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q & A w i t h : m o r g a n b u r k e Great Expectations AD Burke thinks better days ahead after Hazell hire BY ALAN KARPICK AKarpick@GoldandBlack.com J ust five days removed from the hiring of Coach Darrell Hazell, Gold and Black Illustrated caught up with athletic director Morgan Burke to get not only his end-of-year message but to delve further into the process he followed hiring Purdue's 35th head football coach. Here are excerpts from the interview: Gold and Black: What convinced you that Hazell was the right guy? Burke: "From my vantage point there were three things. First, his football credentials were strongly endorsed by (Indianapolis Colts general manager Ryan) Grigson, (Houston Texans GM Rick) Smith and (former Colts vice chairman Bill) Polian. And you can add (Jim) Tressel to that (list) because of his involvement in conversations between Bill and myself. "Secondly, was the six years at Ohio State and the Big Ten Championships, national championship games and Rose Bowls (he coached in). He has seen what it takes to be at the highest level of competition. That's a hard thing to replicate. It's one thing for a guy to be the greatest Xs and Os coach, but if they haven't been in that situation where they haven't seen it at the highest possible level, I think they have to get there first before they know how to capitalize on the opportunity. "The third item was his reputation as a recruiter. He's got connections in Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida. We want to make a little bit more of a push in the Midwest area. I think one of the things that we need to pay attention to is the State of Indiana." Gold and Black: What do you think convinced him that Purdue is the best place to further his professional career? Burke: "I think he wanted to stay in the Midwest. He had been interviewed for other jobs and I think he wanted to stay in the Midwest. He has familiarity with Purdue and the Cradle of Quarterbacks tradition we have here. We had some pretty good luck against Ohio State when he was there. (Note: Purdue won two of five games when Hazell was an OSU assistant.) "I think that we sold (him) that this was a great opportunity, a Big Ten job. This was the only one open this year (at the time of the interview)." Gold and Black: Did Wisconsin's job opening late in the process affect anything on your search? Burke: "It was too late. It was almost parallel. No issue. Darrell's stock rose on Monday (the day before Bret Bielema left for Arkansas)." Gold and Black: Take us through the timeline in the hiring process. Burke: "I knew (Cincinnati coach) Butch (Jones) Tom Campbell Athletic director Burke and his staff moved quickly and carefully to secure Darrell Hazell as the Boilermakers 35th head football coach. was going out to Colorado (on Monday, Dec. 3, the day after he interviewed) so we made our decision on Monday that Darrell was the best of the three we had interviewed. I went then to (interim president) Tim Sands and the three trustees that were a part of the authorization process. We made our case and we got authorization to make the hire. Monday was the day that we flew over (to Akron/Canton airport to interview Hazell). "The search committee was myself and then these three experts (Grigson, Smith and Polian). They were helping us make calls, checking references, and it was all pro bono. The selection team, once the credentials were established and the Purdue fit was established with Grigson, Smith and Polian, then it was Nancy (Cross), Tom (Reiter), Calvin Williams and I. Your authorization group was Sands, (trustee Keith) Krach, (trustee Tom) Spurgeon and (trustee Mike) Berghoff. That's how it went." Gold and Black: You were planning on interviewing Hazell no matter what happened with Jones? Burke: "That's right. We couldn't get to Hazell earlier because he had the MAC Championship game. That MAC Championship game was Friday night so we couldn't get there. We talked to him on the phone, had a great conversation, and we told him we would get back in touch after the game and get something set up to visit. Which is what we did. "We went over there on Monday. Monday our group 12 • Gold & Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue 3 told us he was a leading candidate. I talked to Tressel and Polian for about an hour on Tuesday morning. We called Darrell back at 10:30 a.m. and spent about another hour together. And then we got the call set up with the trustees and got authorization for our offer about 4:30. By 9 p.m. that night, he accepted." Gold and Black: In the world of Twitter, anyone can report anything. There were some things saying he accepted around 4:30 p.m. Burke: "We were pretty confident he was going to accept it (but it wasn't done). By the time you work through it with an advisor and the terms, it took a couple hours." Gold and Black: You had three candidates on campus? Burke: "No, we had three in person or on the phone and two additional in person. Some will come to campus, some won't. In Butch's case, he wanted to. Darrell had been here; he had been to this campus on numerous occasions when he was coaching Ohio State. It just depends on each guy as to if that is important or not." Gold and Black: They say that first impressions often seal the deal in situations such as these. So what were your first impressions of Hazell? Burke: "Very poised, very good listener, strong eye contact and very articulate." Gold and Black: You mentioned the term 'Doubling down' in the introductory press conference and that the investment you are making will also GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com