Not many surprises in the article. The Coach says he's staying busy around the house as his wife has him getting the place into order (it was just built last year). He's been on vacation a few times (I don't know if you can call it vacation, at this point) and is still thinking about Purdue football from time-to-time.
He likes Joey Elliot and compares him to Billy Dicken...likes Ryan Kerrigan and compares him, favorably to Rosey Colvin...and likes Keith Smith (whom we recently learned was suffering from a separated shoulder in '08) and compares him to Brian Alford. I think his point is that the tools are there for Purdue have a winning season a la 1997.
I'm not sure if this Purdue team has the talent that was left by Colletto, but both Colletto and Tiller seemed uninspired toward the end of their respective tenures at Purdue. Unlike Colletto, who attributed many of Purdue's losses in '96 to the players lining up incorrectly, Tiller admits his energy level wasn't cutting it-
"I think it needed an energy level that I had run out of, quite frankly...I don't function at the same speed that I did 12 years ago when I first showed up. I thought this program needed an injection of energy and he brings that to the table."
And not many do. Guys like Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden don't come along everyday...in coaching or in other industry. At 65, it's a lot harder to be a hard-charger than it is at 55. And unlike some other jobs, coaching simply demands a ton of hustle EVERY day and is demanding both mentally and physically.
I've said it before and I'll say it again- I'm appreciative for what Joe Tiller did for Purdue...but I wish he had decided to step down a season or three earlier. Much like Gene Keady, he nearly completely toppled the system and program that he and his coaches had worked so hard to build. But he's deserving of accolades and awards (like the Distinguished American Award he received last night) because of what he did at Purdue as head coach and before during his coaching career. Plus, he still seems like a pretty good guy. But like Coach Tiller 13 years ago, many are excited to see if Danny Hope can match Tiller's ability to right a listing ship. He'll be at the Northern Illinois and UND games next fall at Ross Ade to find out in person.
5 comments:
Dead on analysis and commentary on this one guys. At least Tiller is man enough (in hindsight) to fess up to phoning it in the last few years... I guess we'll always have the 90's (and 2000 - 2005) to remember him by. What is it about coaches that they cannot let go? Seems like the mark of a good Athletic Director needs to be showing coaches the door as much as laying out the welcome mat. Anybody think that some lessons were learned by the administration? Nah...
Just watched the 1998 Alamo Bowl on BTN. Brees to I.Jones was a great TD comeback. Hey-----
Couple things:
That coach Tiller tweet account is fake. It is a ghost tweet. I am not sure if I believe that the Ole Coach tweets yet. That really him? I think it may be a fake account. I might have to call him up again at his home in Buffalo,WY and see if he really tweets.
Am not so sure of the Coach Painter one too. Is that real or does CoachPainter have someone do that for him?
pretty interesting to watch some of these purdue games on the big ten network in tiller's early years vs. his last year and see the enery level difference the coach has. He was drained in his last few years.....definitely not free wheelin' Cowboy Joe....Couldn't keep that energy level up to where it was for the earlier years to the later years.
No obvious things going on. If you are into coaching, that energy level must maintain constant throughout the years.
Acacia, the reason those old coaches can't let go is because most are old athletes...like Favre, Jordan and others, the competitive drive is still there when their bodies can no longer do it. With the old coaches, it's similar, it's just too tiring to keep the schedule of a 12mo, 7day/week job...understandably.
Matt, I agree about the assessment of visible energy...it's pretty obvious. I'm watching the UND game and even the sideline demeanor is different...the team reflects it.
Regarding Twitter, I have no clue who's real and who's not. I was following Shaq a while back and it could have been real, but might not have been. I watch the lead singer of my favorite band and he never talks about music...it's actually more interesting. He's a Dad, husband, etc...lots of things to worry about outside of touring.
Twitter is a good ticker for your favorite sport...outside of that, it stinks.
The Shaq one is real ("verified" by Twitter) but I find it useless. He's not nearly as clever as everyone thinks he is, at least not in print.
www.twitter.com/meanjoepaterno is fun stuff, too.
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