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FOOTBALL A Look At The Big 11 Who could be next in line for Purdue football BY GOLD AND BLACK STAFF As Purdue athletic director Morgan successor, a few names have surfaced as candidates, possibilities or at least inter- esting topics of conversation. Here is a breakdown of some of the Burke sets out to find Danny Hope's dicated that Cincinnati's coach is a prime Boilermaker target. The reigning Big East Coach-of-the-Year, Jones is 22-14 with the Bearcats after replacing Brian Kelly when he moved on to Notre Dame. Formerly the coach at Cen- tral Michigan and before that an assistant coach on Rich Ro- driguez's West Virginia staffs, Jones is regarded as an offen- sive innovator with a tough- minded coaching demeanor. Jones is one of the high- est-profile coaches consid- ered to be available this hir- ing season, in large part due Sources close to the search have in- BUTCH JONES prime names that have surfaced in con- nection with the open Purdue job. to Cincinnati's limited resources and the Big East's increasingly tenuous position in the college football landscape. The confer- ence just lost Rutgers to the Big Ten and will see Pittsburgh and Syracuse move to the ACC next season. Tuesday, the confer- ence added East Carolina and Tulane — very underwhelming additions — just to keep up its membership numbers. The point being, Jones is considered an ambitious coach and thus likely a mo- tivated mover. He was in the mix for the Kentucky job that went to Mark Stoops. Tennessee is considering him. Purdue, it would seem, has made him a priority and with a war chest built up at around $4.5 million for its coaching salary pool, Burke can presum- ably offer a highly competitive compensation package. Butch Jones Maybe the hottest name on the market this year, the Louisiana Tech coach has used the nation's top- ranked passing offense to win nine games this season. SONNY DYKES Sonny Dykes That success coupled with his entertaining offense making him popular in hiring circles. Dykes has Colorado. called other coaches in recent days and weeks to inquire about the job, but with that said, the native Texan could interview with the Boilermakers, or so Purdue hopes, but must be considered a long shot. Dykes already been approached by Purdue and has Wednesday morning at North Carolina State and has been prominently featured amidst talks about SEC openings at Ten- nessee, Auburn and Arkansas. The son of former Texas Tech coach will reportedly interview Tim DeRuyter has made contact. A California native and Air Force alumnus, DeRuyter's ties to the Midwest come from a pair of stints as de- fensive coordinator at Ohio. win regular season, the former Wisconsin assistant coach has long been speculated to be next in line at Purdue. But almost immediately As he led Northern Illinois to an 11- DAVE DOEREN the Boilermaker job opened, Spike Dykes, Sonny Dykes came to Louisi- ana Tech after serving as offensive coordi- nator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona under Mike Stoops. instant success in California after previ- ously serving as defensive coordinator at Texas A&M. In DeRuyter's first season as a head coach, the Bulldogs were 9-3, winner of their last five games. Fresno's offense ranked as one of the nation's best, scoring 40 or more points seven times, highlight- ed by a 69-14 win over Pac-12 member Fresno State's first-year coach was an TIM DERUYTER after whose background is on defense, made it known he wouldn't be a can- didate for the posi- tion, though that might not mean he won't factor in for other open jobs, such as Colorado or North Carolina State. Doeren, Dave Doeren State, the former Ohio State assistant coach has the Golden Flashes at 11-1 and riding a 10-game winning streak into the MAC championship game. That success has made him a popular name associat- In just his second season at Kent DARRELL HAZELL GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 23, EXPRESS 13 • 6 Purdue