Just a week or so ago, Purdue made official what many Boilermaker fans had assumed and hoped for over the past couple years. Danny Hope was let go as head football coach. Yes, Purdue made a bowl last year and this year. And this year's bowl is on New Year's Day, even. Still, it was not enough to save Coach Hope, and most Purdue faithful are happy with that. I was and am one of those people who had been wanting this change. There was a slight question of whether making a bowl this year would be enough to save Hope. I thought it might be. But, to the relief of many, it was not. There obviously were quite a few reasons to make this move. First and foremost, Purdue was not really winning games. During his tenure as head coach at Purdue, Hope compiled a 22-27 record, 13-19 in the Big Ten. So, you know, middling at best. He had four, five, and a pair of six win seasons. If there were improvements, they were in pretty small increments. Fan support plummeted. Average attendance during Hope's first year was 50,457. During this past year, it was 43,588. And, I can tell you from being at quite a few games and watching almost every game I didn't attend, those are definitely the "paid attendance" numbers, not the actual number through the gate. There likely isn't a huge difference between those numbers in his first year. Last year? Huge difference. And, honestly, if Michigan hadn't come to Ross-Ade, that average probably would have been much closer to 40,000 paid. So, yes, there are reasons to let Hope go. The proverbial wheels were spinning, fan interest was dwindling, and Purdue can't seem to find a top-flight quarterback. If you weren't aware, Purdue claims the name "Cradle of Quarterbacks,' and they've got the proof. If you can't draw a stud to run your offense at Purdue, you are not going to endear yourself to Boilermaker fans and boosters. It's just that simple. Still, I feel bad about all this. Coach Hope seemed like about the nicest guy you could ever hope to hire for a coach. Especially for a college coach, where you are just as responsible for molding young men as you are cranking out wins.* He produced several NFL draft picks during his short time.** And Purdue had a nasty injury bug over the vast majority of Hope's turn at the reins. Robert Marve, who was supposed to be that stud QB after transferring from Miami, never did spend a full season healthy at Purdue. And, while he personality left something to be desired,*** he seemed to greatly mature at Purdue while showing flashes of the player who broke all of Tim Tebow's Florida high school records. *Maybe that's the Division III in me, though. Still, that's got to be a component at some level in the college game, even if the footing isn't quite equal. **Though that might also count as a strike against Hope. You obviously had talent at Purdue, why couldn't you win with it? ***He got kicked out of Miami, for God's sake! I guess what I'm getting at here is what happened to patience with coaches? Seemingly gone are the days were coaches are institutions in themselves at colleges. It's not news, but the days of Bo and Woody seem like an epoch ago. Did we really give Hope a fair shake? I don't know that, in my heart of hearts, I can say yes to that. Purdue went from making a bowl game virtually every year under Joe Tiller to, what, a three year drought? Is three years really too long to wait for a coach who replaced a legend? Remember, Tiller has the second longest tenure at Purdue at twelve years, just two behind Jack Mollenkopf. Those two coaches, it should be noted, are the only two to lead Purdue to the Rose Bowl. With a bowl game last year and another one this year, maybe Hope was just starting to find his footing. I don't really know what's in the recruiting pipeline, but fans in general, not just Purdue fans, have gotten far too fickle with their coaches. Expectations seem to be out of control, myself included, apparently. As of yesterday, it looked like Butch Jones of Cincinnati looks like the top candidate to replace Hope. I'm sure this will fall on deaf ears (if it hits any ears at all), but all sports fans need to take a collective deep breath and remember that the wins and losses are largely cyclical. The downswing will eventually come back around. Purdue will reestablish itself as the Cradle of Quarterbacks, they will start to be a factor in the conference again. It just takes time. Comments are closed.
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