Our boilers stand at 3-3 at the halfway point of Hope's third season as the head coach. If you visit here often, you've heard us express our thoughts that we believe that this team's record should be better than it is. We think that there are some talented guys on this team, talented-enough to have at least one more win if not two...but things are what they are. Purdue continues to struggle with stupid penalties at key times, seems to have breakdowns when they're in the most need of crisp play and the offense seems to still be struggling to find an identity. On top of that, there are gaping holes in the line-up that can be attributed to poor player development or recruiting misses. Many, if not all of this team's problems can be credited to the coaching staff.
But, there are some things that are very positive that are due to coaching. This team almost always looks motivated to play. They hustle and don't seem to give up on plays too often. And there seems to be very good chemistry among the players...as they legitimately like each other. Plus, Hope has conscientiously built a team that is faster on both sides of the ball than the teams that Tiller put together.
The reason this team is what it is, both the good and bad, comes from the top. The players are fun-loving because the man behind the mustache is as well. These guys are excitable and emotional because the head coach encourages it. He understands that football is a game of emotion...but at times this season, the players and coaches alike have looked confused and unsure of what should be done next.
In this era of football, it's really tough to watch your favorite squad go one, two, three, four...seasons without going to a bowl game. That's probably why attendance has been dropping steadily during Hope's time at Purdue. In fact, it looks like the Homecoming Game could be the lowest-attended of its kind in nearly 20 years unless there is an unexpected run on tickets in the next 24-36 hours...and while I hate seeing it, it's understandable that many have shifted the way they spend their money the last few years.
Regardless of how bad things get and have gotten, and even following the horrible prime-time home showing versus the hated Irish, I still can't help but like Danny Hope. Both J and I have talked to him a few times...and both of us came away with the same impression- he's a good guy.
He loves being the head coach of Purdue, loves the players he coaches, loves meeting the fans and seems to be tireless and driven to do whatever he knows how to help his team succeed...that's hard not to like.
Watch the coach as he leads his team on the field or as he talks to his players before kickoff. Tune into the Danny Hope Show on the radio and you can literally hear him smiling as he talks about the game. He is happy to be where he is...and always excited about the potentially-great thing that might happen next game. His positivity is impossible to miss...and tough for some fans to take.
After watching Purdue lose to a Rice team that had no business beating our Boilers, Hope grinned and talked about the progress and good things he saw on the field...and this was right after the game. I know Hope can get angry, we've seen his ire directed at officials from time-to-time, BUT, almost every Saturday following a loss, I feel more angry than Hope seems to be. Part of that is that my temper is not where it should be and I take Purdue football too seriously. But part of me thinks that a coach needs to be an ass-kicker from time-to-time to keep players in line. We know that our favorite basketball coach is...and his team does OK.
But regardless of my opinion of when anger is called for, and my belief that Purdue football teams have looked disorganized and unsure of themselves at time. I still like the coach as a man.
I watched BTN's "Step Into My Office" show this week that featured Coach Hope (not sure if it was new or a re-run)...and not surprisingly, I really enjoyed hearing Hope's stories of his players, his personal life and why he does things the way he does. Not too much shocked me about what the coach had to say, in fact, what he said was pretty predictable after watching and listening to the man for the past three-plus years. But I still enjoyed it.
I'm positive that if I had Coach Hope as a neighbor, I would love it- I'd borrow power tools from the man, seek advice on how to smoothly finish drywall, or maybe watch some football with him over a frosty beverage. I think he is a genuine guy; what you see is what you get...and I value that trait quite a bit. My Dad is a similar guy- man's man, all-around great person and enjoyable to be around. But I think he'd be a bad hire as Purdue's football coach.
I do understand that's a ridiculous comparison...but the point is, my frustration with Hope as a coach has nothing to do with my opinion of him as a man. But his title makes him accountable for one of the single-largest money making entities on Purdue's campus and his job is one that demands success.
But whether you like the man or not, it's tough not to think that Hope is getting to the point in which his team needs to succeed now...both for him as a coach and the team as a whole. Saturday's game is important for this team as they have six games remaining and must win three to earn a bowl game...and it gets no easier as the following three games are against some of the best teams in the league...one of them versus one of the best in the nation.
While Coach Hope is not a guy who surprises Purdue fans too much at this point, he'll need a few surprises in the coming weeks in order for this team to have a successful season. Because if his Boilers fail to make one of the 35 bowl games and Ross-Ade continues to look like it did during Saturdays in the fall of the early 90s, Burke might be forced to make a difficult and unusual decision.
Purdue kicks off versus Illinois tomorrow at noon on EsPN2.
10 comments:
I just remember how excited I was to see a change on the Purdue sideline in Coach Hope's 1st season. Not that I wanted Tiller to go, yet it was the unknown of something new. That excitement has turned to anger as I continue to see high school type mistakes out of players and coaches alike. I wish I could be optimistic about the next 6 games but I am a realist and I doubt we win even 1 of these match ups. At this point in Danny Hope's coaching tenure...my glass is indeed half empty.
If Burke made a mistake acceding to Tiller's demand to pick his successor, at least it ended up being a nice guy who's simply not capable of being a head coach at this level. Aside from the A.J. King thing, he's not done anything I can recall that was poor form, certainly nothing along the lines of what goes on regularly at MSU or OSU.
It could be a lot worse. It would be nice to see Purdue winning bowl games again, and maybe the next coach can make that happen, but if the football team is struggling, at least it's a likable team doing so under a likable coach.
Yes, Coach Hope is likable. But I already have friends. I already have a father-figure to look up to (coincidentally, he's my father). What I need is a football coach who can make Saturdays (and late Decembers, for that matter) fun again. I don't really care if a coach has a tendancy toward assbaggery. If he can recruit, develop, and lead players to even modest success, then that's the guy I want.
I like Danny Hope as a person, and I wish him all the success in the world. I just don't think he's going to find it at Purdue.
zLions and Cary -- great back-to-back comments that I think sum up most of the feelings of those who watch this team closely.
Nice that he's likable, glad our program isn't a cheating, national embarrassment...but being nice doesn't win games.
Well said.
I watched the Danny Hope Show last night. It made me sick that he grinned during the whole show. It made me sick that he described last Saturday as a "great day for our football team, except that we didn't happen to win."
And, Zlionsfan... It could be worse? How could it be worse? We have 3 wins over teams with a combined record of 3-14. Please tell me how it could be worse.
I'm sorry but I don't want the school I love coached by a guy who is so comfortable with losing. I think it was Bill Parcells who said... "There is winning and there is misery." Apparently we need to invent a third option for Danny Hope.
I'm not going to say he is a nice guy because I don't know him. Based on the things he says in interviews and on his show, he sounds more like a con man than a nice man.
Come on, Purdue fans. If we don't demand and expect the best, then we'll never achieve it. No more excuses!
What could be worse? Aside from the schools I mentioned ... how about the years between 1984 and 1997? We had a coach who got exactly one good season out of his teams. He was replaced by a fading coach who couldn't get the job done, and he was replaced by a guy who, like Hope, had never been a head coach at this level, but unlike Hope, had never even had success at a lower level. He, of course, failed as well; he was 1-10 in his third season, but was allowed to coach three more years anyway.
During this time, our biggest rivals were going to bowl game after bowl game while they enjoyed their second-best period of success in the Bucket rivalry.
That was worse.
Compared to the bad ol' 80s and 90s, yes, it could be worse. But compared to the go-go late 90s and early 00s....this is just way below what should be expected.
All depends on the perspective one is looking at it from.
I watched the show last night and noticed a few things:
1) Danny Hope was an inner-city white kid. In the track team picture, he was the lone white guy in the group. He alluded to a rough upbringing and is a guy that has gotten to where he is through hard work and an attitude of willing himself and others to making good of poor situations.
2) He is relationship-centric. He truly values those he coaches and works both with and for. To him, nothing is more important than helping and motivating.
3) He's been there and done that. I think this is why he takes chances on risky-type personalities. They cannot fool him. He's probably pulled it himself a time or two.
With that said, he is a guy that is not the smartest, the most eloquent, nor the most seasoned at what he does, but no one will ever claim that he didn't give it all he had. I admire that about him as a person. It is a trait few will NOT say about the man, (see Pat Fitzgerald. Ask him about Danny or ANY EKU fan/grad.)
Do those qualities all add up to a good head football coach of a Division 1 program? As we have seen thus far, it is limited in its effectiveness. Hope most likely equated success in the past with the staff that Tiller had and thought it would work. It has yet to. Being a 1-AA coach and being how he is can work as faults can be overlooked at that level. Being a good assistant coach does not always mean you are destined to be a good head coach. I see it at work a great deal. Just because you are a great design engineer does not make you a qualified leader of other engineers by default.
It is obvious his players respect him and will work hard for him, but hard work without quality instruction from the support staff will not lead to success and will most certainly not develop them for the road ahead. The staff choices fall on him. As the face of the program, he may be ok, but his staff decisions are left wanting. We all know an HC is like the QB: undeserved praise and blame abound, but executive decisions are his to own up to.
For me personally, I want a quality staff and have Danny limit his gametime decisions. Look at Zook. As an HC, you want a staff that is qualified, compensated, and ABLE. We may never see him in that capacity given the current situation.
I like him as a person but I do not feel he is effective enough with his administrative decision-making skills to succeed beyond where we are now as a football program.
The reason why Hope "loves" being the head coach is that he is making in excess of $1 million/year. I would "love" it too. Come on guys, don't ignore the obvious. This is Hope's dream job that he had no right to get. When it comes to being a big-time coach, Hope is a joke.
I agree with Cary, CalTravelGuy, and Stump. We as Purdue grads, fans, and students should demand and expect more from our head coach. I measure his coaching success by looking at where he was from year one to now. His first team (compiled of Coach Tiller's recruits) was a more polished and efficient team, offensively and defensively. You compare them to the team that is taking the field against Illinois and it isn't even close. It has been a pretty significant slide down from all angles. In coaching, recruiting, attendance, and worst of all...EXPECTATIONS. Not only are we as fans expecting less from his teams, the players expect less because at this point none of them have been part of a winning Purdue Football team. I'm not sure how much it truly works in favor of my beloved Boilermakers but I have stopped buying my season tickets. Apparently I'm not the only one that believes this is the only way to really show my dissatisfaction as record lows in attendance are expected for the homecoming game. This is truly a sad time for Purdue Football. So yes, we should ALL EXPECT MORE and right now those expectations call for Kevin Sumlin OR a proven winner in D1 football.
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