Johnson, an All-American at Wittenberg as a senior in 1993, is in his third season as a defensive backs coach at Purdue. He has also coached at Ohio State, Miami and Arkansas among other programs.
“It’s always good to see Taver,” Fincham said. “Even though he’s only a couple hours away, with jobs and lives and all that other stuff, you don’t get to spend as much time talking or seeing each other. Taver was a great player but a better person. He probably had the most natural leadership of any player I’ve been around.”
RELATED: Looking back at 2009 Wittenberg vs. Whitewater game
Wittenberg made this same trip in 2009 when it lost at Whitewater in the third round, but Johnson wasn’t at Purdue then.
“Last time we came up here we stayed in West Lafayette on Thursday night to break the trip up,” said Fincham, as he rode the team bus up Interstate 65 in Indiana. “We practiced at Whitewater. We came up that time and the stadium was buried in snow. They were digging it out. It was so cold I don’t know if we got much done.”
The Tigers practiced on Purdue’s indoor field Friday morning. They will have a walk-through practice at Whitewater on Friday night.
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