The three winningest coaches in Purdue’s football history – and six of the top 11 on Purdue’s career wins list -- coached as assistants for Purdue before becoming the head coach. Also, the three leaders all stayed and retired as Boilermakers, as opposed to those who only used Purdue as a step.
Of the five without prior Purdue ties, all arrived as proven college head coaches.
1. Joe Tiller (87 wins, age 54-65) – Assistant coach for Purdue in 1983-1986, returned as experienced head coach in 1997-2008 with overall record of 87-62 (.584), including 53-43 in Big Ten, with 10 bowl games in 12 years. Retired.
2. Jack Mollenkopf (84 wins, age 52-65) -- Assistant for Purdue in 1947-1955, promoted to head coach in 1956-1969 with overall record of 84-39-9 (.670), including 58-32-5 in Big Ten, with a Rose Bowl championship. Retired.
3. Noble Kizer (42 wins, age 30-36) – Assistant coach for Purdue in 1925-1929, promoted to head coach in 1930-1936 with overall record of 42-13-3 (.750), including 26-9-3 in Big Ten. Retired and became Purdue athletic director.
4. Jim Young (38 wins, age 42-46) – No previous tie. Head coach at Arizona, then Purdue in 1977-1981 with overall record of 38-19-1 (.664), including 26-14-1 in Big Ten. Three bowl games in five years. Resigned. Resurrected at Army.
5. Jeff Brohm (36 wins, age 46-51) -- No previous tie. Head coach at Western Kentucky, then Purdue in 2017-2022 with overall record of 36-34 (.514), including 19-17 in Big Ten. Abandoned New Year’s Day bowl team for Lulvul.
6. Jim Phelan (35 wins, age 29-36) – No previous tie. Head coach at Missouri, then Purdue in 1922-1929 with overall record of 35-22-5 (.605), including 14-17-4 in Big Ten. Abandoned 8-0 team for Washington.
6. Stu Holcomb (35 wins, age 37-45) – No previous tie. Head coach at Miami, Ohio, then Purdue in 1947-1955 with record of 35-42-5 (.457), including 25-23-1 in Big Ten. Resigned to become athletic director at Northwestern.
8. David Balliet (22 wins, age 27-35) – No previous tie. Head coach at Auburn, then Purdue in 1893-1895 and 1901 with overall record of 22-10-2 (.676), including 0-3-1 in the Western (soon-to-be the Big Ten, founded by Purdue). Fired.
8. Danny Hope (22 wins, age 50-56) -- Assistant for Purdue in 1997-2001, returned as assistant in 2008 and head coach in 2009-2012 with overall record of 22-27 (.449), including 13-19 in Big Ten, with two bowls in four years. Fired.
10. Leon Burtnett (21 wins, age 39-43) – Assistant for Purdue in 1977-1981, promoted to head coach in 1982-1986 with overall record of 21-34-1 (.384), including 17-25-1 in Big Ten. One bowl game in five years. Fired.
10. Jim Colletto (21 wins, age 47-52) – Assistant for Purdue in 1982-1984, returned as head coach in 1991-1996 with overall record of 21-42-3 (.341), including 13-32-3 in Big Ten. No bowl games. Fired.
Note: Purdue’s top 10 includes No. 8 Danny Hope despite his firing in 2012 before the bowl game in his fourth year at 22-27 -- the exact same record held by No. 5 Jeff Brohm in 2021 during the fifth of his six seasons, a tenure that drew more extensions than Milli Vanilli.
www.ncaa.com
