Good for Jeff Brohm.
Really, I mean that. Good for him.
It was refreshing and important to see that basically two days after the Big Ten football world ended, for all intents and purposes, someone was being proactive, productive and positive, trying to be part of the solution.
While Nebraska was playing footsie publicly with the Big 12 or anyone who might want to play them with a distinctly all-that-matters-is-football kind of tone, and other schools were lamenting this hard reality — and for the record, I do not blame anyone taking this like a tire iron to the jaw, because it may as well be — Purdue's coach has a plan, a thorough one with a whole lot of bases covered. He was trying to be solution-oriented and a leader, and while I know the Big Ten's wheels are already in motion on this spring scenario, everyone's need to be, because this will require a united front, because this conference must heal as a team, or die as individuals, to quote Pacino in "Any Given Sunday."
That may be overstating it, but you saw the debacle that occurred earlier this week. This league needs to heal, and it needs to move forward. Brohm's plan may work, it may not. We may never hear of it again after today, for all we know.
But it's something instead of nothing. Nothing is the worst feeling right now for so many. Brohm's plan may not end up being the plan, but he just moved the conversation toward one. He just threw a wad of gauze over the open wound that is the Big Ten fraternity right now and moved it forward.
Beyond that, he just put Purdue in the headlines again, a brilliant move, whether it be intended or not, at the entryway of this vast wasteland that this fall will be from a football perspective for the Big Ten, Pac-12 and my guess is, more to come. If more do wind up punting 'til spring — and to root for that to happen is to root for kids to get infected, so let's not — then the Big Ten may be at the forefront of what comes next, and it could own the spring.
Spring football is a bold endeavor and comes with very difficult obstacles, but if you look at Brohm's plan, there's a lot in there that makes sense. This is practical, self-aware and thoughtful, considerate of all land mines involved in this never-before-done undertaking. This wasn't some coach mindlessly scribbling Xs and Os on a cocktail napkin at Appleby's during a recruiting trip.
Lots of coaches have said, "We want to play." Of course they do. Here's one saying, "Here's how maybe we can." Embrace this and make the best of it, that's what I've always said, and that's all that can be done anyway. That's the direction Purdue's coach is pushing here.
Thursday, Brohm did the Big Ten a solid by striking a blow toward advancement and perhaps bumping conference discord off Page 1 for a few hours — Page 1 is a newspaper thing, perhaps you've heard of them — and gave fans and players something to look forward to, maybe.
Don't underestimate that last part: The players.
When you love what you do and suddenly can't do it anymore, even when you think you could be or should be, that's harder than hell. It is imperative these young men's mental well-being be looked after.
This, this is one Big Ten coach, at least, giving people — those players included — something, something that may be actionable, something to look forward to, to keep their heads up and their eyes forward.
Good for Jeff Brohm.
Really, I mean that. Good for him.
It was refreshing and important to see that basically two days after the Big Ten football world ended, for all intents and purposes, someone was being proactive, productive and positive, trying to be part of the solution.
While Nebraska was playing footsie publicly with the Big 12 or anyone who might want to play them with a distinctly all-that-matters-is-football kind of tone, and other schools were lamenting this hard reality — and for the record, I do not blame anyone taking this like a tire iron to the jaw, because it may as well be — Purdue's coach has a plan, a thorough one with a whole lot of bases covered. He was trying to be solution-oriented and a leader, and while I know the Big Ten's wheels are already in motion on this spring scenario, everyone's need to be, because this will require a united front, because this conference must heal as a team, or die as individuals, to quote Pacino in "Any Given Sunday."
That may be overstating it, but you saw the debacle that occurred earlier this week. This league needs to heal, and it needs to move forward. Brohm's plan may work, it may not. We may never hear of it again after today, for all we know.
But it's something instead of nothing. Nothing is the worst feeling right now for so many. Brohm's plan may not end up being the plan, but he just moved the conversation toward one. He just threw a wad of gauze over the open wound that is the Big Ten fraternity right now and moved it forward.
Beyond that, he just put Purdue in the headlines again, a brilliant move, whether it be intended or not, at the entryway of this vast wasteland that this fall will be from a football perspective for the Big Ten, Pac-12 and my guess is, more to come. If more do wind up punting 'til spring — and to root for that to happen is to root for kids to get infected, so let's not — then the Big Ten may be at the forefront of what comes next, and it could own the spring.
Spring football is a bold endeavor and comes with very difficult obstacles, but if you look at Brohm's plan, there's a lot in there that makes sense. This is practical, self-aware and thoughtful, considerate of all land mines involved in this never-before-done undertaking. This wasn't some coach mindlessly scribbling Xs and Os on a cocktail napkin at Appleby's during a recruiting trip.
Lots of coaches have said, "We want to play." Of course they do. Here's one saying, "Here's how maybe we can." Embrace this and make the best of it, that's what I've always said, and that's all that can be done anyway. That's the direction Purdue's coach is pushing here.
Thursday, Brohm did the Big Ten a solid by striking a blow toward advancement and perhaps bumping conference discord off Page 1 for a few hours — Page 1 is a newspaper thing, perhaps you've heard of them — and gave fans and players something to look forward to, maybe.
Don't underestimate that last part: The players.
When you love what you do and suddenly can't do it anymore, even when you think you could be or should be, that's harder than hell. It is imperative these young men's mental well-being be looked after.
This, this is one Big Ten coach, at least, giving people — those players included — something, something that may be actionable, something to look forward to, to keep their heads up and their eyes forward.
Good for Jeff Brohm.
