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62 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 3 f Q & A : M O R G A N B U R K E Work To Do Football made strides but results needed BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com M organ Burke's inbox was flooded after Purdue's season-ending loss to Indiana in the Bucket game, the second consecutive loss to the hated Hoosiers. He quickly realized there was a distinct division among the fan base, those who saw the season as measured improvement backed by statistical evidence and those who were bottom-line driven and focused strictly on the season ending with a six-game losing streak. During a 12-minute opening statement at a press conference days after the season's end, Burke planted himself firmly in the middle of those two factions. "If you look at many of the metrics you would use to chart progress of a team, they certainly moved in the positive direction. But at the end of the day, as Darrell (Hazell) has said so aptly, it's about winning," Burke said. "Obviously, this past year a ton of effort and energy (was) expended by the players, the coaching staff, by our marketing, sales, PR and John Purdue Club staff and by the fans, and we don't have much to show for it, and that's disappointing. That's discouraging." In his opening statement, Burke addressed his messages to the seniors, the returning players, the coaches, the students, the fans and how he evaluated himself after the season. Burke said he told returning players after the IU game that "this will be the last December you're not traveling," intimating a bowl appearance in 2015. There's a belief in that, partly, because of his faith in the coaching staff. Burke said he told the coaches "you are the right guys for Purdue, and I'm convinced of that." "(The season) kind of confirmed to me that we have people who can assess talent and find the right fit for Purdue and the right fit for the roster," Burke said. Here are excerpts from the 45-minute press confer- ence. Q: Darrell Hazell talks about his vision for this program. Do you see it? Burke: "He and I see it in spades. I think he's a smart guy. Some people want the fiery, Gene Keady kind of mentality. Others kind of like the cool, calm and collected. It just depends on your own personal image. This guy has got an unbelievable ability to stay focused and to be unruffled. … I think for a team that is struggling to get over the edge, I think this team in particular needs to be able and look over there and see a sense of calmness that we're going to get this done. He's been there. He was at Rutgers when they strug- gled, and he was at Ohio State when they won. John (Shoop)'s been at different places, (Kevin) Sherman, (Greg) Hudson. You've got a lot of people who've got a lot of experience at both tough times and good times. We're really fortunate to have a mix of leader- ship we've got and they know how to take Brian Neubert AD Morgan Burke saw prog- ress in 2014 but knows wins and losses matter most.