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For the purpose of context, here's a quick look at just some of the hires Sugiyama has assisted on. Pat Richter, formerly the A.D. at Wisconsin, is heavily involved with DHR searches, too.
Football coaches
Jason Candle - Toledo (promoted from within)
Mike Bobo - Colorado State (was a Georgia assistant)
Jim Harbaugh - Stanford (from San Diego)
Sonny Dykes - Cal (from Louisiana Tech)
Randy Edsall - Maryland (from Connecticut)
Charlie Weis - Kansas (from NFL, after Notre Dame)
Basketball coaches
Josh Pastner - Georgia Tech (from Memphis)
Frank Haith - Tulsa (from Missouri)
Cuonzo Martin - Cal (from Tennessee)
Johnny Dawkins - Stanford (was a Duke assistant coach)
Athletic directors
Purdue - Mike Bobinski (from Georgia Tech)
Colorado State - Joe Parker from Texas Tech (deputy)
Pittsburgh - Scott Barnes (from Utah State)
Syracuse - Mark Coyle (from Boise State, now at Minnesota)
Nathan Pine - Holy Cross (Maryland deputy)
This is just a part of it, all we could find online and through word of mouth, basically.
What does it tell us?
Well, a couple things. On the basketball side, you see some situations where there's some movement from name coaches who might have wanted out of their current situations.
Pastner wasn't particularly popular any longer at Memphis, Haith had the NCAA breathing down his neck at Missouri and Martin was treated like hell by Tennessee.
On the A.D. side, you see a situation right here at Purdue where DHR played a role in Mike Bobinski jumping from one Power 5 job to another and Mark Coyle doing the same.
The combination of those two things, coupled with Sugiyama's rep for being a big of a big-game/big-name hunter to start searches, suggests maybe Purdue takes a pass at a big-name, big-money sitting Power 5 coach now who might be tiring of his situation or may see his situation tiring of him.
We've mentioned Dan Mullen, who makes $4-million at Mississippi State, but is working on a short contract and some other factors at play where maybe a change of scenery makes sense. There has been A.D. turnover at Mississippi State, too.
We've been told by those with some familiarity with Mullen that he did have an eye on other opportunities after Dak Prescott left, suspecting a drop-off. In the SEC, drop-offs turn people on you real quick.
Can Purdue get Mullen? No idea. Granted, there's some suspension of disbelief involved there, and obviously the huge question of money, not only Mullen's $4-millionish compensation but whatever dough might be needed to get him out of what's left of his Mississippi State contract, if anything.
Something to note: Apparently, due to state law in Mississippi, MSU can't give contracts longer than four years. Mississippi State declined to bump Mullen back up to the max four after last season.
So, theoretically, a school that might not be able or willing to match a $4-million annual salary could compensate with the added security of, let's say, a six-year deal at a lower per-year rate.
We have heard Mullen's name come up hear and there, not only around Purdue, but around the athletic director search and he does fit the profile of a Sugiyama pursuit and potentially motivated mover. Whether Purdue is a place he'd consider making that move, too, we don't know, but just figured we'd point all this out.
On another note, some buzz coming out of the agent community has pegged Craig Bohl of Wyoming as a real possibility for Purdue, if not a likelihood. We are not buying into the likelihood part of it yet, but he might bear monitoring.
It should be pointed out again that Purdue wants this hire made ASAP, the Sunday after the IU game if at all possible. That is hard to do, and the higher-profile the candidate, it stands to reason to suggest the more difficult that is.
Purdue plays Indiana on Nov. 26. You might be able to hire a Craig Bohl or a Brock Spack or someone like that on Nov. 27. You're not getting a Dan Mullen or a P.J. Fleck that quick. That would be a day after Mississippi State's regular season finale and two days after Western Michigan's.
We do want to point out again that we have no information to suggest that Purdue has targeted Fleck and actually do have evidence that Fleck is telling people he is not taking the Purdue job. That doesn't mean Purdue has even contacted him. It just means that word has gotten out that it might to the point he is addressing it. Assumption often affects these things. It's the reason Dave Doeren withdrew from a Purdue search years ago he was barely part of. Because Purdue talk was hurting his recruiting at Northern Illinois.
We should also add that we do know that Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz is on Purdue's radar.
He and Bobinski go way back, but Bobinski isn't about to hire an old friend for this job just because he's an old friend.
We have been given some reason to think Purdue would at least make an initial pass at Power 5 head coaches, which would jibe with them at least giving Mullen a chance to say no. Who else in P5 would make sense, well, that's unclear. We've mentioned Dave Clawson and Dino Babers (who's only been at Syracuse one year, but will have a new A.D.) but have no info about either being contacted.
We don't think at this point Purdue will go the assistant coach route, but there are some good assistants out there with some head coaching experience on their résumé beyond Greg Schiano. We added Penn State OC Joe Moorhead to our list of logical considerations this week in part for that reason. (staff)
Obviously, Purdue needs another big man after Felipe Haase opted for South Carolina. That was disappointing. We were specifically told that Frank Martin was going to be hard to say no to due to his ties to Haase's inner circle, but that in this particular case, Martin's coaching style wasn't going to be compatible with this particular player. Well, sometime over the weekend, Frank Martin apparently forever stopped screaming at his players - that's snark, by the way - and so Haase is going there. That's recruiting.
But now Purdue needs another big. It's wanted two, and while technically it has two right now in Matt Haarms and Eden Ewing, it still wants another.
Jacob Epperson will be recruited, obviously, and may have been even if Purdue had gotten Haase, but Purdue will make a strong case to make to him. That's not a situation at LaLumiere where Purdue's necessarily going to get much help recruiting Epperson if other big-name schools are involved, but it will try and there seems to be a solid fit there for Purdue to offer.
And obviously, the transfer, waiver and late-bloomer wires will be monitored closely. Purdue is good about ending things on recruits it doesn't get on a positive note in the event their situations change for one reason or another.
Watch out for Sasha Stefanovic, too. We think Purdue will look at every option to maybe get him in the recruiting class. (BN)
Join us then.
A replay will be posted afterward.
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