This Christmas, we're all going to get a whole bunch of stuff we don't need. That's just the nature of the holiday.
Humbug.
But with that in mind, we figured we'd take the occasion to write about something that Purdue football badly needs - among many other things - and is going to get.
For all that can be discussed or debated in terms of all Purdue's gotten wrong with football as it's fallen into a state of disrepair on the field, the university, athletic department, Trustees and whoever else had a hand in it has gotten this master plan initiative right.
The first part of it lies in prioritization.
Putting the stadium project off to the side in favor of the training center project should have been a no-brainer in the first place. A stadium's only as good as the environment the humans within it provide, and it's good football that attracts humans more than anything.
The priority had to be cultivating good football.
The training center is a step in that direction. A step, not a panacea.
Physical structures do not win football games; it's up to human beings to do that.
The players have to play better than they have been and the coaches have to coach and recruit and evaluate better than they have been. This much is a given.
But upon completion of the training center - projected to open in August of 2017 - Purdue will have resources on its side, which is not something it can always say.
Purdue gets nice things from time to time for its major revenue sports, but very rarely before everybody else does. And once a school like Purdue claims an edge in the facilities cold war, it doesn't last long. That's the reality in a sport largely ruled by the rich. At places like Purdue, the cutting edge has a way of getting dulled real quick.
If the renderings of Purdue's Jetsons-era facilities prove to be an accurate depiction of realities to come, Purdue will hold an advantage, however fleeting it might turn out to be.
Plans call for a condensed facility to replace Purdue's antiquated, crammed weight-training facility, a must. A new, modern weight room is a must-have, as well, from functionality and competitive perspectives.
So much attention has been paid lately to the demands on student-athletes' time, as the court of public opinion has had to decide on the whole "employee or nah" debate.
With those demands in mind, the need for efficiency is very real. Coaches only get X amount of hours to coach these guys per week and the young people themselves only have so many hours in a day.
It may seem ridiculous on its surface to deconstruct student-athletes' days footstep-by-footstep, but with an eye on maximizing every waking hour, that is the new frontier. And another must.
This facility, by design, should make the whole operation more efficient and more effective, which one can only hope for Purdue's sake impacts the results in some small, or significant, way.
Then, of course, there's recruiting.
This isn't bells and whistles. This is absolute need.
Football facilities are an issue for Purdue in recruiting. Purdue is not recruiting at a needed level right now by virtually any measure, and so much more goes into that than its facility limitations. But this project should turn a glaring weakness into a strength and score Purdue some points on the superficiality front if nothing else.
In recruiting - the game of young people making the most important decisions of their lives to date in most cases and the game that’s results get men hired and fired - superficiality often rules the day, unfortunately.
Again, though, this is no magic potion. Coaches have to do a better job recruiting and evaluating and that's the human element's role, something brick and mortar (or whatever materials are going to be used here) can't do.
Purdue has to recruit its way out of this funk.
By recruiting, I mean not only competing with, and beating, peer-level institutions for players, but also being right far more than wrong on the fliers being taken on the under-the-radar types, who'll always play a role in recruiting at Purdue. They did when Purdue recruited at its highest levels under Joe Tiller and they will under any coach likely until the end of the time.
Purdue has to get out of this cycle where it's needing to outsmart everyone with the overlooked, then having to rush all the keepers to the field as true freshmen, leading to a situation where before you know it, their careers are over.
Danny Anthrop's Purdue career seemed to span about six weeks. There's a good chance Jake Replogle's and D.J. Knox's and Eddy Wilson's will feel that way, too.
That's how it is when a self-described "developmental program" can't fully develop players, when it can't put them all in the oven for a year, because they're viewed as being so good - or the team is so desperate - they're needed immediately.
The easy answer: Get more of them.
That's the goal now. Purdue has to recruit at a higher level and this facility, at least in some small way, should help.
Facilities help attract players and coaches alike.
That's the part of this no one is going to say out loud: The training center makes Purdue a better job for the next guy, whether that guy is to be hired 11 months from now or 11 years from now.
The future components of the master plan achieve the same end while sending a clear message, that no matter what coaches may hear through the grapevine, Purdue is serious about football.
Every hiring process is a negotiation in more ways than one. It's not just about contracts and staffing resources but about pieces of the puzzle. Schools always need a chip, always a card to play to say, "Here's what you'll have if you come here."
When Purdue hired Darrell Hazell, it brought itself up to code on coaching salaries. It didn't jump over everyone, but it evened up with a lot of people. There's more that can be done there, but it was a big step.
In a larger sense, this master plan, starting with the training center, is a really big step.
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