By: Larry Vaught
DANVILLE, Ky. – Will Bramel committed to Purdue the summer before his state championship senior season at Boyle County High School in Danville 2017 and seemed destined for a productive career with the Boilermakers.
He redshirted during the 2018 season and was an academic All-Big Ten pick in 2019 when he played in 12 games with 10 starts — mainly at right tackle — for an offense that averaged almost 400 yards per game. However, he hurt his back and managed to play just the first two games of the 2020 season.
"I had a lower back injury and just was not able to play anymore," Bramel said. That next spring I tried to play again but it was not going to happen. I ended up just a student volunteer on scholarship and started helping out our coaches."
That piqued his interest in coaching, but after he graduated in the summer of 2021, he didn't help coach the 2021 football season because he wanted to have time to recover if he did need back surgery. However, he also knew coaching was in his future. He started job hunting in December and saw a vacancy at Division III Centre College in his hometown.
"I thought I would be a fool not to at least look into it, and I really liked what I saw," Bramel said.
He remembers briefly meeting
Andy Frye, Centre's head coach since 1998, when he was in high school but didn't have a "relationship" with the Colonels' all-time winningest football coach.
"Coach Frye is awesome," Bramel said. "He sees the big picture so well. He's competitive with football, but also wants to make sure guys are prepared for life off the field as well. He focuses on them here for four years but sees the 40-year picture to set them up down the road so they are great alumni for Centre and make their communities better."
When he was offered the job as tight ends coach, he jumped at the chance to return to Danville and work for Frye — and didn't even know about the major facilities upgrade in the works at Centre.
"That just shows how committed Centre is to making sure student-athletes have a great experience," Bramel said. "Centre is elite academically and elite socially and now it is clear Centre has the same elite mindset for making sure everyone has a great athletic experience."
Since Bramel has been an offensive lineman used to blocking, he focused on learning more about the passing game during his volunteer coaching time at Purdue.
"I can run game talk all day, but it is a whole different world with pass concepts. I am truly learning again but my prior experience with the run game helps because tight ends have to block. They've got to know both the run and pass game. That's my challenge," he said.
"The tight ends here have been awesome. It's an older group for now but I have loved my time with them."
Division III football is not Power Five football like Bramel played, but he says the transition for him is different but not difficult.
"From what I have noticed, the kids at Centre when it is football time, it is football time and they put all their energy toward it," Bramel said. "These players are so well balanced as people. They are very good in the classroom, gifted athletically and also do internships and get involved in clubs, hobbies, Greek life. It's kind of amazing."
Bramel thinks he will enjoy recruiting and believes "selling" the Centre experience will be easy.
"Obviously, we want the best athletes but we want people who excel in academics and other things as well as athletics," he said. 'Centre football does not just fill up a roster but goes out and gets great kids."
Bramel, who turns 22 in May, has no set plans for where his coaching career might go. He's glad to be back around his family and will just see where coaching might take him.
"I have kind of just jumped into the fire. I don't have long-term goals. I just want to enjoy this opportunity and I am grateful coach Frye gave me this chance to work at a great place like Centre College," Bramel said.
