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the playbook, the quizzes he required players to take the day before games and the depth of knowledge he had about the techniques of playing the position and the right way to teach them. He'd challenge them to be great but never tell them they'd made it before they had. He wouldn't play favorites, giving every player a chance to prove his worth. He was hard on them, but they didn't mind. They wanted to make him proud by excelling. "Our guys loved him," Gonzalez said. "In college, you're always going to have players who play more than others and normally what happens is the guys who don't play as much end up bad-mouthing the coach or disliking the coach. That just never happens with him because everyone feels that he's incredibly fair, incredibly honest and he works guys really hard. People appreciate that, especially the honesty. That can be difficult to come by sometimes. "But he's very, very upfront with all of his players and everyone loves him for it." That full package, the knowledge and the char- acter, has players buy into what Hazell is preaching and teaching. That maybe never showed more than after he left the Buckeyes. Master rebuilder Darrell Hazell had people tell him he was crazy for even attempting the undertaking. Didn't he know Kent State was a lost cause? It had nine consecutive losing seasons and hadn't had a winning record in 22 of the last 23. What They're Saying F ormer players, coaches and colleagues were quick to praise Purdue's selection of Darrell Hazell as its 35th football coach. Here's some of what they had to say: "When you're dealing with people, I really believe no matter what the level, 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 football coach at Muskingum University "These words come to my mind when I think about him: Friendly, outgoing but not overbearing, a great listener, very humble and dedicated to his profession, dedicated to his family, dedicated to the kids on the team, very family-oriented." Don Hunsinger, former Oberlin College coach Ohio State who gave Hazell his first coaching job Darrell Hazell coached receivers for seven seasons at Ohio State and left a lasting impression. Many of his former players, including Dane Sanzenbacher, called Hazell the best coach they've ever had. "Purdue is getting one of the most decent guys you could ever meet. There's not a vicious or mean bone in his body. He's so controlled, and he's so thoughtful in the way he does everything. I've known him pretty well for 30 years, and I've never heard him cuss. Imagine that. He's so in control of his emotions and his conduct that as an 18-year-old, even, he didn't cuss. You know the football coaching types, but he's so composed. As nice as he is, firm is the best word to describe him. There's just no messing around. He looks at you straight in the eye." Jim Purdy, close friend and Hazell's quarterback at Muskingum "For football, there's different spectrums for coaches, but there's a difference between being demanding and degrading. A lot of football coaches think for whatever reason that degrading is going to bring a positive performance out of them. They're both done in an intense fashion, but when you're intensely demanding, I think you get a lot more out of players. That's exactly what Coach Hazell is." — Anthony Gonzalez, former Ohio State receiver 10 • Gold & Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue 3 "He knows football better than anyone I've ever met. He's just a great teacher and a great motivator." — Jake Stoneburner, former Ohio State receiver/tight end "I've had a lot of coaches along the way, and obviously got to spend more time with Coach Hazell with him being my position coach my four years of college, but he's one of the best I've been around. … He wanted to get every little detail right as a coach, and I think players responded to that. That's why I wasn't surprised at all when I saw his success at Kent State because I know the type of guy he is." —Dane Sanzenbacher, Chicago Bear and former Ohio State receiver "When I was in school, he was the receivers coach, but you never saw him as that. He was the receivers coach, but he always had a grasp on everything, the entire offense, the defense, he connected with everybody. So when he got his first head coaching job over at Kent State, I wasn't surprised at all and I knew he'd be successful." — Brian Robiskie, Detroit Lion and former Ohio State receiver GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com