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F R O M E D I T O R B R I A N N E U B E R T Up For The Challenge A s we speak, Darrell Hazell is coaching one team and running another. He's trying to win a bowl game with Kent State while recruiting both players and coaches for Purdue. Pity the man's phone. The past few weeks have been absolute hell for that poor little device, between the incoming calls over the minutia of being heavily involved in the direction of two programs at once, in addition to all the calls from recruits, job-hunters, realtors, etc. Between the coaching and the recruiting and the hiring and all the phone calls coming in from all directions, Hazell is going to have to buy A) a house and B) something nice for his wife for Christmas. It must be utter chaos, as it is for any coach taking over a new job for the first few weeks. But you know what? This is the easy part. The soon-to-be Purdue coach's challenges are many in his new post. I mean, the guy before him got fired. Rarely under such circumstances is the situation a simple one. And Purdue's most certainly is not. First we look at the changing landscape of the Big Ten. A year ago, Purdue was contemplating whether or not to retain Danny Hope, 11 months before he'd actually be let go. At that time, it could have been a legitimate reason to release the coach then for fear of having to hire his replacement in the face of the 2013 schedule, which obviously didn't scare off Hazell, but might have lesser men. The good news: The home slate is loaded. Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio State and Iowa all visit Ross-Ade Stadium. People will buy tickets for those games, some of them Purdue fans and some of them not. No matter who the coach, that would have provided a bit of an economic Band-Aid for a department hemorrhaging football dollars. The bad news: Purdue has to play all those teams. And BIG EAST co-champ Cincinnati in Cincinnati. And BCS participant Northern Illinois. It lost its coach but returns its stud quarterback. And Wisconsin in Madison. That's never a treat. Neither is playing Michigan State in East Lansing or Penn State in State College. Purdue will do that, too. Yeah, well, that's life in the new Big Ten, and it gets real heavy real fast in Year 1 for Hazell. That's months away, however. Of more pressing concern is recruiting, where Hazell is shoring up existing commitments before looking for more. There's a P.R. component to this too, as Hazell must leverage his Big Ten Country connections to repair Purdue's image in its home region, also maybe a means, in some small part, to captivating a disengaged fan following. NEXT SHOW JAN. 11 AT 2 P.M.! People want to see good football, obviously, but they also want to relate. Bridges have been burned in Indiana and Hazell knows better than anyone they must be repaired. Midwestern toughness, investment and values are more important to Purdue than Southeastern swagger, always have been and always will be. Hazell will need to assemble a high-caliber staff to advance his agenda. With competitive resources at his disposal, these decisions in the next couple weeks will go a long way in determining whether he thrives or busts at Purdue. At some point soon, all the traveling back and forth will be over; so will the mad recruiting scramble and the bevy of interviews for prospective coaches. And, of course, the Christmas shopping. But just when the calm settles in, that's when the storm hits. Hazell comes straight out of central casting for the job he's taken on. Purdue couldn't have reasonably made a better hire, if you ask me. It needed a coach who won't back down from a challenge. Considering the situation, it obviously found one. j Neubert can be contacted at BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com Fridays this winter at a computer near you Gold and Black LIVE featuring the staff of GoldandBlack.com Interactive live video-stream sports talk show — ask questions, chat with other fans! Show will stream live on WLFI.com on selected Fridays during football and basketball season. For complete schedule, visit the college page on WLFI.com. Trent Johnson, Agent GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED • VOLUME 23, ISSUE 3 • 15