Gold and Black is a multi-platform media company that covers Purdue athletics like no one else.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/99573
f o o t b a l l Major Moves Purdue hoping Hazell can spur fans back to Ross-Ade BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com P urdue wants a winner and is willing to make a splash in an attempt to have one. Will its bold move — many, particularly those far from the situation, consider it so — to fire Danny Hope following back-to-back six-win seasons serve to get it closer? That very likely will be up to Darrell Hazell, the man athletic director Morgan Burke and Co. have tabbed to try to take the Boilermakers to the next level. It'll be a challenging task, but Hazell can start building toward it immediately. Hazell will have to bust through a glass ceiling of sorts, breaking down a national perception that the Boilermakers should be happy with simply hitting the .500 mark and qualifying for lower-tier bowl games. That was the sentiment expressed by ESPN analyst Mark May, who in the aftermath of Hope's dismissal said Purdue wasn't "elite" enough to expect more from its football program. But dismissing such talk as nonsense might be the easy part of the job. After all, Hazell has support of Burke and others within Purdue's administration who saw the bigger picture. The status quo at Purdue was no longer going to work, not with a growing divisiveness among the fan base toward the end of the Hope Era and dwindling attendance in Ross-Ade Stadium. Burke is open in his desire to want more, talking of Purdue's pursuit of championships — Pasadena is the goal, he said at Hazell's introductory press conference — and leading in the quest to find solutions. The athletic department, with Dec. 15 approval of the Board of Trustees, has opened up financially, paying Hazell upwards of $2 million annually with an additional $2.1 million toward assembling the rest of his staff, about a $1.5 million increase over the previous total compensation for Boilermaker football. That could help put a better product on the field, rather than the inconsistent, and sometimes undisciplined, Boilermaker crew that's taken the field the last several seasons. And, although still in a transitional period, Purdue is putting Hazell front and center as the face of its program, hoping he can help to unite what had become a bitterly divided fan base. In the last few months, particularly as Purdue lost five consecutive games to see its season fall far short of expectations, the situation had become toxic, with fan in-fighting on message boards and vitriol on social media and on radio shows on full display. Attendance waned in Ross-Ade Stadium, with only 43,588 coming regularly, the lowest average figure since the last year of the first George Bush administration in 1992. "If we want to really activate this place and get 18 • Gold & Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue 3 Ross-Ade the way it's been in the past, we've got to raise the level of our commitment to the program," Burke said. Now, Purdue needs Hazell to be the catalyst. The Greater Lafayette community is looking for a personality to rally behind, someone who exudes personality and confidence. Someone who inspires others. Maybe it's Hazell. His former players think he carries those traits. High praise from former Ohio State Buckeyes — Hazell was an OSU assistant head and receivers coach for seven sea- By The Numbers .500 2 2.1 Purdue's record the last two regular seasons, as the Boilers went 6-6 in 2011 and 6-6 in 2012. Millions of dollars for Darrell Hazell's annual salary, almost double what was paid to his predecessor, Danny Hope. Millions available toward the annual salaries of the rest of Hazell's staff, a sum approved by the Purdue Board of Trustees in mid-December. Purdue's home attendance in the seven games in Ross-Ade Stadium this season, the lowest figure since 1992. 43,588 GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com