I've never written a sports blog post before, but here's my lame attempt....Well, another year and another OSU loss in the NC. It really is beginning to look like the Big Ten has fallen behind the other conferences. Aside from Michigan thumping Florida, the Big Ten looked rather weak, slow, out-talented, and out-coached. On the bright side, Purdue won the MAC championship by defeating Central Michigan in the Motor City (toilet) Bowl.
What is even more worrisome is that some of the Big Ten programs, like Purdue, are looking from within the conference to replace coaches. If the conference as a whole is struggling, why are we recycling coaches? Wouldn't snagging a SEC or Mountain West (which went 5-1 in the bowls) assistant or coach be a better solution? I like it that Michigan tried hard to land Les Miles. I like it that Illinois went for the Zooker (even though I think he's a terrible coach). They are trying to dip deeply from the well that is the dominant SEC.
Rumor on the street is that Purdue will soon be naming Danny Hope the soon-to-be head coach. The speculation is that Purdue searched for a candidate willing to sit in the passenger seat for Tiller's last year (2008), ready to take over in 2009. Hope is the HC at Eastern Kentuck, and he was a former assistant at Purdue when Tiller first came. He had brilliant success coaching Purdue's o-lines 97-01 (those five years produced 7 NFL o-linemen!), and he has had pretty good success at EKU fielding teams that have beaten the likes of Appalachian St. while challenging for their conference's title.
From my perspective, I think Purdue set the bar too low as the three candidates most commonly spoken were all very under the radar. If Tiller isn't footing the bill at 7-5, shouldn't we be after a coach who has taken other teams to a better mark? Peterson at Boise St. would be a great catch. The coach at Tulsa is another example. Others have mentioned Sumlin or B. Kelly at Cincy. However, name doesn't make you famous, and Purdue is a unique school. Perhaps, Hope is the right man at the right time.
We'll see. Morgan Burke, Athletic Director at Purdue, has a long track record of picking good coaches. I really hope Danny Hope is able to take Purdue and the Big Ten by storm just like Burke's last head coach did in 97'.
Go Boilers!
1 comment:
First off a big "Go Boilers". With that out of the way I'll say I am not at all qualified to respond directly to what you said, but perhaps we can discuss why...
I have lost interest in college football. Granted I am a fair-weather fan of all teams and all sports. If they want my attention they have to entertain me and most likely win a lot. But what else could be contributing? While I still live well within the Big Ten region I rarely catch a Purdue game on TV let alone many other Big Ten games. And without consistent availability I am not going to be able to keep up with a season. Perhaps we could blame and discuss the controversial Big Ten network...
Beyond that I don't feel like that game this week was really a championship game. Think about it really, why not have a small tournament with the top 8 teams or something? Give me a college level football super bowl. Give me something worth inviting friend over to eat salsa and play cards. Give me exciting storylines and keep me interested.
The way things are now, college football is saying "we've got enough fans, we don't need you". And maybe it is true, and that’s okay. I better end with another “Go Boilers!” so Mark doesn’t get mad at me
=P
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