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Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/232716
another class. "I don't think we're devoid of talent. I just think the physicality at some of the positions, particularly where you've got to be physical, we're thin and we're not as dominant as we've been in the past." Gold and Black: How much do you view your legacy will be measured by … Burke: (Interrupts) "You know what? I could give a (expletive) about my legacy. Pardon my French, but I don't really care. If you think my whole life is going to revolve around (what people think), I would never have done this job. I couldn't care less about that. I'll go back in the stands at a point in time, that's what I told you I'd do when I came, you all can write about my legacy. I'm committed right now to getting this program back to where it belongs, and I've got broad enough shoulders to take the heat. I've done it before and I've done it with all kinds of different coaches. I have as much passion as I've ever had. I've got news for you, we're not going to back off, we're going to stay the course. Legacy is for people who want to go sit in a wheelchair. "Legacy implies it's about me, and it's not about me. I've never been a me guy. You've never seen me out in front. You see me out in front when things are in trouble, and I should be. But if a team is doing great and winning championships, I'm in the corner. It's about the kids. It's not about me and it's not about the coaches. It's really about the kids." Q: But you would like to have this program up and running by the time you retire, right? Burke: "Believe me, yeah, because I'm competitive, and if you're not competitive, you shouldn't do this job. (Wife) Kate and I talked a long time ago that if you don't go home on a Saturday night after losing a ballgame, or winning one, and you don't have emotional feelings, you need to get out of it. You're not in the right place. It's not about the winning and losing as much as I know the kids. I was in that locker room on Saturday night (after the IU game) and saw the tears coming out of their eyes. So you get to know 28 IllustrateD volume 24, issue 3 them and you see how hard they work. When they don't have that level of success, it's painful. "I also know that trophies tarnish. What they learn here, like the lessons Rob Henry learned, they will make him a much better manager, leader in the future. But right now you can't see that. It's painful. He will gain strength from it because he'll be faced with something in the future and he'll say, 'I know how to respond to that and respond positively.' To me, it's all about the kids and creating an environment where they can pursue a championship. We're going to do everything we possibly can to position them. I'm not asking the fans to be patient because this world, that word doesn't mean anything anymore. In fact, it kind of irritates people. I just ask people to (understand), we set a plan and the plan was to move the orbit from being average to a higher level. We're taking a risk. I'm asking people to share in that risk with me. Let's go for it. Why not swing for the fences? Why does Purdue always have to feel like 'poor Purdue?' Let's swing for the fences. Let's go for it. I'm in. If they're in, they all asked me to get in, and I said, 'Let's go.' I think we can get it done. I really do." Gold and Black: Do you have an update on the south end zone project? Burke: "If everything were to go according to (plan), with a plan of this nature, the earliest would be the season of 2016." Gold and Black: So this season didn't change the timeline. Burke: "No, because I want fans to push me, say, 'Let's invest.' If we're all going to get out there and go, you can't back off now. It's time to put the accelerator down and be willing to take the risk. You can't drive into the first corner and say, 'Oh, I'm going too fast, I'll break. Somebody will hit you from behind.' Have to go into that turn hard and keep going. We have to do the market survey, got all kinds of approval, construction. We're on track. We've met with senior leadership. We'll have some more meetings. But we're still tracking that timeline." j f