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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 26, Digital 3

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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 26, ISSUE 3 43 Analysis Analysis Off The Mark Purdue needs to 'fix everything' after 2-10 season Before the 2015 season, Darrell Hazell thought it could be a "special" one. Instead, the Boilermakers couldn't finish games and ended the sea- son 2-10, push- ing Hazell's record to 6-30 in West Lafayette. Tom Campbell BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com A t this point, less than a month after Purdue finished a 2-10 season, piling on to 1-11 and 3-9 ones under Darrell Hazell, it's hard to see progress. Hazell talks about it, saying the program is moving in the right direction. Morgan Burke echoed the sentiment in a vote of confidence for the coach during the season and again after it. Returning players have said how bright the future is. But the smoke hasn't quite cleared enough from the train sputtering to be able to grasp such statements. The season certainly was not "full steam ahead," as we'd de- clared on a magazine cover in August coming out of train- ing camp. But all the reasons for optimism then — the crispness of what was expected to be a tweaked, spread, varied-tempo offense; an excitement over a defense led by a pair of senior cornerbacks who could supposedly change how the scheme was called; a more physically mature and game-experienced group leading to an ex- pectation of a team being able to finish games — never came to fruition. After the season finale — a third consecutive loss to rival Indiana, the first time that's happened since the 1940s — Hazell flatly said the Boilermakers needed to "fix everything." The end result: Purdue fired its offensive and defen- sive coordinators and its defensive line coach and is left searching for answers. Again. That's certainly not the position Purdue thought it'd be in entering 2015. Have there been behind-the-scenes strides in culture during Hazell's regime? That's an emphatic yes, say play- ers who were part of both this coaching staff's direction and the previous. They cite interworking of the program, the emphasis on academics, the accountability, the cohe-

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