A question has been rattling around in my head since the Bucket Game on Saturday...and perhaps earlier than that. Is Purdue football small-time? Whether it is or not, it's acting and being treated by alums and administration as a small-time program. So I guess that means it is.
I love the school. I love the program. I want nothing more than to see these guys succeed. And it's these guys I want to see succeed, because I think they're talented enough to do so. I'm not longing for five-star, entitled punks who don't go to class. I like the guys who are there because they want to go to Purdue. That's one of the things that made the 2000 season so special and made the '03 and '04 seasons so almost-special.
Then I read quotes from Danny Hope at last night's football banquet and one of them is this:
"Everything about the program is going in the right direction. It’s unfortunate that we had some struggles."
Really? Really? Everything??
No, Coach, just....no. Everything is most assuredly not going in the right direction. And do you know how I know? I can simply look at the W-L record this season. And beyond that I can look at the way Purdue had no shot in several games. Simply no chance... primarily because they couldn't move the ball, or stop turning it over, or stop other teams from moving the ball... it all depended on the week, but no matter what, there were serious problems all over the field. Suggesting everything is going in the right direction is, quite frankly, absurd.
There is no accountability in this program, and that quote underscores it. Guys are fumbling. Guys don't know plays. Guys aren't in the right positions. Guys don't close the deal when they clearly should be able to. And the team is losing to good competition, mediocre competition, and inferior competition. The team is losing at home... on senior day... in the Bucket Game.... to a horrible IU team. And at home to a MAC team....two years in a row. That's simply inexcusable.
And no matter how many times we raise these issues, there are readers who -- inexplicably -- attack us for being so demanding and it's always the same excuse -- the injuries. Injuries, I'll say surely not for the last time, do not cause guys to not know plays. Or to not block properly. Or to not tackle properly. Or to drop passes. Or any number of other things that come down to 1) Coaching and 2) Accountability. If you make fundamental errors or repeated mental mistakes... you should be benched. Not permanently, but temporarily. I don't care if a walk-on has to take your place for a half. How much worse would things be? And it would make a point to the unprepared or unfocused player.
Or hey, how about working on fundamentals in practice instead of being everybody's best pal, Coach Hope? How about not making f-cking jokes to the sideline reporter going into halftime? Take this shit seriously. You're paid -- handsomely -- to make this program respectable. Nobody expects Purdue to be competing for national titles. Nobody really even expects Purdue to challenge for the conference. All people want is exciting football and average bowl seasons. Seriously, isn't that what the majority of fans and alums seemingly are okay with?
And there, my friends, is the problem. When you expect or hope for mediocrity and fall short, it's dreadful. If you shoot for the moon and fall short, perhaps you at least begin to plant the seeds for success. Say what you want about Joe Tiller -- and we have -- but when he came in to Purdue, he rejected out of hand the losing culture. He simply said they were going to compete and build a winner. And he did that. Understand something here: while Joe mailed it in his last few seasons, his first 6 or 7 years were inarguably impressive. Tiller won 9 games his first season. He beat Notre Dame. He won the Alamo Bowl. Purdue beat good teams. They scared teams. They changed the way the conference played offensively. People want to talk about Rich Rodriguez bringing his offense to the Big Ten. No, sir. Joe Tiller made that high-flying spread offense accepted in the Big Ten 13 years ago.
My point? That is can be done, but this coaching staff and this athletic department doesn't want it bad enough. Danny Hope should be sickened and disgusted by a 4-8 record and 9-15 over two years. Okay, so it was injuries this year -- what was it last year? Because, despite some excitement, last year was a lousy year, too. 5-7 is not good. It's not promising, it's not acceptable...it's not funny.
More than half the teams in the country go to bowl games. You only have to go .500 to qualify. Not going to a bowl these days is a referendum on your program. Not going three years in a row? Unacceptable. Simply unacceptable.
How come there is all this media talk about Rodriguez potentially being fired at Michigan? Two lousy years and now a pretty soft team that clawed to 7-5. Unmitigated beatdowns at the hands of their rival. And, rightfully, the natives are restless. Randy Shannon at Miami gets bagged after four years, 7-5 this year, 9 wins last year and a ranked team..... but it wasn't enough. Now, maybe Miami and Michigan fans are sometimes delusional....but the point is, they're simply not accepting average/mediocre teams. And let's be clear: those programs/teams are in far better shape than our Boilers.
So why are we at BS the only ones saying the Purdue football program's current state is unacceptable? Where is the media? Where are the alums? Come on, old John Purdue Club members! This team lost to Notre Dame, a MAC team and IU this year! How low do things have to get before people with influence begin to get pissed? 1-10? 0-11? I'm not suggesting (yet) that Coach Hope definitely has to go. I'm simply asking why it feels like we're the only ones in the Purdue realm who are highly concerned/irritated at the state of things? How come nobody is questioning Danny Hope's nonsensical rah-rah "everything is going well" baloney? That's just....stupid. And insulting.
All is not well, Coach Hope. And for things to begin to get better, you need to recognize that and get angry and do something about it.
27 comments:
Excellent
I am not a heckler, but after the 3rd and long QB draw with 6 minutes to go I stood and sarcastically yelled, “Great call Nord.” It was the only negative comment or shout that I made all day. Who berated me? Some IU fan, nope, a Purdue fan. The guy insinuated I didn’t know anything about Purdue football and that I was generally a despicable person for questioning a play call. He was ticked, which made me mad so we traded a few words and in that exchange he insisted that a QB draw and settling for a FG was a great call. Fuming, from the game and the comment, I turned to my Dad and told him that same mentality is why this coaching staff has 4 wins this year. 4 wins had NOTHING to do with injuries. I am not one of those with unrealistic expectations who think Purdue can compete for the B10 title every year. However, with the cupcake schedule including a 1AA team and 2 MAC schools nearly every year 8-10 wins a year is a reasonable expectation. An occasional down year with 6 is fine as long as it is not a trend. Conversely, it should be expected that Purdue compete for the B10 title once every 7-10. If Fitzgerald can do it at NU, certainly Purdue should be able to.
Wow.
Finally somebody gets it! It was concerning that the Alumni didn't seem to care about Tiller mailing it in and taking us to Motor City bowls... but not even caring about 4-8 seasons proves that expectations are far too low around here.
I agree completely. There absolutely has to be some sort of coaching shake-up. Not Hope for sure, yet, but the coordinators and position coaches need to be evaluated very carefully. Perhaps some of them should update resumes.
I expect 8 wins a year. I have high expectations, but I dont care. Purdue does in fact have a rich football tradition and has everything in place to be a top half B10 program. Well, except maybe the leadership.
I am angry, frustrated and demand more from my Alma mater.
I am not a heckler, but after the 3rd and long QB draw with 6 minutes to go I stood and sarcastically yelled, “Great call Nord.” It was the only negative comment or shout that I made all day. Who berated me? Some IU fan, nope, a Purdue fan. The guy insinuated I didn’t know anything about Purdue football and that I was generally a despicable person for questioning a play call. He was ticked, which made me mad so we traded a few words and in that exchange he insisted that a QB draw and settling for a FG was a great call. Fuming, from the game and the comment, I turned to my Dad and told him that same mentality is why this coaching staff has 4 wins this year. 4 wins had NOTHING to do with injuries. I am not one of those with unrealistic expectations who think Purdue can compete for the B10 title every year. However, with the cupcake schedule including a 1AA team and 2 MAC schools nearly every year 8-10 wins a year is a reasonable expectation. An occasional down year with 6 is fine as long as it is not a trend. Conversely, it should be expected that Purdue compete for the B10 title once every 7-10. If Fitzgerald can do it at NU, certainly Purdue should be able to.
I hated it when they hired Hope, but I also felt the same on the Matt Painter hiring. Burke got lucky as hell with Painter, but he sure hasn't with Hope. I was ready to see Hope go after last year. Hope had a full year headstart to get his recruits in the "transition" year. I can his ass and get somebody that knows what the hell he is doing.
EKU was a powerhouse in their conference and Hope left them as a mediobre team.
This post is right on! We went to the Rose Bowl with Drew Brees and we can get back there if we want it bad enough. I guess that's what drives me crazy about coach Hope. If he was changing things or trying, I could live with a bad season and give him another chance, but hearing comments like that infuriate me. If I was performing this poorly at my job, I wouldn't laugh it off or make excuses to my boss. I'd be working my butt off trying to fix things and if I couldn't fix it, I'd be fired, not be given to the end of time to fix it.
It really scares me when IU shows more commitment to improving its football program than Purdue does. There absolutely must be some changes this off season, starting with the $115,000 paid to J.D. Gibboney. I don't think it gets all the way to Hope this season, but we can dream, right? It's been painfully obvious that DH wasn't ready for the Big Ten and that he's also delusional. Example number 312, from Mike Carmin: He said "specials teams made great improvements this year" and likes the direction that phase is going. I suppose not fumbling 1/3 of the punt returns is an improvement, but it's another example of setting the bar far too low.
I want to say I've made my statement with my attendance. I have been to a game since we got railroaded at home by OSU in 2007. The whole thing is sickening. I still watch the games, in vain. I think the problem goes further than Hope. I think Burke is the root. he's done some really dumb things, like let Tiller drive the program back into the grave he resurrected it from, and gone on the cheap with a coach clearly not ready for bright lights, and has only really lucked out with Matty, lets be honest here, 1 season at Southern doesn't normally doesn't really make you ready for Purdue, luckily Matty isn't normal. He got lucky with a silly cowboy from wyoming. After the cowoboty rode the program back into the ground, why did we feel the need to find someone connected to him?? What ever happened to Ross Ade Phase 3?? Remember how we have less seats now then pre-renovations? Why does Matty have an out clause in his contract?? Remember how IU had a midnight madness, with a fleet of in state recruits, then hits a major windfall? Why because Purdue couldn't find another place to do it. U of I doesn't do it at Assembly Hall...
Here's a newsflash for the "injury" camp: the offense was TERRIBLE before the injuries (save Bolden). I know I'm not the only one who remebers that. Gary Nord wouldn't know offense if it slapped him, spit in his face and stole his wife. I can't believe he made it to the end of the season.
Morgan Burke: Time to step down. Danny Hope: Sorry, wanna be a O-line coach again?
Gary Nord: Disappear
Trustees: find me a REAL AD, and coach please.
Purdue Athletics: Silly, shortsighted, cheap, small time. You won't see me at Ross Ade any time soon. I'm a White Sox fan, if I don't approve of the product I will not attend.
SEND THIS ARTICLE TO HOPE AND BURKE!!! EXACTLY how it is!!! This is precisely what I've been thinking/saying for a long time. (see older post about Purdue accepting mediocrity).
Great write-up!
Rooting Burke out of there would be like getting rid of bedbugs - harder than hell. As long as he has things like golf to point out, they won't get rid of him. I've wanted him out since 1999. This is all about the motivation of the school president and the board as to what they want to focus on, and it isn't sports. Until the big-time alumni backers threaten to quit giving money, nobody is going to do squat.
Signs of sanity? Hope said this in the Gary Post Tribune:
""I think it (injuries) can be factored in, but there's nothing you can do about it," Purdue coach Danny Hope said on Monday. "What you do right now in order to press forward is you look at every phase of the program and you make sure that each one of those phases is hitting on all cylinders, and that phase of the program is a difference-maker. I don't care if it's academics, strength development, conditioning, assistant football coaches -- every phase of the program. You look at it right now and see whether or not that specific phase of the program is hitting on all cylinders, is that specific phase of the program a difference-maker. If it's not, then you look to see what you have to do to make it a difference-maker, because we're not that far off."
He also made the comment that TerBush is now 6'3", 230, and is "eating the scout teams alive."
Hmm.
I'm not sure what I think about all this yet, but it's worth considering...
I'd like to believe that Hope doesn't really believe all is well. After Tiller's negative attitude at the end maybe the AD insists that Hope blow smoke up our collective asses as part of the job?
I've defended Hope all season. I think it is unfair to fire a coach after 2 years. I knew early that this year was going to be a bad one. But, there is no excuse next year. Hope needs to know that if the football team doesnt win 8 games next season, he is done. Period. If that doesn't get everyone's ass in gear, they need to go. Players or coaches.
Yes. It is. And it will be as long as Nord and Landholm are calling the plays.
So no recognition that Danny Hope made those comments at the year end banquet? Did you expect him to slag any portion of the program at the year end banquet? There's a time and a place for everything.
I do agree with your sentiment. I'm betting Danny Hope does too. He just wasn't' going to say so there and then. Personally, I am waiting one more year. No bowl next year & he should be gone. & it should be a decent bowl; not Music City/Motor City.
Regarding other comments:
I don't think Morgan Burke got lucky in his hiring of Painter. I think it was smart from day one. They knew when he was a player that he was going to make a great coach. (Keady used to make comments all the time to that affect in post game discussions). Everyone knew when he was Webber's assistant that he would make a great coach. NOT hiring Painter would have been a black stain on Burke's record, especially since they missed out on Webber.
The golf team just won a Nat. Title. The diving program is as strong as it's ever been. The baseball team has shown a lot of improvement these last few years. The Women's basketball team is coming on strong. Much needed facility Renovations have taken place. Burke's program is being well run, in spite of the folly on the football field.
First of all excellent write up J. The football program right now is a joke. I am fully on board with Hope being fired. We need to show to everyone that 3 years of not going to a bowl is unacceptable. While I know it if a pipe dream that Hope gets canned, I can still dream. Also in my dream Purdue hires Mike Leach. Get back to the madness on the grass.
Eric -- So what it was at the banquet? He can still be honest that significant improvement is needed. that's reality... this isn't pee wee football, we don't need to sugar coat it to save people's feelings. This is a big problem and the program is dangerously close to slipping into nothingness. I don't think people realize how grave things are right now. When there are 30K people in the stadium next year and the team wins 4 games again, the damage will be complete.
It's very nice that the golf team and diving teams are so good. How many people watch those? How often are they on tv? How much money do they generate? Negligible, all around. Football is important for far bigger reasons than just making us happy. It's the flagship program at nearly all D-I schools. Schools without football or serious football are kind of a step down, even if they have a good basketball program.
Again, I never said he needed to be fired right now.... I think he just needs to get serious.
I agree with a fair amount of what's been said to some degree, but I think you are being shortsighted if you think success in other programs doesn't matter. I don't care who you are: if you are a winner, you bring honor to your school. We all know football is the biggest moneymaker in all of sports, but we have plenty of other programs to be proud about. And if you don't even want to so much as acknowledge the other sports programs we have, then you, sir, are not a Boilermaker. You're just a two-bit mainstream fan.
And before you go bagging the golf and diving teams, you should probably consider the fame that the likes of Spitz and Nicklaus brought to Indiana and Ohio State. Sure, they are still less-publicized sports, but the sheer dominance those guys brought to the game made them immortal, along with the programs whence they came.
I also have to side with some of the other comments made here. It's unfair to write a seething article based on two sentences from the end-of-year banquet. You're right, it's not pee-wee football, but there is a time and a place for everything, and that is NOT the time nor place to chastise your players or coaches. That's what practice and meetings are for. Just like Thanksgiving dinner wouldn't be the time to tell your children that you're bankrupt and you're going to need everyone to take on another job or they'll be on the street next March. There are times to be happy, and times to be serious, even if it means you have to fake the happy part. It's the civil thing to do.
Paul -- Do you REALLY think I based that post ONLY on his banquet comments? I said I felt those represented the larger problem, that's all. I mean, honestly, have we not been consistent in our criticism of the direction of the program for quite some time now? You insinuate I'm "shortsighted" and then accuse me of basing that article on only his comments at the banquet? If you --- and others --- really think that, then you're completely missing the point.
And I didn't "bag on" diving or golf... my point in that comment was to rebut the fact that Morgan Burke is doing a great job b/c those teams are winning. We want ALL Boilermaker programs to succeed, athletically and academically. But without a solid football program, ALL those other endeavors -- esp the sporting ones -- suffer. Do you not agree?
Did any of ya'll notice Drew Brees and his wife donated a sh-tload of money to Purdue? Um, if the football program remained in mediocrity and Joe Tiller didn't get Drew to come to Purdue, where would that money have come from? A generous alum of the diving squad?
And one last thing, good sir. We appreciate debate and disagreement and opinions... but please do not insinuate -- or flat-out state, which I guess you did -- that we're "not Boilermakers."
Them's fightin' words.
Quote from Hope. "I like the direction we've taken special teams-wise," Hope said. "I think we made great progress. We get a lot of critical feedback in our special teams and our special teams coordinator (J.B. Gibboney). That's the one position in football that there's more ignorance, even at a coaching level, than any other position in football. It's amazing how many big-time coaches don't know anything about special teams. We have a really good special teams coordinator. We did some great things special teams-wise this year."
Fire him.
That quote from Hope about special teams is offensive. I find it incredible he can point fingers at others' ignorance when he doesn't even know how to use a timeout properly.
And as far as alums speaking with their wallet....2008 was the last season I bought season tickets. And I don't plan on buying them next year.
Oh, man. Well, I do apologize, because I did NOT intend to say you're not a Boilermaker. I was in a hurry to get to lunch and actually meant to say "not much of a Boilermaker." So I'm sorry for inadvertently leaving out those two important words. I also realize that's not a whole lot less offensive, and it was probably still uncalled for, but as someone who enjoys watching the other sports that you don't cover, I take offense to people who slight them. I understand why you don't cover them, but they deserve respect too when you do talk about them. They are student athletes just as much as anyone on the football team, and many of them are a lot better at the "student" side of that fence than the higher profile players.
Here's a question for thought: if football were finishing in the top 3 of the Big Ten every year but every single other program were finishing last in the BT, how would you feel about Morgan Burke? I know that's unlikely, I just want to understand why you think he's such an unsuccessful AD. I think Dook is a good example of a school that manages pretty well without a decent football program. I don't ever want to be Duke or anything close to them, but they do all right for themselves because of everything else they have going on at their school, with basketball being probably chiefest among all else.
Drew is one of my all time favorite heroes, but he is such a rarity. We may never understand just how lucky we are that he ever came to Purdue and turned out to be such an outstanding role model in the professional world. I assume you're talking about his $2 million donation, unless I'm unaware of another big donation. That is outstanding, yes, but Purdue doesn't just get massive donations from athletes that go on to the next level. Such a small percentage of collegiate athletics get to compete as professionals that I don't really think that it is fair to compare Drew to a hypothetical diving alum. Now I'm only speculating and haven't looked into actual numbers, but I would venture a guess that we receive more money from successful graduates who earned their money in non-sporting careers than we get from athletes. Anyone may correct me if I'm wrong on that.
Anyway, I think I've probably taken us off topic and for that I apologize. My original point that I meant to make was that while I DO agree with much of the criticism, I don't think it's fair for Hope's optimistic comments at the banquet to be used as ammunition against him, nor be what sends our frustrations over the edge.
This football season was a complete disaster, yes. I wholeheartedly agree. There is still a lot of potential for next year though, and I have no doubt that it will be the final year that Coach Hope has to prove himself to both Burke and the fan base. In my opinion, this team will need to win all of its non-conference games next year and finish 2 games over .500 in the BT to call it a successful year.
So, sorry for pissing you off, J. I think all of our emotions are running a little high right now in the wake of this weekend's frustrating losses on the football field and the hardwood. You are a Boilermaker, and a dedicated one. I just happen to disagree with a small portion of what you said here. For the most part though, I have always been right there with what you and b-dowd have written. That's why I read this site every day and listen to the Handsome Hour when I get a chance or the podcasts later.
I could not have said it better myself! We are pathetic and I am embarrassed to be a Boiler football fan. Something needs, or should I say, MUST be done to turn around Purdue's football program. Morgan Burke should be very, very concerned with the lack of attendance and apathy of the fans. This is costing the university way more than money.
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