Darrell Hazell is out as Purdue's football coach
More ($): Names to consider for Purdue
After managing only a 9-33 record over three-plus seasons, Darrell Hazell is no longer Purdue’s head coach, GoldandBlack.com has learned.
Hazell was fired Sunday, one day after Iowa dominated the Boilermakers 49-35 on Homecoming. It brought Purdue's record to 3-3, with the losses being one-sided contests against Cincinnati, Maryland and the Hawkeyes.
Receivers coach Gerad Parker will be the interim coach. Parker is in his fourth season with the Boilermakers, coming on staff as tight ends coach before moving to coach the receivers last season.
Purdue not only failed to win back-to-back games under Hazell but struggled mightily in games following a victory. Including the Iowa game, Purdue lost by an average margin of 21.3 points after the nine games it won.
In Big Ten play, Purdue was 3-24 under Hazell.
After the loss Saturday, Hazell said he felt confident he still was the right person to lead the program.
“I’m doing everything right to help these guys become better. There’s no question that we’re moving forward,” Hazell said. “Obviously it doesn’t feel good right after this game. But we’re doing a lot of good things. We just have to keep pushing. That’s all.”
Athletic director Mike Bobinski declined comment following the loss.
Hazell was hopeful new coordinators could get the Boilermakers untracked in 2016, but neither the offense nor the defense showed consistency over the first six games.
The defense, under Ross Els, hasn’t successfully addressed its biggest weaknesses: Stopping the run and getting off the field on third down. The Hawkeyes rushed for 365 yards Saturday, making it three consecutive weeks in which Purdue has allowed an opponent to rush for at least 300 yards. Illinois had 315 two weeks ago, and Maryland had 400 in the Big Ten opener. Iowa also converted its first seven third-down attempts Saturday before finishing 9-of-16 on third down. In the first two Big Ten games, Purdue allowed 8-of-23 conversions. Heading into Saturday's game, it was last in the nation in third-down conversion defense.
The offense has shown an ability, at times, to pile up yardage, but it hasn’t converted those big numbers into enough points. Under Terry Malone, Purdue has surpassed 450 yards of offense in five of its six games, but it has had issues with turnovers at times and hasn’t responded with scoring drives often enough.
On Saturday, Hazell was asked what coaching Purdue meant to him.
“I love these guys,” he said. “I like the way they come to work all the time. I know how important it is to the staff and the players. These are some of the situations you’ve got to go through when you’re building the thing up. We’ve been on a little bit of a roller coaster ride this year, win, loss, win, loss, but all you do is keep coming back and keep fighting. That’s what it’s about.”
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