Morgan Burke is leaving Purdue, effective at some later date.
We already knew this. Just didn't know exactly when.
Circumstance demanded it.
You see, the mitigating factor in the newsworthiness of Thursday's announcement comes in the fact that Burke's contract only runs through 2017 and there has never been any indication of there being any possibility of the 64-year-old Burke continuing on in his A.D. position beyond that time.
So Thursday's announcement was not a surprise, nor was it anything that should be construed as a firing or forced resignation, whatever your opinion on things might be.
What this is, rather, is a procedural measure made absolutely necessary by a number of factors, the biggest of which, obviously, is football.
Purdue has to get that thing figured out.
Danny Hope turned out to be a bad hire.
The story is not yet fully written on his successor, Darrell Hazell, but the results are what they are and change could soon again be in the offing. No one around Purdue is naïve to this. They can't be. This is a code-red situation.
Anyway, Purdue opted not to hit the "reset button," as Burke termed it, on the program by cutting its losses after just Year 3.
The reality is, it couldn't.
People talked of buyouts and such barring Purdue from making a change even if it wanted to, and we don't know if deep down, in its private moments, Purdue leadership wanted to.
Purdue could not start over in football, not now, not with athletic department leadership due for transition.
Hazell was something close to untouchable this year because of the reality that the A.D. who would be firing him would not be the one who'd be hiring his replacement. No coach with anything close to leverage would walk into a job having no idea who he'd even be working for six months later. Would you?
Burke's expiration date has always been 2017 and given the football situation, Purdue had to mobilize to make a move if it turns out one is necessary. To be fully mobilized, Purdue needed its next A.D. in place. To get its next A.D. in place, it needed a job opening and a path forward.
Whoever this search committee decides upon to succeed Burke, he or she will take on the football quagmire and get to work on the single greatest challenge that person will face in leading Purdue into its new era of leadership.
Burke is not going anywhere any time soon, though. His tenure will run its course, then finish - appropriately enough - with him handling off to an appointed successor.
There will be plenty of time in the months ahead for the Burke Legacy to be written.
And as is true with any long-time leader, history has the final say.
But in the meantime, the time for this determination was not only right, but it was absolutely necessary.
For the Boilermaker athletic department, this represents the beginning of an end of an era, and the coming dawn of a new one.
For its loyalists, perhaps it provides some calm.
When Burke hastened along Joe Tiller's retirement years ago and introduced Hope to succeed him, he cited a need to quell "angst" among the fan base.
Since, football has fallen into some of the darkest depths in its history and that angst has intensified exponentially.
Let's make this clear and do so in no uncertain terms: Burke loves Purdue and no one wants Purdue to succeed more than he does.
Back in 2008, he hoped to settle and unify a restless fan base.
Years later, this news, at least to some extent, will do that.
We already knew this. Just didn't know exactly when.
Circumstance demanded it.
You see, the mitigating factor in the newsworthiness of Thursday's announcement comes in the fact that Burke's contract only runs through 2017 and there has never been any indication of there being any possibility of the 64-year-old Burke continuing on in his A.D. position beyond that time.
So Thursday's announcement was not a surprise, nor was it anything that should be construed as a firing or forced resignation, whatever your opinion on things might be.
What this is, rather, is a procedural measure made absolutely necessary by a number of factors, the biggest of which, obviously, is football.
Purdue has to get that thing figured out.
Danny Hope turned out to be a bad hire.
The story is not yet fully written on his successor, Darrell Hazell, but the results are what they are and change could soon again be in the offing. No one around Purdue is naïve to this. They can't be. This is a code-red situation.
Anyway, Purdue opted not to hit the "reset button," as Burke termed it, on the program by cutting its losses after just Year 3.
The reality is, it couldn't.
People talked of buyouts and such barring Purdue from making a change even if it wanted to, and we don't know if deep down, in its private moments, Purdue leadership wanted to.
Purdue could not start over in football, not now, not with athletic department leadership due for transition.
Hazell was something close to untouchable this year because of the reality that the A.D. who would be firing him would not be the one who'd be hiring his replacement. No coach with anything close to leverage would walk into a job having no idea who he'd even be working for six months later. Would you?
Burke's expiration date has always been 2017 and given the football situation, Purdue had to mobilize to make a move if it turns out one is necessary. To be fully mobilized, Purdue needed its next A.D. in place. To get its next A.D. in place, it needed a job opening and a path forward.
Whoever this search committee decides upon to succeed Burke, he or she will take on the football quagmire and get to work on the single greatest challenge that person will face in leading Purdue into its new era of leadership.
Burke is not going anywhere any time soon, though. His tenure will run its course, then finish - appropriately enough - with him handling off to an appointed successor.
There will be plenty of time in the months ahead for the Burke Legacy to be written.
And as is true with any long-time leader, history has the final say.
But in the meantime, the time for this determination was not only right, but it was absolutely necessary.
For the Boilermaker athletic department, this represents the beginning of an end of an era, and the coming dawn of a new one.
For its loyalists, perhaps it provides some calm.
When Burke hastened along Joe Tiller's retirement years ago and introduced Hope to succeed him, he cited a need to quell "angst" among the fan base.
Since, football has fallen into some of the darkest depths in its history and that angst has intensified exponentially.
Let's make this clear and do so in no uncertain terms: Burke loves Purdue and no one wants Purdue to succeed more than he does.
Back in 2008, he hoped to settle and unify a restless fan base.
Years later, this news, at least to some extent, will do that.
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