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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 1 23 Mike Berghoff's day job of late has not been president of Lenex Steel, a job he has done for years, but the chair of the search to replace Morgan Burke as the Boilermakers' athletic director. The exhaustive search took a lot of time in recent months as Berghoff visited personally with dozens of pro- spective candidates before announc- ing the hiring of Mike Bobinski Aug. 9. "It's a total mystery how the found- er and leader of a thriving company can find so much time for Purdue, but somehow Mike does," president Mitch Daniels said in August. "His defining characteristic is a commit- ment to Purdue excellence in every dimension, from student success to research preeminence to athletics across all sports. "He still has the competitive drive of the Boilermaker linebacker that he was, and he makes all of us better at our jobs by his innovative thinking, his tough questions, and just his personal example." That is certainly high praise from the man that Ber- ghoff played a key role in bringing to Purdue when Ber- ghoff served as chair of the presidential search in 2012. In fact, Berghoff used the experience of securing Daniels to make for a smoother landing of Bobinski. "We knew that confidentiality was key in this as it was when we found Mitch," Berghoff said. "We just couldn't let anyone but the search committee and search firm dic- tate this process, and the fact we were able to keep it qui- et until about 30 minutes before we publicly introduced Mike Bobinski I consider a win." Berghoff admitted the search was about football, but not all about football. "Nobody is more eager than (Coach) Darrell (Hazell), his staff and his players," Berghoff said. "We are all ea- ger to see football win, but we didn't make the search (solely) about fixing football. Because it is going to get fixed. And when it does, we don't want to be left with just a football silo. (Bobinski's) challenge across all sports is to increase the level of championships." Specifically, at least in Berghoff's view, that challenge can be broken down to three areas. "The first challenge is that Mike has to follow a guy like Morgan Burke who has served us so well for 23 years," Berghoff said. "That isn't easy, but Mike will bring a different style. Moving forward with what Morgan been built will require some skill. And that requires developing a championship attitude. "Second, he has to build lasting relationships with the coaches and empower them to win by getting them what they need to be successful. And third he has prioritize those needs and work with the Board and president to get that accomplished." Berghoff said Bobinski will have to convince people all around the program that winning isn't just possible, it is likely and expected. When asked 10 days after the search process conclud- ed to reflect, Berghoff said some things really stood out about Bobinski. "His style suits Purdue," Berghoff said. "He had a very Search Leader Tom Campbell Mike Berghoff (right) worked closely with search firm DHR International's Glenn T. Sugiyama (second from right) and Mitch Daniels (left) to bring Mike Bobinski to Purdue.