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Jan. 11, 2008
VIDEO: Press Conference Announcing Hiring | 2008 Purdue Schedule
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Today, head coach Joe Tiller announced his planned retirement following the 2008 season. Danny Hope was announced as his successor and will serve as associate head coach this upcoming year. Athletics director Morgan J. Burke opened up the press conference with a statement, followed by comments from Tiller and Hope. All three then answered questions about Purdue's football program from the media in attendance.
Statement from Purdue President France A. Córdova:
"I'm delighted to welcome Danny and Sally Hope back to Purdue. I am excited about the prospects for Purdue football next season under Joe Tiller's leadership and in the longer term under Danny Hope. Both of these coaches are proven winners who understand the high standards our university sets for its athletic programs. They will be an excellent team working together in 2008. I am grateful to these fine coaches for helping us lay the foundation for future success."
Morgan J. Burke
"Today is about the present, and it's also about the future of Purdue football. I firmly believe that clarity of direction is important if you're going to create a focus that all organizations that are going to be successful have to have. So for the present, Joe Tiller will become a member of the senior class of 2008. And it's only fitting when you think about it as Joe has said on many occasions how much he enjoys this particular group of young men. But he's going to line up with Curtis Painter and Anthony Heygood, Ryan Baker, Greg Orton, Jaycen Taylor, Sean Sester and the rest as they prepare for the upcoming season.
Much will, and should, be written about Joe's effort, which has transformed this program. Let me just point out one fact for you. In the 15 years prior to his arrival, Purdue's composite record was 54-107-5. We had not gone to any bowl games since 1984 when Joe arrived in November of 1996. So far in his tenure we are 83-54, and we've played in 10 bowl games in the last 11 years, one of only 13 schools in Division I-A to say that. And finally, by next year at this time, we'll be recognizing the winningest coach in Purdue history. So we intend to have some fun and make some noise in 2008. As for the future, and contrary to some of the speculation from the media, our transition is a planned one. Joe and I have not been in any boxing matches lately. He's too big, and we've traveled too many miles together. I'm not really quite sure how all of that got started. In any event, after Joe and I talked at the end of last season, Joe gave some reflection and told me in the spring of 2007 that he was likely to finish after the 2008 season. He and I talked a lot about when and how. We spent a fair amount of time talking about where the program was and what was needed in a replacement so the program foundation could be used as a springboard. With that information, and with President Jischke's concurrence at that time in May of 2007, I sought out additional input from other people who had knowledge of our program and began to familiarize myself with the prospect pool. Joe and I said the prospect pool would determine whether we brought the person in early in 2008 or after the 2008 season. The key to us was making a smooth transition - something Purdue has never been able to accomplish in its history - and not to foster or breed the uncertainty that would hinder future recruiting efforts. In addition, bringing a person aboard in early 2008 as an associate head coach would only be considered if we felt the person was capable of taking over as head coach in 2008 if an unforeseen event happened that would prevent Joe from coaching. Certainly we don't anticipate that, but we had that as a criterion. Things proceeded quietly over the summer and fall as we questioned, as we listened and as we compiled information. In consultation with Joe, I narrowed the pool down to four people, all of whom we felt could start as the head coach in early 2008, and all of whom we thought we could welcome starting in 2008. And our dialogue commenced in early December. Let me tell you a word about the candidates as a group. They were absolutely first-rate people, they were outstanding and they all have very bright futures. We can assure you that if we did not feel the right person was in the mix, we would have waited until later in 2008 or relaunched the search. That obviously did not occur and hence our announcement today. Our timing is not by accident as recruiting will resume on Sunday. We wanted to assure that we had time to introduce Danny Hope who has emerged as our top choice. For those of you who don't know Danny, you are going to find that he is passionate, he is energetic and he has a vision for Purdue which includes winning championships -something I remember the guy on my left (Tiller) talking about when he came to us from Wyoming. He told me he felt that the pursuit of academic success and the pursuit of respect from the community supported the quest to win championships on the field. Danny felt that we could build off the foundation established by Joe, his players and his staff over the years, and that his year as an associate would allow him to focus on the 2009 recruiting class, and take inventory of our program to identify specific improvement opportunities for the future while being successful in 2008 because we do have a veteran returning cast. As you saw from the press release, we sought out information from several former players who played while Danny was here the first time. To a person, they talked to me extensively and candidly about his abilities to teach and to motivate. Danny demonstrated the ability to develop a mental toughness required by championship teams. Their words characterized him as passionate, energetic, results-oriented and one who stresses accountability. Finally, before making my recommendation to President Córdova, France and I both individually spoke with Joanne Glasser. Joanne is the current president at Bradley University but she had been the president at Eastern Kentucky University for five years and was responsible for hiring Danny. This discussion really sealed the deal and reinforced for both of us that Danny was the right person for the job." "Number one, let me say that what Morgan said chronologically, is right on. We began discussions about what my future held and what my thoughts were a couple of years back. Every year, I always would breach the topic of myself and what I had in mind. My wife, Arnette, and I dearly love the West. We've enjoyed Purdue tremendously, and we're going to love our last year at Purdue. We're going to enjoy it to the fullest. I love this senior class. I have to keep talking fast so I don't get really emotional about them, but it will be great to go through the season with them. They're a great group of kids. So certainly this is not something that has just occurred in the last six months. When we had the opportunity to bring Danny back, that really excited me. I like a lot of things about Danny. I like his family; I like the idea that Sally (Hope) let me store my truck in her garage one time when we were going West. But certainly it starts with family. He's a family guy and I certainly relate to that. I like his pedigree. He played at a I-AA program, I played at a Division I-AA program. He played offensive line, I played offensive line. Those grunts tend to stick together. When you're an offensive lineman, you're not in front of the camera all the time, and you don't seek that. That's not Danny either. He's a humble but confident guy. I like the fact that he was a teacher. He went into the high school ranks and actually taught, which would suggest that he understands teaching concepts and would be a good teacher. He's a motivator and many other things, but number one, he's a teacher. When I found out he was in the mix, I got even more excited about this idea about who might come in, and I had no idea that it might ultimately be him. But I must admit, I had my fingers crossed behind my back. I think he's the right guy at the right time and I think that Purdue football will prosper in the future. And he's his own man; he'll bring his own ideas, too. Many of his thoughts are similar to ours; we spent a lot of time together so not much is going to change. We share many of the same ideals and many of the same philosophies offensively, and our thoughts on how to handle people, particularly young people. So, I couldn't be happier that Danny Hope is coming on board. I'm excited about the opportunity to work with him this year because I was disappointed when he left. But he left with a specific thought in mind, and he was able to fulfill that goal. He worked hard at it and I know that one of his goals is to be a Division I coach and to be on this stage, and he has all the qualities it takes to be successful. So having said that, let me introduce to you, Danny Hope, who will coach the offensive line this year and then become the head coach in 2009 and he's going to be a darn fine one." "Hello, everybody. It's great to be back. I want to start off by just telling you how humbled and honored I am to once again be associated with this great institution. I certainly want to thank President Cordova, Coach Tiller, Morgan Burke, Roger Blalock and the faculty reps and everyone who was responsible for allowing me to come back to Purdue again. I have a lot of friends here in town. I had a great experience the first time that I coached here. I was very fortunate to come in with Coach Tiller on the ground level, and we had great fun. It made a huge impact on my life and I'm just thrilled to be back. I'm really excited about coaching the offensive line again. It's a passion of mine. I love coaching the offensive line. I coached the o-line for Coach Tiller at Wyoming. We had great success there. I had a great time coaching the o-line here. As a head coach at an FCS school, you wear a lot of hats. You wear a lot of hats any time you're a head coach, but particularly at an FCS school. I'm really looking forward to wearing the hat as the offensive line coach and rolling my sleeves up and becoming a position coach again. I think it's really going to be a shot in the arm for me and something that's going to feed my soul. Again, I'm excited about the great privilege to work with Coach Tiller again, and Brock Spack and many other coaches and people who I've worked with here in the past. Thank you for having me. It is truly, truly a great privilege. I'll be on the job Monday. I'll be fully enlisted as a Boilermaker. I'm going to hit the road recruiting hard and be here excited and ready to `boiler up.' Thank you again for having me." Morgan Burke
On the decision to hire Danny Hope ...
On the restructuring of the coaches ...
On decision and saying goodbye to seniors ...
On the importance of being familiar with Purdue culture ...
On his future plans ...
On his offensive strategies ...
On following in Coach Tiller's footsteps ...
On his persistence and success in recruiting ...
On being contacted by Purdue about the head coach position ... |
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