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December 4, 2012
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Former Buckeye assistant Darrell Hazell led Kent State to it’s first ever MAC championship game, and an 11-1 regular season record. For his efforts he was recognized as the 2012 MAC coach of the year.
Apparently that wasn’t all he earned.
According to multiple reports, including CBS Sports’ Bruce Feldman– Hazell is heading to West Lafayette, Indiana to take over a struggling Purdue program which recently fired Danny Hope.
Hazell took a program consistently in the basement and made contenders out of them in just two seasons. The former Jim Tressel assistant should do well in his return to the Big Ten.
[Related: Hazell’s Kent State team could be heading to Orange Bowl]
15 Comments
Well of course. As it has been with basketball, so shall it be with football. Not sure Purdue is much of an upgrade…
Talent wise no, but paycheck wise yes. And even if he has a little success at Purdue that opens the door for a cash cow program to hire him, like one of the 8 SEC teams that fires a coach every year.
Great hire for Purdue
I wonder if Doeren (former Wisc guy) or Hazell feel they maybe should have waited a few more days before making a decision now that the Badger job is open.
This is interesting. I’ve been following his career for a while. If everything that happened in the last 2 years in Florida and at OSU hadn’t happened, Hazell would have been the heir apparent to Jim Tressel. Now, he’s going to a school that has perpetually (at least in the last decade) been a thorn in OSU’s side. This could get interesting in the Big Ten. Hazell’s the real deal.
Thought the same thing. Hazell at Wisconsin would have been a big deal.
Poor job selection here. I get that it is a pay upgrade, but Purdue and other second tier coaching jobs are where careers go to die. I don’t care who is coaching Purdue. He won’t be able to get top talent, he won’t win any division or conference championships and the ext big job offer won’t come along.
Yes, it is impossible to win a Big10 championship at Purdue:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Rose_Bowl
And wait for what exactly? He doesn’t have roots outside the midwest, so he’s not likely getting picked up outside the area, and if he goes 5-7 again next year, then he’s not getting a Big Ten job anytime soon. Strike while the iron is hot, and if he’s actually that good, he’ll get a better job offer in no time.
Okay…it’s not impossible to win a big ten title at Purdue. I’m simply saying he’d be better off taking a top tier job in a lesser conference a la Brian Kelly at Cincy.
He needs to be a winner somewhere if he wants to get to a big time program. Winning 7 to 8 games a year at Purdue isn’t going to impress many people because they’ll lose to OSU, Mich, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and eventually Penn State 3 out of every 4 times they play each of them.
If he can turn Purdue into a perennial contender…more power to him. He would probably get offered the Alabama job when Nick Saban leaves for the nfl if he wins the Big Ten twice in a row or something.
Just because a job is better than the one you have doesn’t mean you should take it.
he very well could have had a shot at the Wisconsin gig. that’s got to sting. he already had a top-tier MAC job, so i’m not sure which ones would have been a step up.
maybe Pitt if Chryst goes back to Wisconsin?
maybe Maryland after 1 more year of Edsall?
i agree with the general premise though. coaches are too quick to jump ship without thinking about long-term ramifications.
Agree on Wisconsin. THAT would have been the job to take. Anyone but Duke, UNC and Virginia in the ACC would have been good too.
why not UNC?
I guess nearly everyone in the ACC is on even footing. I guess I just left out those 3 programs because they have very little history of winning.
fair enough. i would think moving forward a HC would rather be at UNC with their facilities, etc. than Wake, but you never know.