First. The AD needs to evaluate how he apportions the NIL money he has available. It appears Purdue gives out more money to basketball athletes than other schools do. I’m ok with that, but in doing so, one must realize the football program will suffer.
I’m a firm believer Purdue needs to build a football program similar to the programs at Iowa and Wisconsin. Their funding is similar to Purdue and have proven teams don’t need to be pass happy to be successful in the Big 10. The concept that Purdue has to be passing oriented to be successful is a myth. I know some fans love a passing offense, but more fans are happy just with a win. Look at IU fans today.
The coach has to have experience and a staff and he has to bring recruits with him. This needs to be like a neon Deon signing where the coach will bring 10-20 recruits with him. Because at this stage, a coach arriving in December is going to have a hard time adding recruits.
Essentially a new coach is going to have done his recruiting before he arrives!
We definitely need to improve player development. Our juniors are not showing any progression that they are any better than they were as freshmen. Look at Hartwig. He started as a freshman. He’s a great player. But how much has he improved and developed over his first year?
And we need to stop blaming lack of recruiting time and the previous staff for leaving the cupboard bare. Look at IU and Wisconsin. Their coaches had basically the same amount of recruiting time. And their cupboards were bare.
Finally change the recruiting philosophy and start concentrating on recruiting elite linemen. Purdue needs to stop the pipeline of Indiana linemen going to Iowa. There is a lot of talent inside Indiana that is going to out of state schools.
And lastly rather than matching the salaries other schools are paying, pay the coach what his experience and not his potential dictates! Don’t pay a guy who has zero head coaching experience as if he has won 5 big 10 championships! And don’t pay a coach a salary that you can’t afford to buy out.
On your first point ... since NIL is coming from the fans and other donors, it's more about the AD finding a way to convince them to spend on a sinking ship instead of continued support for a successful program.
I get that FB will pay the bills, but it's hard to convince those that do pitch in on NIL that it's a valuable investment for what is essentially their entertainment dollars. It's much easier to pony up for basketball, especially when you're only talking about dishing out top $ for maybe a half dozen players on the roster each year. Also helps that Painter has developed the culture he has where the players accept that they have to produce to earn NIL $ at that level.
As for moving away from a more offensive minded approach, haven't we already gone down that road before? It can be done, but it's not going to be something that can be established in a year or two. Unfortunately that's about all new coaches have in today's environment with NIL and unfettered transfers.
I definitely agree with hiring someone that will bring a successful staff with him. That could be someone from a mid-major for all I care, as long as they keep the majority of those around that got them to that point, and supplement any openings with proven assistant coaches or coordinators.
Same with matching the salary to experience. Obviously they expect to make more if they're moving up to the P5 level, but let's not put them in the middle of B1G salaries out of the gate. Re-evaluate after year two, and increase if needed. Obviously this changes if we're pulling someone from a successful P4 program, but not sure that's something Purdue's willing or able to do at this point.
. Agree that the Colvin, Cox, and Harris have the potential to be great options on Offense. Was nice to see Colvin and Harris attack the glass. Cox may lead the team in points scored per minute of playing time. Appears that Heide will not be featured offensively unless the other team doubles the post. Therefore, my personal opinion is that Heide needs to be more aggressive when given the rare touch. Excited about seeing this team win a talent laden Big 10. I anticipate Oregon, UCLA, and USC will be in the top 1/3rd of the conference.
