Well, we now officially know one place Butch Jones won’t coach in 2013.
Following up on speculation that began to grow over the past couple of days, Purdue announced Wednesday morning that Darrell Hazell has been hired as the Boilermakers new head coach. Jones had interviewed for the job on Sunday, but a strong push by Colorado -- and perhaps Wisconsin too -- as well as Cincinnati making every financial effort to retain their coach pushed Purdue into the direction of the MAC and an individual that has completely turned around a moribund Kent State program.
A press conference will be held at 7 p.m. ET today to introduce Hazell, who will replace the dismissed Danny Hope.
“I’m extremely excited to work with the players at Purdue, and I look forward to experiencing a lot of success in the future,” Hazell said in a statement. “It’s a wonderful opportunity. Purdue University has a great football tradition, and I can’t wait to get started.”
In Hazell’s two seasons at Kent State, the Golden Flashes went 16-9. In the four season’s prior to his arrival, Kent won just 19 games.
This season, The Golden Flashes won a school-record 11 games and claimed a division title for the first time ever.
Prior to landing his first head-coaching job in December of 2010, he had been an assistant on Jim Tressel‘s Ohio State staff for seven seasons.
“Darrell is a great fit to build on our existing foundation,” Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke said. “His leadership at Kent State, combined with his prior experience at Ohio State and other stops along the way, has prepared him to help us continue to move toward developing a championship-caliber program. He understands our ‘25/85’ vision as well as our desire to recruit both locally and nationally. Furthermore, it is clear that he appreciates the Cradle of Quarterbacks tradition, and it will remain a focal point of our program.”