DC Scherer hoping for big turnaround

The good news for Mike Scherer: There is only one way to go. And that’s up.

The defense the new Purdue coordinator/linebackers coach is taking over was unequivocally the worst in the Big Ten–and one of the saddest in America–in 2024. (see chart below).

“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,” said Scherer (SHEER). “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 has had five spring practices–Purdue is off this week–to begin evaluating talent and installing this scheme. What is his system?

“We like to play offense on defense,” he said. “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. 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.

“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.”

Veteran linebacker Winston Berglund has been impressed by his new boss.

“He’s a great coach,” said Winston Berglund. “It’s definitely a different style of teaching. I really like it. It’s definitely a switch up. But he’s a great teacher.”

Much of the personnel from last year’s defense (see chart below) that lost games 66-7, 52-6, 45-0, 49-10, 35-0 and 66-0 is gone, including S Dillon Thieneman, DE Will Heldt, NT Cole Brevard, CB Kyndrich Breedlove and Yanni Karlaftis. In all, Purdue saw 16 defensive players (four linemen; one linebacker; 11 defensive backs) transfer after the 2024 season.

Barry Odom responded by importing 12 defensive players from the portal (see chart below). And more will be brought in during the spring portal window that runs for 10 days from April 16-25.

MORE: Spring football content portal

“We got a long way to go, but they’re playing hard,” said Scherer. “We’re getting turnovers, so things that you like to see in the defense, you’re seeing. But, … 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.”

It’s still early, but a handful of players already have turned heads and figure to play key roles for the 2025 defense, including LB Alex Sanford, CB Tony Grimes, LB Mani Powell, S Crew Wakley and DE CJ Nunnally, among others.

Mike Scherer at a glance

Age:	31
Hometown:	St. Louis (Mary Institute and Country Day School)
College:	Missouri (2012-16)
Position:	LB
Resume:	2020 Arkansas (analyst) 2021-22 Arkansas (LB) 2023-24 UNLV (DC/LB)

“You’ve got to make a team work it all the way down the field,” said Scherer. “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 pushed the buttons on a good UNLV defense the last two seasons, forcing 50 turnovers, including 34 interceptions for a program what played in two bowls and two Mountain West title games.

The turnovers forced ranked fourth in the country over that span, while the INTs were second-most in the nation. UNLV also cracked the top 25 in sacks (67) and TFLs (171) in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Generating turnovers was a huge issue for Purdue during its moribund 1-11 season in 2024.

2024 PURDUE DEFENSE

Category	Stat
Rushing Defense	200 ypg, 18th in Big Ten
Passing Defense	252.7, 18th
Total Defense	452.7, 18th
Scoring Defense	39.9, 18th
Turnovers Generated	5, 18th

“We’re gonna have fun, but that doesn’t come without the work,” said Scherer. “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.”

DEFENSIVE PORTAL ARRIVALS

DEFENSIVE LINE (3)

Player, school

E Breeon Ishmail, Michigan

E/T TJ Lindsey, Auburn

E CJ Nunnally, Akron

LINEBACKER (3)

Player, school

Carson Dean, Arkansas

Mani Powell, UNLV

Alex Sanford, Arkansas

DEFENSIVE BACK (6)

Player, school

CB Chad Brown, Nevada

CB Tony Grimes, UNLV

S Tahj Ra-El, Memphis

S Richard Toney, TCU

CB Ryan Turner, Boston College

S Crew Wakley, BYU

DEFENSIVE PORTAL DEPARTURES

DEFENSIVE LINE (4)

Name	Class
Cole Brevard (Texas)	Sr.
Will Heldt (Clemson)	So.
Damarjhe Lewis (SMU)	Jr.
Jeffrey M’Ba (SMU)	Sr.

LINEBACKERS (1)

Name	Class
Yanni Karlaftis (Northwestern)	Jr.

SECONDARY (11)

Name	Class
CB Botros Alisandro (Old Dominion)	Jr.
S Koy Beasley (Miami of Ohio)	Fr.
CB Kyndrich Breedlove (Arizona State)	Jr.
S Anthony Brown (South Alabama)	So.
CB Tarrion Grant (Texas Tech)	Fr.
CB Nyland Green (Arizona State)	Jr.
S Joseph Jefferson (Western Michigan)	So.
S Antonio Parker	Fr.
CB Derrick Rogers, Jr. (Florida Atlantic)	So.
S Antonio Stevens	Sr.
S Dillon Thieneman (Oregon)	So.