Today's Journal & Courier has an article about Morgan Burke not extending Danny Hope's contract.
Of course, this would mean something if Coach Hope wasn't already under contract through 2014. But, still, it's something, and Burke's comments about how he has heard the voices that are not satisfied with Hope's performance are telling as well.
Burke acknowledges that Hope is going to need to start winning and he intimates that 2011 is a pivotal year.
While he never comes out and says it, I think this is as close as we'll get to an ultimatum that the football program takes a big step forward next year, or it's likely the end for Danny Hope.
(Thanks to reader Tom for the heads-up.)
10 comments:
“The 2011 season is going to be 2011 season regardless who is the head coach,” Burke said. “The talent is here. Either you’re going to win with what you’ve got ... you can’t transform that roster.
“I think there’s this feeling that I won’t pay money. (Danny) came in here and he knew he would have to show himself. At the end of the day, we’ll pay but I’m going to pay for performance and this guy has to prove he can get us to where we need to be. I think he knows that.”
I think that's AD speak for the heat is going to get turned up going into next year on Coach Hope to produce. Win with the guys you have or suffer the consequences.
Can you think of any other AD that has laid down the law in public for his head coach like this? ADs are usually insisting that the coach is there man 30 minutes before they fire them.
This is actually kind of a ballsy move, and totally out of character for Burke and Purdue.
I agree COD....this is out of character for Morgan J Burke. But I have to admit- I like it. Losing football sucks.
I like it. If Hope doesn't produce, I sure as hell hope Burke will put his (our) money where his mouth is.
Pretty impressive. It would have been easy for Burke to shovel some blah blah out there, but he was straightforward about pretty much everything: the hiring in the first place, the lack of progress, the decision to retain Hope for 2011.
I'm guessing that Burke was going to extend Hope's contract one year at a time providing he made acceptable progress (though why you'd give an unknown coach a four-year cushion that you can pay off anyway, I don't know), so it might mean a little something.
If next year is another sub-.500 season (I'd take 6-7 if one of the 6 is IU, but I'd still want to see more in 2012), then we'll see if Burke is equally forthright.
On your poll on who will be the QB next year I voted for Rob Henry because he has the most playing experience this year because of that I think it will be him over Marve however I really would like Marve to start. 2 ACL injuries wont be easy for him to recover from. I hope he can get back to 100% by spring practice and really do well and be the starter for game 1. This is what I would like best but...... we probably cannot guarantee that as those injuries are tough (for QBs) ?? yeah?
What you think?
Nitro
zlionsfan, good insight as always. My only guess as to why he gave Hope a four-year cushion even as a relatively unproven coach, is that it may have had something to do with their brief history when Hope was here as the OL coach 10 years ago. There was probably some mutual trust going on there, even though I'm sure Burke still laid down the rules very clearly.
Zlions and Paul --
I would say the cushion is to help with recruiting, so he can say, look, I'll be here for at least four years.
I'm glad to see this. I don't have anything really against coach Hope, however, I really don't like to see my boilers loose (especially to MAC teams and IU). I think what I like the most is the fact that this shows that the AD does not want Purdue football to slide back to the bad days. It tells me that they want Purdue to be a contender in the Big Ten and they don't want to settle. I was fearful that Purdue would hang onto a coach with a consistant loosing record just because it didn't want to shake things up. This gives me optimism for the future. If it means Hope is the guy, I'm fine with that. I'm just glad to see the attitude of the program is indeed concerned with being better than a bottom tier Big Ten team.
Matt, I agree with you about Marve. One of the things that bothers me the most about Purdue football is the lack of a real leader on offense. The defense always seems to have several, but guys like Brees, Everett, and Herman had a lot empty holes around them. ( OOOH, I just had a little chuckle about Jeff George and his mom ) We didn't get a chance to see Marve's true talent level, but he is a leader, and the rest of the team seem to have a great deal of respect for him. While all the players were rushing down to congratulate the guy who scored, he was thanking the offensive linemen. Even a year ago, when he was sitting in the stands, players would come off the field and point up to him, like they were seeking his approval. I hope he gets another chance!
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