Coach Tiller has been in West Lafayette the past few days and talked to the guys at GBI about retirement last night.
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.
I made the often fatal mistake of wading out in the waters of the Big Ten Bloggers Google Group and asking whoever was willing to send me their thoughts, memories, impressions, etc., on Joe Tiller. What he’s accomplished, if anything, and what he leaves behind. After some of the usual brain-dead, “Dur, Purdue sucks!” kinds of comments, I got some genuine feedback from some of the brethren. I’ll share it here.
Joe Tiller. You know, after a couple years of reading nothing but diabetes jokes, it's interesting to actually sit down and look back on the guy's career.
The first thing I think of, of course, is the phrase "basketball on grass" and an interview I watched too long ago to remember about where the system came from. According to this in game Q&A from what was probably the Drew Brees era, it went something like this: Tiller's wife thought football was boring and suggested he throw the ball more because that was "fun."
I'm not convinced that's the truth but it definitely could be. What's more probable, though, is that the guy is a true contrarian. He recognized that Purdue, cursed with a school name that can be morphed into literally thousands of pun-insults, wasn't going to ever be more talented than the big dogs. He did the same thing that made Rich Rodriguez famous: used a different system that would make more talented defenses uncomfortable. And you know, if it wasn't for one terribly devastating fumble he could have literally transformed the program.
It's ironic, I think, that the last major news he would make was a criticism of a guy who is in a lot of ways from the same mold. While I doubt there is actually some unspoken agreement, Rodriguez definitely was recruiting differently and more persistently than Big Ten coaches historically needed to, and exploiting that inefficiency is going to reap rewards...at least until everyone catches up. And that's the problem, the conference has caught up to Tiller's tricks. Half the offenses in the Big Ten are using more open attacks, and so when he brings his team on the road he is facing a defense that is no longer taken back by the once unique system. He should get credit for this, of course; this happened in large part because of him.
And so off into the sunset or sunrise or whenever the guys feels like fishing. Purdue football isn't currently in great shape and will probably need to find a new identity, but if all it takes to get to the Rose Bowl is a unique offense and a coach with a funny mustache, then the one thing Tiller can leave behind is a sense of hope. I mean, have you seen Danny Hope's mustache?
Tiller is a dead ringer for Sheriff Buford T. Justice without the comic appeal. True, he was boring, but he beat our ass (and Nick Saban) more often than not. Which also says a lot about pre-Doctor Michigan State.
In my experience, Minnesota fans have always had a high level of respect for Joe Tiller. Joe Tiller was the first coach in the Big Ten who had the forward-looking vision to implement the spread offense in a conference that consisted predominantly of power-running offenses. Tiller's teams were competitive against teams that were often stacked with superior talent. Even for a fan of Purdue's opponent, Tiller's offenses were always entertaining to watch. Crisp passing, creative formations, and smart football were to be expected from his teams. More important than his ability to coach teams that would consistently exceed expectations, Joe Tiller was a consummate professional. Throughout the years there have been coaches who would insult opposing schools, throw temper tantrums on the sideline, and run up the score when the game was clearly over in order to satisfy egomaniacal needs. Not Joe Tiller. He always set the gold standard for professionalism. I will remember Joe Tiller as a visionary coach and a class act.
A lot of what I could say about Coach Tiller was said by my co-editors earlier this week. This is a guy who we'll always appreciate -- and probably more and more over time -- but who we also took some issue with in his recent seasons.
Among the BS staff, I was the last domino to fall in terms of complete and utter support for Joe. As many have mentioned, he brought us a measure of success at a time when success -- any success -- was like an ice-cold glass of water in the middle of the desert. And he didn't just bring some success, like 12/26 bowl games in Detroit -- right away we began winning 8 and 9 games and hitting primo locations in Texas, Florida and, ultimately, California.
The problem is, like many athletes, coaches, etc., Joe peaked too soon. Had he started his career winning 6-7 games against a mediocre schedule and going to mediocre bowls and then culminated with the Rose Bowl or other Jan 1 bowls, he'd be so beloved they'd replace the Boilermaker staue with one of Joe fly-fishing.
But that's not how it happened. Joe is one of those "victim of his own success" guys. Once he got us thinking we were actually good, we wanted to get that feeling over and over, like a junkie getting high off the feeling of beating good teams and being talked about on College GameDay in a way other that derision.
Joe was our dealer and the crank was GOOOOOOD. Only problem was, after a while, Joe's supplier must have run out... or he was just too old to go risking his hide to get us the good stuff. So instead we got a knock-off, lower-quality version of the Joe Tiller Drug. We'd do what Minnesota is doing this year -- we'd knock off patsies and build up our record, then coast home and hope for 6-7 wins to make a bowl game, keep the old alums happy and keep the athletic department happy. It must be nice knowing that doing your job moderately well (sometimes not even that) is enough to keep your seven-figure salary rolling in without question.
And what I said earlier this week about the parallels between now and when Joe arrived are scary, at least to me. Back then, both Purdue and IU were football jokes and we wound up 3-8 on the season. Recruiting was a problem, nobody took Purdue football seriously anymore and the cupboard was kind of bare. But couldn't that sentence also refer to 2008? That's what bothers me. It's not that Joe is wrapping up with a poor season -- that happens. It's that it feels like this poor season is the result of a steady decline and one that's not easy to fix. Remember, every lackluster performance or weak effort might have a potential recruit watching -- and when you're already behind the 8-ball because your school isn't synonymous with Jan 1 bowls and the like, it's not good to take on more water. (Jeez, could I use any more metaphors in this post?)
When did it really end for Tiller? Well, as I (and others) have said before... he had all his eggs in Kyle Orton's 2004 basket. That was the culmination to me. We had steadily improved as a program through the Rose Bowl appearance. Brees left and, like any program, we had to take a small step back in order to get better. And get better we did. 2003 was a season of promise marred by tons of tight losses. But it wasn't like this year -- in '03 you could see the potential was really there and ready to break through. And Orton was coming back.
Then we began 5-0 and GameDay came to town. We were #5 in the nation. People were talking about Purdue. And they had a Wisconsin team ranked somewhere around 11 in our house. And you know the rest. Leading by ten with about 7 minutes to go, it all went horribly wrong. As Boilerdowd pointed out to me, people had been on Orton to make things happen and not be as conservative and so he tried to. Problem was, he tried to the side where there was nobody to stop the Wisconsin defense from returning a fumble all the way to the house.
We've talked about it before -- as have others -- but that fumble truly broke Tiller's spirit. I think he felt that was his best chance. We hadn't had any early-season stumbles like in other years (no Bowling Greens had tripped us up) and we looked good. A cohesive team, with a real defense. And even though I'm comfortable saying they wouldn't have beaten both Michigan and OSU that year, I don't think it's unreasonable to say the Boilers could have easily gone 10-2 that season had they beaten Wisconsin. Tiller knew that. And he was sunk. He hasn't been the same since.
In the end, I believe Joe Tiller was exactly right for our program at the time. As Tim said so well, he made us believe that winning was possible and that we didn't have to perpetually suck. For that, we'll always be thankful. He didn't accomplish everything he set out to do, but we did get to a BCS bowl game (and the ole "ten bowls in twelve years") and he's 9-2 against IU and almost .500 against Notre Dame. Not the worst credentials ever.
It's just that when you know (as we do) that so much more was actually possible... that's when you find yourself being a little wistful for what could have been.
[Editor's Note: What follows is BS editor Tim's editorial on Joe T. I just did the posting. As you were. -- J]
What I will most remember about the Tiller era is how he actually created a football program that we could have any sort of expectation of success about. Yes, that means it's hard to take a season like this. But why is that? Is it because we now know that it's possible to have success? I think so.
I was a student during the Colletto years, and let me tell you, those teams were just terrible. There was no excitement on campus regarding the football team. Yes, there were the occasional upsets and the "graveyard" of teams they beat, but they were few and far between.
I can't tell you how cool it was to go to the Alamo Bowl that first year. Then they beat Oklahoma State in that game and it was great. It culminated with the trip to Pasadena. I'm one of the few Purdue people that can say they've been to a Rose Bowl game that Purdue played in. Sure, they should've won that game but gave it away by repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot, but they PLAYED IN A ROSE BOWL. New Years Day bowl games became the expected.
Our expectations were raised. The talent level was raised. Some of the players went on to play on Sundays, and quite successfully at that. The Tiller era never brought us to the top of the peak, but we did get close enough to taste it, and that's worth something. How's the saying go? "Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all." I'd rather have a program that nearly got to where we all wanted it to go than to have toiled away with 3-5 win seasons forever.
That's what I'll remember about the Joe Tiller era. He enabled us to believe that success is possible.
The basement of my house pays homage to Purdue sports...We've got photos from tailgates, a gold towel given to the students back in 1996, other pieces of memorabilia, six different Purdue football helmets (from different periods)...all sorts of stuff. A couple of the pieces in my collection that I really appreciate have Joe Tiller's signature on them. One of them can't be purchased, and that's why I like it so much.
Back in 1997 following Purdue's victory over UND, I wrote the new football coach a note. In the note I wrote of how I liked meeting him months earlier when I was a counselor at Tark (as he made some P.R. rounds throughout campus), it also talked about how excited I was for what was ahead with Coach Tiller as the program's new leader. He responded, in less than seven days, with a hand-written quick note on a Purdue Football note card-
"9/19/97 Thanks for all of your congratulatory comments...we all appreciate your thoughtfulness. Keep the faith!
Joe Tiller"
Not a big deal, but it meant a lot to me. I've talked to the man on the phone on his weekly call-in show a few times, and shook his hand around campus...and he's always been pleasant and I've always liked the guy. But, none of these stories would have been as noteworthy had Joe Tiller not had success as Purdue's head football coach. As he once said he was hired "...to win a championship..." He did just that in his fourth season as Purdue's head coach...That might be the problem.
Whether or not you believe Tiller belongs in the conversation with Nobel Kizer and "Fat" Jack Mollenkopf as the greatest football coach that Purdue has had can be debated, but he's definitely in the top-three...and his importance to the program and the greater athletic department is immense. After all, he knocked the cobwebs loose from a fanbase and a machine that greatly needed a reminder that it could once again be successful.
I've heard proponents of the coach say that he was a victim of his own success...There's truth in that- he rose the bar from the murky depths of the conference cellar to the upper third of the conference in no-time flat...doing so with players that no one thought he could win with. So many thought there would be another level of success as recruiting began to reflect the upward trend on the field. Sadly, the illusive and mytical "next level" never came. But the level his teams reached during his apex in West Lafayette were very respectable.
Purdue garnered national attention in the pre-season publications, and more-importantly by being invited to major bowls at the season's end. While keeping the streak of bowl games alive became more important than winning championships, his teams went from the top third of the conference, to the middle, to where we are now.
Coach Tiller has changed...and no one's blaming him for the change. I know a ton of 60 year old men who simply don't want to work as hard as they did in their 30s, 40s or 50s...I think I'll probably be that way. But, college football demands the type of time, passion and attention to detail that a younger Joe Tiller had. I appreciate what he gave to my alma mater, but it wasn't charity work, he was paid well to deal with the highs and the lows. And, until a few seasons ago, I felt he more than earned his seven-figure salary.
But coaching is still a hired position, in turn, he's not a king...and in my opinion, he didn't earn the right to do the job at anything less than 100%. He set his goals high and the fans, alums and students all followed with raised expectations; Perhaps he's set the groundwork that he set will lead to more championships...Only time will tell.
Regardless of what Danny Hope accomplishes in his tenure as Purdue football's next head coach, history will judge his predecessor well...his years at Purdue will be viewed as overwhelmingly successful. And as time passes, the Purdue family will look back more fondly on the Joe Tiller Era.
Everytime I express my discontent with the current state of Purdue football, I'm reminded by some of the old guys around me that you simply have to respect all he's done for Purdue football.
I do.
Please don't get that wrong.
But, it's been time for him to go for a while now...and his chosen ending is wearing out all leniency that the fan base had. The high standards that Joe created have crept into the consciousness of the average Purdue fan...so what we're seeing and hearing is not acceptable.
This is what Coach Tiller said in the wake of this week's loss to aOSU:
"We live in a result-oriented society," Tiller said. "To me, the effort is more important than the results. My measuring stick is the type of effort we give. Where you're at is less significant. It's, how'd ya get there?"
That doesn't sound like an old football coach from Ohio talking...that sounds like a 40-something year old teacher from California. The transformation from cowboy to creampuff has been noteworthy. He talks about fishing more than football and his mind and attention has moved from West Lafayette to Wyoming. I don't blame him, but I am simply pissed that he's held the fanbase hostage instead of simply stepping down. Hope's recruiting efforts reflect that the transition is far from smooth and the results on the field show that Tiller really does think that results are not imperative.
Compare and contrast the above quote to this...another quote from the same man back in late November of 1996:
"We're not going to wait for four years to figure this out. If I would wait four more years, I would hardly have any hair left. We're here to win a championship. We've won in the past, and we will win again in the future."
And just the same, as Tiller's time at Purdue dwindles like the sunlight reflecting on a rolling stream in Wyoming in the late afternoon, Danny Hope should act, speak and coach in a way that shows he expects nothing less than championship-caliber football once again in West Lafayette. That's on of the things we can all take from Cowboy Joe Tiller as Purdue's football coach.
From the BS section of Ross-Ade things looked bleak on Saturday. Far worse than I can remember them looking at any time in the past decade. I was able to see for myself how unprepared and unmotivated the team was. The players feed off the excitement of the coaches and of the fans. Well, for a while at least, the fans were excited. The coaches on the other hand; not so much.
Tiller used to breathe fire and could get a rotten sack of potatoes motivated to play a game. Now he could take the defending national champs and convince them that they're going to lose to North Dakota State. It appears to me that Tiller inherited a crappy program and is bound and determined to leave a crappy program.
Yes, Joe, you injected life into a long dormant program and I thank you for that. Now it's time for you to go though. We need a coach that actually cares about not only winning, but actually competing. As others have said, I could live with a losing outcome if the players bothered to show up for the game. If they left it all out on the field, then so be it. We lost to a better team. It happens. When the team shows no motivation what-so-ever, then it's completely different. Just like you benched Painter in the 4th quarter, it's time for the AD to bench you.
Chris Summers, Brandon Whittington, Curtis Painter, Dorien Bryant, Kyle Orton, Ben Jones, Berin Lacevic, Montrell Lowe, Kyle Smith, Brandon Kirsch, Brandon Hance, Kelly Butler, Travis Dorsch, Antwaun Rogers and even Drew Brees. What do all of these players have in common? First, they're all Purdue football players who were pretty solid, at least in most cases, during their careers. Furthermore, about half of them were stars in the black and gold. Another, more painful commonality is they all made costly mistakes late in a close game, during the Tiller era, that could have cemented a victory...and our Boilers lost a heartbreaker shortly after. I think it's important for individuals to take responsibility for their actions...in life as well as in sport. But, it's hard to lay blame when the same things happen repetitively with a wide array of players on all sides of the ball in a number of painful, sour-tasting, putrid-smelling ways. I used to think it was Jim Chaney's fault when Purdue got conservative on offense when our Boilers were in the lead...Then, Coach Legg showed some really predicable tendencies...yesterday, we saw Coach Z painting a very familiar offensive picture during the second and third quarters- Three and out; draw left, option right, dropped pass. As the coaching gets tighter, the players get tighter, the fans get tighter, the energy in the stadium drastically changes...and before you know it, a lead has shrunk, then disappeared and finally has been replaced with a narrow margin that ends in defeat of my alma mater's football team.
I compared yesterday's game v. Oregon to a job interview in which you really aren't qualified...Like Purdue yesterday, there's nothing to lose...much to gain. And our Boilers played just that way...for about 18 minutes...then things changed. According to a radio program I was listening to while driving south on 65, the Purdue offense had 9 offensive possessions in a row in which they moved the ball 30-or-less yards...I would estimate many of those drives were 15 yards or-less and at least four of them were 3-and-outs.
I honestly don't give a damn who tells me different...This is a systematic, philisophical, and even psychological problem that will be cured, one way or another at the end of this season. And while I didn't want it to end this way, an old wound was torn open yesterday and a salenic-lemon tonic was shot into the contusion that reminded me of way too many games I've watched during the last 11 years.
I began this series last week- a look at what Joe Tiller has done during his time at Purdue. Since the last time I focused on a positive, I'm going to look at something not-as-cheery: His record against historically powerful programs. So, kick back, enjoy a cup of coffee as we dive into an often painful topic during the last 12 years.
1997 Tiller's first brush with a historic powerhouse was at home versus the hated Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The taste of the ass-kickings at the hands of the Holtz-coached Irish were fresh in the minds of the Purdue faithful. Tiller calls the 28-17 victory over Bob Davie's team the most important win of his time as HC at Purdue. I called the game unbelievable...especially in person as a recent grad back in '97.
Purdue next squared off against Penn State in the second-to-last contest of that season. The Lions clobbered the upstart Boilers who might have been tired from the track meet the week before v. Minnesota. Our Boilers lost 42-17.
1998 This season was a flat-out horrible season versus good competition. The young Drew Brees was baptized by fire by playing in Souther Cal against USC in his first game as a starter...The good guys lost (27-17)...Then lost a heartbreaker to Notre Dame (31-30) and a not-so-close one to Penn State (31-13).
1999 After Joe's teams got broken-in softly with aOSU & UM off of the schedule in his first two seasons, both teams were on the schedule for 1999. But, before our Boilers could play them, they had to play Notre Dame. The Irish managed the clock extremely poorly in the closing seconds as Purdue hung on for a 26-22 win over the #16 Irish. A few weeks later, the No. 11 Boilers got shellacked by Michigan in Ann Arbor 38-12. This would be the first in a long line of lopsided defeats at the Big House. A week later, Purdue a blocked field goal in poor conditions kept Purdue out of overtime v. the Buckeyes as Purdue lost another 25-22. Two weeks later, Purdue lost a true classic back at Ross-Ade v. PSU as the Brees-led Boilers couldn't score with four shots at the endzone inside the ten-yard line. The final was 31-25.
The 7-win season earned Purdue the noteworthy honor of playing the first major sporting event of the new millenium. Purdue lost once again (28-25), this time to UGA in a painful seesaw game that ended with a Georgia fieldgoal in overtime.
2000 Looking to put the painful near-wins behind them, the Senior Drew Brees-led Boilers went into 2000 with something to prove. The first game versus a historical power was, once again versus Notre Dame. This time, Purdue allowed a tight end playing QB for the Irish to beat them up in South Bend, 23-21 with the help of a last-second field goal. You may remember the game for a few other reasons- Brees only threw the ball 22 times and Travis Dorsch called an audible fake punt in Purdue territory. Stink.
Two weeks later, Purdue traveled to Nappy Valley and lost a game (22-20) that mostly the fault of extremely poor special teams play, yet again. The lousy Special Teams cause Brees to call out his teammates for the only time that I can remember while he was at Purdue. The following week back in West Lafayette, poor kicking looked like it would do Purdue in, yet again versus Michigan. But, the shaky Travis Dorsch clinched the victory and gave the student section the finger after doing so...yes, Purdue's student section.
With a ton of momentum and a three-game winning streak, Purdue welcomed aOSU to Ross-Ade. This time, Brees himself looked like he was going to giftwrap the victory for John Cooper and Co. But, Holy Toledo, this happened instead:
And there was much rejoicing as Purdue held on to win 31-27. 2001 Due to September 11, the UND game was moved to the end of the season. So Purdue's first game v. a powerhouse was at UM. Purdue of course lost...their first of the season, 24-10. The scheduling geniuses put together another road/road set for UM and aOSU as Purdue went to Columbus three weeks later and got pimp-slapped 35-9. The once-powerful Tiller offensive system was looked quite ordinary in 2001. On a cold, dark December night, Purdue lost to UND at home as the offense once-again could only manage one TD (but showed a little life). The final of this one was 24-18...many still blame Kelly Butler's personal foul for the loss. I'm not one of them.
2002 This was a dark period of Tiller's Purdue career as following the 24-17 UND loss, we first heard this quote, "If we score 17 points, then our defense needs to hold them to 16. If they score 24 points, then our offense has to score 25. This is a football team, this is not an offense or a defense." The "win by one" philosophy was heard out of the mouths of Tiller, Spack and Chaney, ad nauseum. This is also a period in which Tiller used multiple starting QBs. The Kirsch v. Orton debat raged for the next two seasons among Purdue fans.
Purdue lost a close one to Michigan, 23-21 at home mid-way through the season. Then, welcomed aOSU back to RA a few weeks later. Well, Holy Toledo was replaced with Holy Buckeye as the scrappy Boilers gave OSU their toughest game of their National Championship campaign with a still-sickening 10-6 loss.
2003 Purdue beat UND early this season at home in a relatively easy game, 23-10. Two weeks later, the Boilers welcomed another weaker-than-normal perennial powerhouse, PSU and beat them as well, on the legs of punt returner Anthony Chambers, 28-14.
"I love you, you crazy old bastard."
Two weeks later, with a ton of momentum, Purdue headed up to Ann Arbor. Of course, Tiller thought it'd be a good time to unveil the super-soft-looking all-white unis. Purdue played as lousy as it looked and got drubbed, 31-3...I was there in person to witness this trainwreck. Three weeks later, Purdue traveled to Columbus and took the Bucks to overtime only to watch Ben Jones miss a FG that would have kept the game going. Purdue lost 16-13.
A 9-win season earned Purdue another match-up against UGA, in Florida again...this time in the Cap One Bowl. This game was different than the last one versus the Bulldogs, but the same. Purdue was down 24-0 in this game and a courageous effort by Kyle Orton and Shawn Phillips got Purdue into overtime...Purdue lost 34-27. 2004 "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Purdue started off the '04 campaign by doing something they hadn't done in 20 years- Beating UND at home...and they did it in style, 41-16. The very next week, our Boilers headed to the state of Pennsylvania...and won a close one 20-13. After having the wind taken out of their sails by UW in the worst way possible, Purdue hosted UM...and had a chance to win. But, the young Dorien Bryant fumbled the game away while trying to get a few extra yards, the final was, 16-14. Three weeks later, Purdue welcomed a not-so-great aOSU team for a night game in RA. Purdue won 24-17 with the help of some trickeration and Dustin Keller.
2005 This was Tiller's worst single-season record, and the big games weren't any better. Purdue got smoked by the Manatee's Irish, 49-28 and beaten soundly in Happy Valley 33-15.
2006 '05 was lousy, and '06 wasn't much better. Sure, Purdue won 8 games, but they beat no one of note. The smartest guy in football once again beat Purdue soundly, this time in South Bend, 35-21. And then a passion-less, offense-less Purdue team lost at home to PSU 12-0. The weekend before, we saw Purdue get thrashed by UW at home...These two games had me thinking Tiller had officially worn out his welcome- The bowl game at the end of '06 didn't help change my mind.
stupid triple option
2007 Much like '05 and '06, Purdue didn't beat anybody they weren't supposed to, so you'd think there might not be any victories versus the historically strong programs. Not the case in '07- Purdue beat the lowly domers 33-19. The following week, they were beaten soundly on a national stage by the vest, 23-7...The week after that, Tiller headed to UM to witness his team lose 48-21. The good news was that loss would be his last in Ann Arbor. Three weeks later, Purdue was jobbed by the officials and eventually lost to the Lions, 26-19.
Overview Tiller-coached Purdue teams are 10-26 versus the best (historically speaking) college football programs...If you add in Washington (which I think would be fair to do so), he's 11-27. Especially on the road, and almost always versus Michigan, Tiller's teams have struggled mightily versus this caliber of team. The problem is, playing against the triple-striped maize and blue helmets or all-gold helmets doesn't mean your facing Desmond Howard and Allen Pinkett...But their ghosts must haunt Tiller as he prepares for such teams.
This, to me, is really the main reason Tiller's teams have never reached the mythical and magical Next Level.
For the next week or so, we'll sporadically write upon a topic that is controversial, at least among the black and gold faithful- What Joe Tiller means to Purdue football.
Today, we're going to focus on conferences that Tiller has "owned" (pwned in interwebnet terminology) during his tenure at Purdue. And away we go...
Mid-Major Programs
It's become a joke as of the last three years that Purdue has been declared MAC champs despite not being in the conference...and while Tiller-coached teams may have played well versus conferences like the MAC of late, it didn't start out that way.
In Tiller's very first contest as a Purdue coach, Joe faced his hometown team, the Toledo Rockets in Toledo. While this was a schedule he inherited, he couldn't have been too upset with the draw as it was a chance to show that this hometown boy had made good and become a major conference coach...Things didn't go according to plan. Purdue lost the contest 36-22...and the Tiller era looked to be a mere continuation of what Colletto, Akers and Burtnett had created- a program that simply wasn't good...not even versus mid-majors. But we all know now that that wasn't the case...Tiller was re-building a once-great football program. And he would do it on the back of games just like his first game at the helm.
Two weeks later, Tiller played another MAC foe and beat Ball U. 28-14.
In 1998 Purdue played two Con-USA opponents in Rice and Central Florida. Rice created problems for Purdue's defense with their throwback offense...and Brees wasn't exactly on track in just his second game under center as a starter. But Purdue got the close win 21-19. The next week, the Culpepper-led CFU Knights came into Purdue on the shoulders of their QB. He did his job in the fact that he passed for a lot of yards...about 100 more than the young Brees. But, he only engineered one TD as Purdue's D got on track for an easy 35-7 victory.
In 1999, once again, Purdue had two Mid-Major opponents- one a repeat from Con-USA another from the MAC. The first, CFU, this time at their place was a lot worse of a game than the media thought it might be. Brees and Culpepper combined for 91 passes, but neither really played as the hype might indicate that day. Purdue won going away 47-13. Next up, Tiller's love affair with Central Michigan began as Purdue whipped the Chipps of CMU 58-16...Brees dominated and the team did as well.
In 2000, Purdue started off with two MAC foes...CMU was the first game as Purdue ran away with a 48-0 victory. The second contest, another game in Ross-Ade yielded another laugher as Purdue rolled versus lowly Kent State, 45-10.
In 2001, Purdue started off on the road at Con-USA's Cincinnati. A bright-eyed and optimistic Boilerdowd attended the game with his older brother and friends as we watched a late interception by Stu Schweigert seal a too-close-for comfort victory, 19-14. The next week, Ross-Ade hosted Akron, where Purdue cruised to a 33-14 victory.
Not even a badass like Hardwick could look tough in these unis
2002 began with a D-IAA opponent, then two weeks later, Purdue hosted Western Michigan...a respectable MAC opponent, that season. While they were supposed to be an OK team, the game shouldn't have been as close as it was...Purdue squeaked out a victory, 28-24. Also noteworthy, Purdue was wearing their urine-gold jerseys/white pants (see photo) for the second time under Tiller.
One of the most-painful losses, for me as a fan, came against Purdue's first and only Mid-Major opponent of 2003. Purdue came out clad in the different-but-still-crappy gold uniforms for their first home game of the '03 schedule and played as badly as they looked. Bowling Green, whose quarterback had earned a bit of national attention, beat Purdue in yet another heartbreaker, by the closest of margins, 27-26. This was on the tail of a 2002 season that Purdue last a slew of games by three points or less...So it stung quite a bit.
In '04, Purdue faced only one Mid-Major, repeat Ross-Ade visitor, Ball State. The Orton/Stubblefield-led Boilers crushed the Cardinals, 59-7.
The short Brandon Kirsch era began as Akron came back to West Lafayette in 2005...This time, the Zips faired poorly yet again as Purdue's silly triple-option dominated for a 49-24 victory. For 2006, Purdue once again had two MAC foes visit West Lafayette. The first game saw a lousy Miami of Ohio team take Purdue to overtime. In overtime Purdue sealed a gut-wrenching 38-31 victory. Painful. The next week, thousands of high school band members watched Purdue beat Ball State in a relatively close game, 38-28. This is the game that Dustin Keller broke about 50 tackles and Painter threw for over 400 yards for the first time in his career.
In what I thought would be Tiller's last season, Purdue played three games versus the MAC in 2007; two versus one opponent- Tiller's BFF, Central Michigan. In the first game, Tiller traveled to his hometown once again, but this time the results were much different. I was actually very worried about this game coming into it...It's a good thing I'm wrong a lot. Purdue rolled as comfortably as a family in a Winnebago, 52-24. Two games later, they hosted CMU and won in a closer-than-the-score-indicates 45-22 victory. Our Boilers capped the season with Curtis Painter setting Purdue's single-game yardage record en route to a 51-48 MCB victory.
Tiller's record versus mid-majors, coming into 2008 is 17-2...Some say it's hard to always beat the teams you're supposed to beat- Tiller has nearly done just that every time.
