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Kyle and with other trusted friends in the coaching profession, including former Ohio State coach and colleague Jim Tressel. "It was very stressful," Hazell said. "You tell the family, and there's a rush of emotions. You try to talk about all the things you can get out of a situation. But then you have to go with your gut feeling. Is it right or is it not right? That's where you have to go." Hazell felt Purdue was the right fit, in part because its commitment to academic excellence but also because he thinks the football program has a chance to be "special." "There's a lot of things that this program is going to do in the future, and I'm excited about being the leader," he said. "Here's a program right now that's in the middle of the pack, but I want to be at the top of the pack pretty quickly. I think we have an opportunity. It's kind of unique. When I took the Kent State job, people looked at me like I was crazy. They said, 'They haven't won there in 40 years. Why would you take that job coming from Ohio State?' "I bit my lip, and we went to work, and that's what we're going to do here, and we're going to win championships here." j The following are our thoughts now following Purdue's hire of Darrell Hazell. • Kyle Charters: "Darrell Hazell will face immediate challenges at Purdue — the 2013 schedule, for instance, looks daunting — but he seems like a man up for the job. To take Kent State, a college football doormat, to 11 wins this season, particularly with less-than-stellar quarterback play, will catch anyone's attention. It certainly has the folks around here, who had splintered in recent years around Danny Hope, to start to uniting around Hazell." • Stacy Clardie: "In speaking with several people — coaches, friends, former players — connected to Darrell Hazell over the past week, the same qualities were repeated. They spoke of Hazell's excellent character, his intensity, his fairness, his intelligence. And he's not a bad coach either, they say, with his ability to motivate players by being demanding not degrading and getting the most out of them by providing a steady, firm but caring influence. We'll see if those combinations can get Purdue back to competing for Big Ten championships." • Alan Karpick: "If Coach Darrell Hazell can survive his whirlwind schedule from now until he comes to Purdue permanently on Jan. 7, it will say a lot about his work ethic and organization. Just hiring a staff and keeping committed prospects in the fold will be challenge enough for most, but coaching Kent State in its bowl game makes this daunting." • Brian Neubert: "Give credit where it's due: A.D. Morgan Burke handled this coaching transition well. It's never easy to fire a coach, particularly when they take you to back-to-back bowl games. But he made the right move. As for the hiring of Darrell Hazell ... time will tell, obviously, but every early impression says the Boilermakers got a good one, maybe a great one. His job won't be easy, though." "If you've got a man that's a leader and has a work ethic and is intelligent and can be involved with detail as well as he is and set a plan, I think that it is a recipe for success. He obviously did that at Kent State, and I'm sure he's ready for the task at Purdue." Jeff Heacock, Darrell Hazell's college coach at Muskingum Team pride you can'T hide. rewards you want most. Join thousands of purdue fans who reach for their official purdue Visa® and get rewarded for things you pay for anyway. redeem points for 1% cash back, merchandise or a cash contribution to the John purdue club. Show your Boilermaker pride with every purchase. request your purdue Visa today.* 765.497.3328 // 800.627.3328 // purduefed.com *Subject to credit approval. No annual fee. Balance transfers and cash advances not eligible for rewards points. This credit union is federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration. GoldanDBlack express • volume 23, express 14 • 2