Mike Scherer isn’t quite sure what the Boilermakers’ defensive scheme is going to look like come August 30th against Ball State in the season opener. And that is partially by design for the new Purdue defensive coordinator as he begins his tenure in West Lafayette.

The vision of how Purdue plans to stop some of the explosive offense on next season’s slate will become clear once Scherer and the coaching staff has an opportunity to get the players out on the practice field this spring.

“We’re trying to figure out who our players are. The players are the most important part of every scheme. You got to figure out what they can do. It doesn’t matter what I know, it matters what they can do, and so that’s part of it. We’re still learning everybody,” Scherer said. “What kind of defensive line we put out there, what kind of what alignment they start in will change all the time, and it may change in the middle of a snap while the quarterbacks call the cadence. So we’re going to be very, very multiple, but rely on on our players and their skills and their talents.”

The focus of Scherer and Purdue’s defense lies in the players on the field, according to Scherer, which will allow them to be multiple. That could look a few different ways, between the traditional 4-3, 4-2 and 3-3 schemes, all of which the Boilermakers will trot out onto the field one way or another.

“If you’re a traditional person, you think of schemes as a four-two or three-four or three- three. We’re going to do all of them. And there’s times on one single snap we could do all,” Scherer said.

Scherer pointed to how he and Barry Odom have approached that side of the ball at UNLV, Arkansas and Missouri during their time together, offering a few different possibilities for a base defense. Purdue will look to replicate the success of some of those stops, particularly last season at UNLV, where the Rebels were top 30 in scoring defense in the nation.

As Scherer and staff continue to learn more about what they have to work with throughout winter workouts and spring practice, the scheme should start to take shape by the end of spring. A lot of moving parts will play into that process, however, as Purdue signed 29 transfers in the 2025 cycle, including 12 on the defensive side.

Perhaps the most pressing need addressed in the portal was the secondary, which was the not-so-proud owner of the worst passing defense in the Big Ten a season ago. The Boilermakers look to change that by adding the likes of Crew Wakley, Tony Grimes, Chad Brown, Ryan Turner, Richard Toney, and Tahj Ra-El to the mix on the back end.

“We needed everything. We needed everything. So yeah, secondary was big, and I think Coach Clark did an incredible job of recruiting those guys and finding the right ones for us and then getting them here. I think, talent wise, and the turnaround of what we need and what we’ve got, I think you look at that defensive back position from either safety or corner, they did a heck of a job in the portal,” Scherer said.

Scherer also sang the praises of Smiley Bradford and Hudauri Hines as two returners that have stood out as talented pieces for the Purdue secondary, in addition to the portal haul coming to campus.

The Boilermakers also signed a trio of linebackers with ties to Scherer, Mani Powell, Carson Dean and Alex Sanford. All three offer size and athleticism that the group was lacking, in the eyes of Scherer.

“You’re talking three guys that are 230 pounds and can really, really run. So, you know, I think the room needed some size and some speed. So, I think those three really add to that,” Scherer said.

Scherer also spoke to the importance of getting after the quarterback, which his UNLV defense did 42 times last season, while Purdue was 12th in the Big Ten, with 22 last season. The Purdue defensive coordinator pointed to portal add CJ Nunnally IV and the returning C.J. Madden as two names that could be top pass rushers for the Boilermakers in 2025. Fellow newcomers Breeon Ishmail and TJ Lindsey could also look to crack the rotation after transferring in from Michigan and Auburn, respectively.

While Scherer didn’t know who would step up in that regard, he highlighted the importance of that being the case to have success next season.

“Pass rush is huge. Affecting the other team’s quarterback is the name of the game,” Scherer said. “If the guy with the ball in his hands is flustered by any stretch of the imagination, or doesn’t exactly know what he’s looking at, then as a defense, we’re probably going to be successful. So rushing that quarterback is very important.”

The Boilermakers are in desperate need for a change on the defensive side of the ball, especially for a program that hasn’t ranked in the top 25 of scoring defenses in the country since 2017. That is what Scherer is tasked with accomplishing, and more, as he reinvents the Purdue football defense, knowing that changes are needed to do just that.

“If you want to be different, then we got to do some different stuff. And it starts with putting in work and and really buying into working hard,” Scherer said.

How it looks remains a mystery, but the goal will remain constant for Scherer and the Boilermakers’ defense moving forward.