It's overwhelmingly likely that Purdue's introduction of Danny Hope as its successor-in-waiting for Joe Tiller takes place.

In the meantime, GoldandBlack.com takes a closer look at the soon-to-be former Eastern Kentucky coach.

Hope, 49, leaves Eastern Kentucky after going 35-22 in five seasons, for a 61.4-percent winning percentage. The Colonels enjoyed a winning season each year under Hope's guidance.

Six of I-AA Eastern's losses in that time frame came on the road against larger Division I-A opponents: Kentucky in '07; Cincinnati in '06; North Carolina State in '05; Vanderbilt in '04; and Bowling Green and Central Michigan (42-41 score) in 2003.

Of Hope's 35 wins, four came against ranked I-AA opponents, in nine attempts.

Eastern Kentucky won at No. 16 Eastern Illinois 28-21 this season and at eighth-ranked Tennessee-Martin 31-28 in '06. It beat No. 11 Appalachian State at home 35-7 and 30th-ranked Samford at home 13-10, both in 2003.

EKU was 9-3 this season, undefeated in conference play, winning its first conference title since 1997.

Hope coached for Howard Schnellenberger at Louisville from 1985-94, then at Oklahoma in '95, before joining Tiller at Wyoming, where he coached one season before the staff's move to Purdue.

After coaching the Boilermaker offensive line from '97-'01, he became John L. Smith's assistant head coach and offensive line coach for one season before scoring the head coaching job at his alma mater.

Hope was hired Dec. 10, 2002.

Tiller was correct that Hope left West Lafayette in hopes of positioning himself for the EKU job, which was about to open due to Coach Roy Kidd's looming retirement.

Ironically, though, Tiller was very wrong about how long his former assistant coach would remain at his alma mater.

"This was the job he wanted …," Tiller said then. "He might close his coaching career out there, just like Roy Kidd did after 30-some years."

Hope's previous stint in West Lafayette - he was a member of the original staff that came with Tiller from Wyoming - lasted from 1997-2001. He left Purdue after the '01 season to become the assistant head coach at Louisville; it was believed at the time some of his motivation for doing so would be to better position himself for the Eastern Kentucky job, which was expected to be opening.

In Richmond, Hope ran a spread offense that led the Ohio Valley Conference in total offense in 2003, 2005, 2006 and .

The Colonels have used a 4-3 defensive set.

Hope's signature contributions to Purdue's success in the early years of Tiller Era came with his tutelage of an over-achieving 1997 line and his construction of the 2000 line that became one of the nation's best and arguably the best in school history.

It was that 2000 line that kept Drew Brees clean as he led Purdue to its first Rose Bowl since the late '60s.

Seven players Hope coached at one time or another in his career at Purdue played in the NFL, including Matt Light, an All-Pro, possessor of multiple Super Bowl rings and perhaps even a Hall-of-Famer.

The others are Mark Fischer, Chukky Okobi, Gene Mruczkwski, Ian Allen, Brandon Gorin and Kelly Butler.

In his first stint at Louisville, Hope coached Cardinal All-American and current San Diego Charger Roman Oben, now in his 12th year in the NFL.

At Wyoming, he coached All-American Steve Scifres, who went on to be drafted and play three seasons with four NFL teams.

Hope has often been lauded as a fine recruiter.

At Purdue, he combed primarily the Dallas area as Purdue built much of its early success on the back of Texas recruits.

Among those players he (presumably) lured to West Lafayette were defensive end Akin Ayodele (signing him out of high school), safety Ralph Turner, running back/return man Jerome Brooks, cornerback Jacques Reeves, defensive tackle Brandon Villarreal, linebacker Bobby Iwuchukwu and offensive guard Uche Nwaneri.

It was also a high school coaching contact of Hope's that led defensive tackle Matt Mitrione to Purdue as a late signee in the spring of 1997.

Hope also has a recruiting history in Florida, where he started his coaching career as an assistant coach at Manatee High School in talent-rich Bradenton.

Hope is a 1981 graduate of Eastern Kentucky, where he played offensive guard and was part of the Colonels' 1979 I-AA national championship team.

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