Tuesday, December 04, 2012

No Butch at Purdue; Attention Potentially On Hazell

It now appears official that Butch Jones will not be the head coach at Purdue. Multiple sources, including GBI and Carmin, are reporting that fact but not where he will be coaching.

CBS says Jones will attend a presser regarding the Bearcats bowl game, which seems odd since he supposedly will not be addressing his future. Good luck with that, Butch.

The current thinking is that Purdue has turned their attention to Kent State's Darrell Hazell, who quite frankly, I'm very high on at the moment. I watched the MAC title game and while I haven't seen much else of Hazell, I found myself more enamored of him during that game than of Doeren.

Hazell has, to me, the qualities you want in a leader of men. He exudes a confidence and a "Follow me, men" persona that, no matter the odds, gives the impression that he's got a plan. Of course, as a good friend of mine always says, "Custer had a plan, too."

As for "losing out" on Butch Jones, I wouldn't fret too much about this, Boiler faithful, and this isn't just me trying to make you feel better. Jones is a capable coach, no doubt about it. However, we've heard more than a few reports that he's a hothead and at times unlikable. Those characteristics still wouldn't make us not consider the guy, but you also have to take into account the fact that, like it or not, he was a reach for Purdue. He's a successful coach at a D1 program who already makes a lot of money. Purdue was simply incapable of blowing him away with a money offer, so it had to be the right fit for him and his family. Maybe it wasn't. Or maybe he's in it for top dollar, which, hey, it might be his best payday ever, so who are we to criticize that?

Also consider that Butch Jones inherited Brian Kelly's 4th-ranked, 12-0 Cinci team that played in the Sugar Bowl (and got worked over by Florida). So he walked into a pretty good spot and, to his credit, has not let them down. But is it what Hazell has done this year, for example? Taking a truly terrible program and getting 11 wins out of them?

All I'm saying is that Butch Jones was a stretch-goal for the Boilermakers and it hasn't worked out. This is not a reason to feel despair. If Morgan Burke comes through with a solid hire that we're all excited about, then he's done right by our alma mater and his very public courtship with Jones will be forgiven and forgotten. Until then, it looks as though Burke got played a little bit by Jones' agent. As I said, though, the final judgment on this search process is far from ready to be cast.

As I said on twitter the other day, I think you speak to Darrell Hazell and offer him $1.5 M per season, plus incentives, thus guaranteeing him five times his current salary at Kent State.

Get it done, Morgan.

11 comments:

Mark said...

I agree. I haven't been completely sold on Jones for the simple fact that no one knows if he can build his own program.

I like the potential of the K-State coach and the offensive firepower of the LaTech coach. Either of those are who would've been my first choice.

Jones was a 'splash' hire. The other two might be the better hire.

Purdue Matt said...

With jones you have a 6 season sample size. With Hazell you have 2. And I'm less inclined to say his experience at O$U is a positive. See my comment in the previous post. This is a big failure not getting Jones, no way around it.

CaryNW87 said...

Nice visor, coach. Read that Burke was ready to pony up, but just wouldn't guarantee the contract. Good move as long as he lands a real coach.

CalTravelGuy said...

Really? The MAC runner up guy? No thanks. What happened to raising expectations for Purdue Football? We are worthy of a game changer... If you guys don't believe that, then I'm really disappointed.

Plang said...

First of all, just because he's a MAC guy doesn't mean he can't coach. Urban Meyer (keep the booing to a low rumble) started out at Dayton for 2 years. Some of the other names we've been kicking around are from the WAC or other less then favorable conferences. Hell, even the Big East doesn't inspire me much anymore. I'm less concerned about where the guy is coming from and more concerned about what he has done and how he has done it.

Matt Gentry said...

I still think Kingsbury w/ Tessel as Director of Football Operations is our best play. If leaves us and goes back to the SEC after he wins the Rose Bowl, so be it... we get to keep the trophy.

wassaw585 said...

I think it's fairly game-changing to take a team that hasn't been to a bowl game in 40 years and nearly get it to a BCS game in your second year. And all that was done in a year that the MAC was more competitive than it has been in a long time. There were 7 bowl eligible teams in the MAC this year and even some of the middle of the pack MAC teams beat up on the Big East and the Big Ten. There has long been good coaching talent in the MAC. Meyer was at Bowling Green before Utah (Dayton isn't in FBS) and Saban coached at Toledo before Michigan State. Obviously, the jury is still out on Beckman (and even Jerry Kill), but the point is that success at one level can certainly lead to success at the next. Beckman didn't have any extremely good seasons at Toledo anyway, having not even won his division outright before being hired at Illinois. My main point is that there is a big difference between someone that has an 11-2 record at the FBS level and an FCS coach whose best record was 9-3 after five years on the job.

J Money said...

CTG -- Why not the "MAC runner up guy"? As has been noted, lots of good coaches start in the MAC. It's well known as a breeding ground for successful coaches... Brian Kelly, Urban Meyer, Brady Hoke, Butch Jones, Jerry Kill, Dave Doeren, etc.

Purdue DID take their shot -- with Jones -- and it didn't happen. What should they do? Go offer Bobby Petrino $4M? Not going to happen. You need to nab the next up and comer, in a perfect scenario.

And consider this... Hazell would be a step up and an improved expectations guy versus the last hire. Danny Hope was a mediocre coach at EKU!

PUhopeless said...

N400PU plane is in Newark now... Isn't Hazell originally from New Jersey? Just trying to fuel the fires... :)

Beenken said...

I was about to post that! I was on Hammerandrails and everyone was saying "for reasons unknown." I was going to post on there, but can't to it from work #bademployee. Props on beating me to it.

Andrew said...

NOT SOO FAST MY FRIEND!

According to twitter, Hazell has informed his players he is NOT taking the Purdue job.