Now that Purdue's football coaching search is long over, with Darrell Hazell hired, here are a couple of things that have come to light about the hiring process since.

Purdue did like Fresno State coach Tim DeRuyter, we think, but Hazell held a huge advantage over him in the sense that his ties to the Big Ten run deep, the thought being Hazell could hit the ground running faster recruiting in the Midwest and more importantly, that he'd have a better chance to assemble a great staff.

The Jim Tressel coaching tree was really an attraction for Purdue and we can't understate just how great an emphasis Purdue has put on assistant coaches with this hire.

Purdue was very aware of the Arkansas situation, where two former Buckeye defensive coaches -- Taver Johnson and Paul Haynes -- might be available to be brought back to this part of the country.

Not sure we'd expect to hear any different after the fact, but it is very fair to say right now that no one is heart-broken over Butch Jones not taking the job.

Again, take it for what it's worth, and we don't know any specifics, but there have been suggestions that that might not have been the best fit anyway.

At Hazell's introductory press conference, Morgan Burke insinuated that the timing of Purdue's visit to Hazell and subsequent offer had nothing to do with Jones, who interviewed the Sunday prior to Hazell's hiring.

That stands to reason, because Hazell wasn't going to going to do anything before the championship game. Had he, he might have been on Purdue's campus -- or Purdue might have gone to him -- before Purdue even talked to Jones. When Purdue saw him, it was really the earliest it possibly could given his timeframe.

After Jones visited Purdue on Sunday, no one at Purdue heard from him. On Monday, his offer, or at the minimum Purdue's keen interest, had "expired." The search committee was aware of Jones' visit to Colorado and moved on to the next phase of the search. 

Hazell took the job without being on campus beforehand. But we've heard too many times now about Jim Tressel being on campus, or least familiar with it,  for there not to be something to the possibility that the former Ohio State coach might have done his former assistant coach's recon work for him while Hazell prepared for the MAC title game.  


As we told you, Purdue came into the process with great interest in Sonny Dykes. That interest was fleeting. We don't know how interested Dykes would have been had Purdue remained interested, but Purdue didn't remain interested.

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This post was edited on 12/11 8:22 AM by GoldandBlack.com_Staff

So am I reading correctly, that Jones never even contacted Purdue to decline the offer?  Did his agent?  If so, that is unbelievable!  That lack of professional courtesy is reason #5 why I am glad he isn't at Purdue.  

Always questions......

What happened there?  Was it too public too soon?  Was he already hooked up with NC State?

Don't know for sure, but he felt like he had to withdraw because they were getting crushed in recruiting over. Purdue was the presumptive place for him a month before the job even opened. I guarantee you Purdue never offered him the job.

N.C. State really wanted him, though, and seemed to be afraid Purdue was going to hire him.

Cincy is better off. Jones was mentally ready to move and most likely focused on other jobs that were coming on line. Even if he stayed at UC I think his recruiting might be more about relationships than the freshman he would never coach.

Brian,
Seriously is our new coach really going to take us to the Rose Bowl and fill the stadium with loud screaming fans in 4 years? I don't think so. As I said before, Burke's favorites did not want to come to Purdue so Burke took the best he could get without extending his coaching search. I'm not upset with Burke's choice but Purdue did not hit the gold mine that Burke said he would hit. If Purdue does not reach the Rose Bowl and fill the stadium we should fire Burke not the coach in 4 years. Somebody has to hold Burke accountable this time.
Next year Purdue goes 6-6 with a bowl bid in Texas, thanks Morgan. History will repeat itself in West Lafayette in 2013.

How do you know Burke's favorites did not come to Purdue? List the names and give an explanation. And I do not mean making stuff up in your own mind. Who is your inside source? Answer - you do not have one. If we go 6-6 next year, I will be fairly happy. Have you even looked at our schedule in 2013? Not very many gimme games. Rose Bowl in four years? Probably not, but who knows? Did anyone foresee Coach Tiller's success? Coach Hazell was near the top of my list. I am thrilled he is at Purdue.

Fugs - who did you want to be the next head coach?

Posted from Rivals Mobile

Expecting ANY coach in the ENTIRE country to take Purdue to a Rose Bowl in the next four years I think is a bit foolish IMO.  I presume that you assume Burke's favorites were Butch Jones and Sonny Dykes.  I think we dodged a bullet on Jones and from what has been posted I don't think I am alone in that belief.  Dykes was seen as this big rising star for all of college football and ended up at Cal -- that's just odd.

Do you realize that the AD's job is to look after the ATHLETIC department and not just football?  Yes, football drives the bus but firing an AD just because he didn't find a coach that didn't fullfill and unrealistic goal (again IMO) of taking Purdue to a Rose Bowl in the next four years is absurd especially with all that Burke has done for the Athletic Department as a whole.

As for filling the stadium.  Tiller couldn't do it consistently why would any other coach?  That is a culture issue with Purdue that I am not sure is all that fixable -- at least not easily and definitely not as easy as hiring a new coach.

To echo some others if we finish 6-6 and go to a bowl game next year with the schedule we have I will be pretty content with that.

Actually I have a friend that met Doeren and his wife this past week at a  big alumni fundraiser in NC for NCSt.  His wife is from the quad cities and they overheard her telling friends that they "expected to be back near her family in IA a couple of years."  I know the speculation was that Doeren was really interested in a future job w/ Uof I  but it is IA that he has his eyes on.  If Firentz leaves in a couple of years as is expected and Doeren is still a coaching darling he will be lobbying hard for that job.  It wasn't so much that Doeren didn't want Purdue but rather it wasn't the B1G job he wanted.  And he knew that taking any other B1G job would mean that he couldn't get IA when it becomes available.

for Hazell to become a head coach and why kent state ? was tressel grooming him for O$U, sending him to Kent State to keep him close or unnoticed ?  When you read the comments from his former players, coaches he's worked under Morgan Burke may pulled off the biggest get of all the schools looking for a HC...he's a very good match for Purdue...academics, character seem as important to Coach Hazell as it does to Purdue and no matter what your opinion is of tressel he's not a bad guy to have working for you in the background.. nmaybe this is his way of getting back at O$U...it's a long time till Cincinnati  in late August ..i feel like a kid waiting for Christmas to get here !!  

Burke hired also hired Tiller and Painter...and if Hope would've had one QB with intact knees during his tenure, the story could've been a lot different for DH. Purdue needs MB a lot more than MB needs Purdue at his point in his career.