Indiana football is set to take on rival Purdue for the Old Oaken Bucket on Friday at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The Boilermakers’ athletic department parted ways with former head coach
Ryan Walters after the Hoosiers’ 66-0 win in Bloomington last season. In steps a new staff and pretty new roster led by Barry Odom, who previously led programs at UNLV and Missouri.
Like Curt Cignetti’s staff, Odom’s staff has plenty of youth. Mike Scherer, at just 32 years old, leads Purdue’s defense as coordinator. He was previously the defensive coordinator at UNLV and coached linebackers when Odom held the same role at Arkansas.
He was asked about Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the current betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, during a media availability on Monday and gave high praise.
“Extremely smart, extremely smart,” Scherer said. “Can throw every throw, can run when he needs to, knows how to spread the ball around… If he sees something before the snap he’s gonna catch the ball and he’s gonna throw it exactly to the wide open man.”
Scherer elaborated further, noting that Mendoza processes defenses when he’s handing off the ball on runs so he knows what to look for during the play and others.
Watch his full media availability below:
