New defense, new position, new possibilities for Purdue's Yanni Karlaftis

There was Yanni Karlaftis, standing on the State Farm Stadium field in Glendale, Ariz., in February holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy. He just had watched big brother George Karlaftis become a Super Bowl champ with the Kansas City Chiefs. Yanni and his family were soaking in the moment.

“I got to take some pictures with the trophy and hold it afterwards,” said Karlaftis, who also ran into Ant-Man Paul Rudd. “It was really nice.”

There was a lot of grind that went into that glory. Yanni Karlaftis knows that. And, he’s grinding, too. Always has been. Just look at his 6-3, 230-pound body. It’s proof.

Now, the grind has new meaning as he looks to find his niche and make his mark at Purdue.

He is two years deep into a Boilermaker career that began draped in expectations. At times, his four-star label had to feel heavy. Then, there was the challenge of following in George’s All-American wake.

Yanni Karlaftis presses on.

It’s a new beginning for everyone at Purdue as the Ryan Walters era dawns. Everything is out-of-the-box fresh. And the possibilities are endless in April. Karlaftis gets it.

“I’m very excited for it,” he said.

Change has been a constant for the soft-spoken Karlaftis since he left West Lafayette High School in January 2021, crossed Northwestern Avenue and suited up in the Kozuch Football Performance Center. How much change? Karlaftis is learning his third position in three years.

“I feel like I’ve been ready to make an impact for a long time,” said Karlaftis. “I’ve been really anxious and just kind of getting excited. It’s been up and down. My freshman year, going from Sam ‘backer to a LEO, now to Will to Mike. I feel very comfortable being anywhere on the field and pretty much doing anything.”

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Defensive coordinator Kevin Kane is installing a unique defense that features a five-man front: two outside linebackers (Buck and Fox) on the flanks with two ends and a nose tackle on the interior. Karlaftis is situated behind that line.

“I’ve been fitting in around the middle ‘backer spot,” he said. “Played a little bit of Mike and Will and it’s been really nice because Coach Kane’s been able to explain it to us really well. So, the transition has been good.”

Karlaftis just may be hitting his stride. At least that’s the hope. Because of injury, he barely played as a senior at West Lafayette High, and that limited him when he got to Purdue as an early enrollee. Karlaftis played in four games as a true freshman in 2021 as a linebacker. He then saw action in nine games last year as a redshirt freshman, making a late-season change from LEO to linebacker.

“Yanni is awesome,” said Kane. “He provides a different skill-set. He’s the one guy that coming in here that had played on the edge and been a linebacker. So, he kind of had a one-up on a lot of guys because he’s got some pass rush ability, but he’s also been in the box as a linebacker.

“So, he understands that part of the game, as well. So, we’re utilizing him in certain packages and certain spots and using his skill-set for what I think he does best and for what we can do best.”

Karlaftis is part of a Will/Mike linebacking unit–the inside linebackers-that also includes O.C. Brothers, Jacob Wahlberg, Clyde Washington and Ben Kreul, among others. They’ve embraced change together, adapting and growing.

“Everything is going to look the same,” said Kane of his scheme. “Then, all the sudden, we’re going to give you a completely different picture post-snap. I’d say that’s what gives people challenges.

“We want to take the game out of the coordinator’s hands and put it on the quarterback and make him make the right decisions every time. With how we adjust and how we line up, it all looks the same and then on the snap, it’s a completely different picture.”

And if Karlaftis needs any additional pointers, he knows who to call: George. The brothers–two years apart–talk “pretty often.” Big brother offers perspective, among other things.

“It’s a breath of fresh air, like a new beginning,” said George Karlaftis of a coaching change. “You don’t really know much until spring ball happens and what happens during the spring.

“It’s a lot different of a staff, a lot of young guys, energy. Everything kind of changes and I think that’s good. I think change can be good to have that new, that fresh.”

George often will watch practice video, offering Yanni tips, advice, pointers.

“He likes to help me,” said Yanni. “Even though he plays on the edge (at d-end), he does a lot of similar stuff. He’s been having to cover sometimes on the back and different linebacker-type of things. He watched the last scrimmage and he’ll send me notes. He’ll send me notes weekly thinking what he thought and he helps me a lot with pass rush.”

But, it’s not all football talk.

“We mostly just talk about random stuff because we’re brothers,” said Yanni.