00:21.809 --> 00:00:28.138 Jerry. Coach, you were at Purdue in 2024. You left for a year and you came back. Why did you 00:00:28.138 --> 00:00:33.340 come back? Shoot, it was, uh, the opportunity to come back to, to, to this place is, is a 00:00:33.340 --> 00:00:36.289 pretty special place to me, you know, my family, you know, I was at the University of 00:00:36.289 --> 00:00:40.279 Minnesota last year and I had a great experience with Coach Fleck and crew, uh, 00:00:40.579 --> 00:00:44.740 during that time, my family remained here, you know, in West Lafayette, so. Uh, when the 00:00:44.740 --> 00:00:50.020 opportunity, when Coach Odom gave me a call, uh, it was something that just, all the signs 00:00:50.020 --> 00:00:54.009 pointed to come back, you know, so it was, it was an opportunity to, to, to run, run the 00:00:54.009 --> 00:00:58.098 defense again, um, and, and, and take the reins and, and do it my way, which is, which is 00:00:58.098 --> 00:01:03.109 what, it's been fun to do that since I've gotten back. Uh, scrimmage today, we watched it 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.409 without watching the tape, some impressions about defensive play. You know, we played a lot 00:01:07.409 --> 00:01:10.558 of the young guys today, which, which, you know, I think they needed to get some reps in 00:01:10.558 --> 00:01:13.969 live situations, which is, I think was a good thing. You know, I think we saw some great 00:01:13.969 --> 00:01:18.189 effort, you know, obviously, You know, we strive on, on, on playing hard and tough, you 00:01:18.189 --> 00:01:21.349 know, and then we'll fix the, the, the other things along the way, but as long as we're 00:01:21.349 --> 00:01:24.588 playing hard and tough, you know, it's gonna give us a chance to win the game. So I was, I 00:01:24.588 --> 00:01:27.510 was happy to see these young guys get out there and do some reps. You know, we always got 00:01:27.510 --> 00:01:30.939 to clean some things up with, with the older guys as well, but, you know, up to this point, 00:01:31.069 --> 00:01:36.079 camp has been very, very productive for us, I think. How about some of the new portal guys 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:40.588 that are right in the thick of things with the first defense? Yeah, you know, I think, uh, 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:45.000 well, for us, it all starts with, with Charles Correa. You know, I think, at linebacker, he's 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:48.278 kind of the, the heart and soul of this defense right now. And, and I think everybody 00:01:48.278 --> 00:01:52.918 looks at him and respects him for that, for, for that role. Uh, but Curt Neal, you know, he 00:01:52.918 --> 00:01:56.388 transferred from right down the road, has come in and, and taken a leadership role, uh, 00:01:56.519 --> 00:02:00.629 upfront as a defensive tackle for us, and it's been awesome. Um, but shoot, I mean, this is a 00:02:00.629 --> 00:02:04.430 roster that, Two years ago, there's, there's not many people left from 2 years ago, so 00:02:04.430 --> 00:02:07.879 that's, that's the transfer portal, that's the way it is. But, you know, I think that like a 00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:11.909 guy like Jeremy Lewis, uh, you know, Jojo Hayden, uh, Curt Neal, I've already mentioned, 00:02:11.990 --> 00:02:17.419 you know, uh, on the back end, Jayden Mangum, uh, uh, Jordan Slaughter, uh, uh, um, Don, Don 00:02:17.419 --> 00:02:21.349 Saunders, you know, so we've got some length in the back end, we've got some length up front. 00:02:21.389 --> 00:02:24.389 We're, I think we, we got some depth up front, which I'm really excited about, you know, where 00:02:24.389 --> 00:02:29.169 I keep those guys fresh, uh, so there's been a lot of new faces, but they're, they're gelling 00:02:29.169 --> 00:02:35.649 well. What do you have left undone before you break camp? Shoot, I think, uh, you know, 00:02:35.729 --> 00:02:39.288 there's certain situations we still got to get in, you know, I think, uh, you know, all those 00:02:39.288 --> 00:02:42.439 crazy fun formations, we always got to practice those, you know, with, with somebody, 00:02:42.490 --> 00:02:46.960 but I, I think we've, we've, we've figured out who our identity is as a defense, um, you know, 00:02:47.008 --> 00:02:51.528 in, in terms of, you know, what's gonna work for what we do, uh, and who we have. So now 00:02:51.528 --> 00:02:55.008 it's just getting the, the continuity and, and just cleaning up the fundamentals, like 00:02:55.008 --> 00:02:57.929 everything with fundamentals and, and, and, and effort, and we just gotta keep pressing on 00:02:57.929 --> 00:03:04.669 those. Have you seen any changes in the Big 10 offenses? You know, I, I, it's, I do 00:03:04.669 --> 00:03:08.409 believe that this conference is, is loaded with, with great offensive minds and, and, and, 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:13.520 and, and each week presents its new problems, you know, and, and, and you, you play an Oregon 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:15.899 team this week that's doing this type of offense, and then all of a sudden you're 00:03:15.899 --> 00:03:19.778 playing Iowa with the two backs and, and doing that type of offense, and then you go to, uh, 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:24.399 Illinois, that's a different type of offense. So, like your, your, your scheme has to be 00:03:24.399 --> 00:03:27.460 structured, uh, structurally sound enough where you can go up every week against these 00:03:27.460 --> 00:03:30.550 different, different types of offenses and, And they're gonna challenge your rules every 00:03:30.550 --> 00:03:33.788 week, you know, and, and they're gonna try to find Waldo and, and, and attack those guys. So 00:03:33.788 --> 00:03:37.588 you have to do a great job of, of, of scouting yourself, in my opinion, every week, and then 00:03:37.588 --> 00:03:41.929 figuring out how can we, how can we protect ourselves against every scheme. How do you get, 00:03:42.050 --> 00:03:47.460 uh, the portal guys when they first come in to simulate with the rest of the team? So I think 00:03:47.460 --> 00:03:50.338 Coach Odom's done an unbelievable job, you know, we did a lot of crossover dinners. You 00:03:50.338 --> 00:03:54.219 know, uh, every position coach had to go two or three different dinners with guys from all 00:03:54.219 --> 00:03:57.770 different positions, and, and within those dinners, you know, we got to know each other, 00:03:57.860 --> 00:04:02.099 you know, and simply like, where are you from? Uh, uh, you know, how did you get here? Tell me 00:04:02.099 --> 00:04:05.819 something about you we don't know. Uh, you know, my, I always took my guys bowling, so we, 00:04:05.939 --> 00:04:09.460 we find out who's competitive, you know, who can throw a ball a little bit, and, uh, and I 00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:13.508 think the guys really opened up and, and, and, and, and took together, and I think. A 00:04:13.508 --> 00:04:16.988 connected team is a hard team to beat, and you've seen that from, from years past. And, 00:04:17.069 --> 00:04:20.980 and I think our guys in a short period of time have, like, there's no egos in our locker room 00:04:20.980 --> 00:04:24.670 right now. Uh, there's, and, and guys are enjoying playing with each other, which in a 00:04:24.670 --> 00:04:27.309 short time, you know, I think our strength staff has done an unbelievable job of getting 00:04:27.309 --> 00:04:30.670 these guys to buy into what's going on here with Coach Odom, uh, and Coach Odom is an 00:04:30.670 --> 00:04:34.769 unbelievable job of, of, of giving these guys opportunities to meet each other and hang out 00:04:34.769 --> 00:04:37.869 with each other, which has been fun. Well, it's great to have you back at Purdue as a 00:04:37.869 --> 00:04:39.809 defensive coordinator. It's great to be back, boiler up.