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20 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED cal, it's endurance. Then you've got to win one of those close games for a con- fidence booster early, and that'll take you long places." Gold and Black: You didn't get a contract extension in December, so you have four years left on your contract. Is that on your mind at all? Hazell: "I've done this for a long time, and the things you can't worry about are the things you are not sup- posed to worry about. All you can do is come in, work as hard as you can. I wasn't supposed to get a contract ex- tension at the end of Year 2. That's not the way my structure is set up. That's the last thing on my mind." Gold and Black: This non-confer- ence schedule isn't easy. All those FBS teams were bowl teams, and Indiana State was in the FCS play- offs. So, maybe more than ever, do you feel like you have to have a great summer and camp to be hum- ming early? Hazell: "I think it's no different than any year. You have to set your- self apart in the summer time, pre- pare yourself in the summer time, to make sure you do come out smoking because those are some critical games early. They really are." Gold and Black: What's the theme for this year? Hazell: "All aboard. I'm talking to everybody when I say that. I'm talking to our staff, our players, everybody under the immediate football umbrel- la. I'm talking to the fans, the faculty. Anybody who cares about Purdue foot- ball, they need to be all aboard." Gold and Black: We've talked about attendance since you've been here, trying to get more peo- ple in the stands. Is that something you think about or you need to think about as a head coach when you have so many other things to worry about? Hazell: "That's constantly on my mind, how we get more and more peo- ple involved and to embrace it a little bit more. We'll continue to reach out, try to appeal to people out there. One of the things you really have to have a passion for is our players, to have a connection with our players, a pas- sion for football and really pull yourself away from the TV set and go enjoy the environment but also help our guys. (Fans) can make an impact. I've said that, and I believe that. You can do it in the stadium a lot better than you can do it at home." Gold and Black: Do you do things to get your players in front of peo- ple in the community? For fans to get to know these guys? Hazell: "Our guys have such de- mands on them, so it's hard. We have one thing planned in August to get in front of some people. But there's really no set time." Gold and Black: You've talked be- fore about when you're watching another team on film, you can be like, 'Oh, we've got to do something about that guy.' How many guys on your team right now do you have who maybe could strike fear into an opponent? Hazell: "If I'm playing against us, I think, 'I've got to be aware of Jake Replogle, Ja'Whaun Bentley, the two corners Frankie (Williams) and An- thony (Brown) and how you're going to block Ra'Zahn (Howard),' when he's on his game, and hopefully he's on his game more. Offensively, I've got to know where Danny Anthrop is. People outside don't know this, but they're going to have to know where No. 27 (D.J. Knox) is. Then you have to figure out schemes to beat some of those offensive linemen because they're pretty good, they're going to be pretty good." Gold and Black: Is that the strength of this offense? Hazell: "Absolutely. Our offensive line is going to be really good. If you can have a dominant side, that bodes really well for you. You have (Robert Kugler), (Jason) King and (David) Hedelin, those guys are going to be really good players. Then you have to figure out what's the best combination on the right side. But you feel good about it because you look back on the first two years and you're trying to eval- uate guys, you're trying to evaluate the quarterback, sometimes a guy doesn't have a chance and sometimes you can't evaluate a wideout or a running back because you're not doing a good job up front. Now, you've got a chance. Every time you snap the ball, you've got a chance to be successful because you've got those guys up front." Gold and Black: How do you en- vision that potentially shaking out? Hazell: "I'm not sure yet. But this is one thing I do know, the guys we have in our locker room right now are good enough to do what we need them to do. We've got to figure out which ones are the best guys and the most reliable guys, but I think we have enough, even with some of those younger guys, I think you've got a chance to find maybe four more guys." Gold and Black: Do you think not having consistency at quarter- back — in terms of the person or