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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 2 100 "I think because I have given them ownership of valuable stuff, they feel like they are valued here," said Dave Shondell, 59. "Am I surprised (we've stayed together)? I never real- ly thought about it that much. Every coach has their list of people, that if someone leaves they would consider that person (to hire). … You don't want to be in that situation. "Philosophically, that's why I have always believed we should value as- sistants financially and how we treat them. It is really a benefit to have them here because then you can fo- cus on the important things and not focus on having to train assistants. If Kat would leave, we would be starting from scratch at that position. We hav- en't had to worry about that for nearly 15 years." But there have been close calls. John Shondell, 48, has had opportunities to leave and probably could have had twice as many had he made it known he was willing to depart West Lafayette. The clos- est he came, he says now, was three years ago when the Notre Dame job came open, but the Fighting Irish hired Jim McLaughlin, a two-time NCAA champion (as the men's coach at USC in 1989-90 and women's coach at Washington in 2005). "He wanted the job, so then he got it," said John Shon- dell, noting that McLaughlin is one of the most-accom- plished head coaches in the country. "That is the only job that I have really wanted and really looked at hard." Family has played a major role in keeping John Shon- dell with the Boilermakers, even though he'd be coveted at any number of other programs. His wife, Laura, is the Director of Pharmacy at Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health, and he has two young daughters who he'd like to spend as much time with as possible. "If I was a head coach worried about recruiting, then I wouldn't be able to coach my kids in the offseason," he said. "That's important to me that I can follow them and watch them. This happens a lot with a lot of the coaches in the Big Ten I know. They have to put so much time and energy in to their job, that they miss watching their kids grow up. That is something that I am fearful of and careful to avoid." But John Shondell's day will likely come. The kids will grow up, after all. Maybe the opportunity will be at Pur- due, where Dave will retire some day — he signed a new six-year deal in August that will keep him on the Purdue sideline until at least 2022 — and John will be an obvious choice to take over. John has been told before that's the plan, although by former athletic director Morgan Burke. The new AD, Mike Bobinski, will have his say. "One of the reasons we named him as an associate coach is that if I retire in 5-to-10 years, he would be the first person that they would consider," Dave Shondell said. "… I don't think they would find anyone more deserving than him." Far too often, friends and family ask Jewell when she's going to move on, chase after the next big step in her an- ticipated career ladder. The question's implication being, she feels, that because she's chosen to stay so long at Purdue that there's something wrong with her, like she doesn't have ambition. She's mulled it over occasionally, and just finds that she Charles Jischke Because Dave is more than 11 years older than John, the two spent only about five years together growing up in their home in Muncie. But they've gotten to spend the last 15 to- gether at Purdue. "We were always close, but this is the opportunity to kind of make up for that (earlier in life)," Dave said.