So, if that is true (and I agree that it is), then why is MB still "here"? Why was MB not moved to another position at the University, seeing as nobody had the intestinal fortitude to do what should have been done in firing him? The issue is not just the poor job...incredibly poor job...that MB has done, but that he not only was allowed to continue (at the expense...literally in Purdue's case I might add), but that he remains the AD yet today despite the poor job and inability to take action or make changes that even the dimmest of those involved at Purdue have to recognize and acknowledge? For that matter, how about the ego and lack of any sort of moral compass keeping MB himself from doing the right thing, never mind best thing, for Purdue athletics and having stepped down?
I don't think that the people that matter at Purdue believe that Burke has done a poor job which I think speaks to the priorities you've mentioned before. Winning is a "nice to have" when it comes to sports at Purdue, especially now that the tv money is what it is. I'm not saying that's right or wrong, I'm just saying that's how it is and that's in stark contrast to many of the programs we're competing against.
For the record, I'm not as harsh on Burke as most. I was fine with the Hope hire. I still support Painter. I don't think Versyp has done anything that warrants her removal. Shondell has been a great hire. The golf programs are good. I think he gave Schreiber an acceptable amount of time to get baseball booted back up. I don't have any huge issues with the decisions made in those programs.
The one series of decisions which I think have proven to be an unmitigated disaster was the decision to replace Hope with Hazell. I'll be the first to admit that we had an average and mostly uninspiring football program under Hope. We were middle of the pack at best and got blown out by most of the big time teams we played. We had some moments where we were competitive with some really good teams (mostly Ohio State and also Notre Dame in the year they went to the title game) but many fans felt like that was unacceptable and interest in the program was lukewarm at best so Burke decided to pull the plug on a coach that had performed at about the historical average of the program.
While that move in itself wasn't wrong, it's one that you must get right as an AD if you're going to make it. We clearly didn't. First of all, we had to buy out Hope which was almost unprecedented for Burke to do. We did that in spite of back-to-back bowls which, although minor and not very exciting, are still a benchmark for a program like ours. Then the search began. Butch Jones appeared to be our top target. He met with Burke and left appearing to have little interest in the job. There was talk of the NIU coach which seemed to go nowhere as he left for NC State. So then what? We were left with no head coach and all of the top options were off the board. So a desperate Burke settles for Hazell after telling the fan base how important the passing game was to the identity of Purdue football.
So in the end, we spent a bunch of money to buy out Hope who was average. We gave the new coach and his staff much more money than Hope and his staff had to operate with to come in and do far worse. On top of that all, our offense has been brutal and as a team we have not been entertaining to watch very often. It's not like we've been losing 54-42 shootouts like even IU did in many of their worst seasons in recent memory. We have been losing badly and not scoring much in the process.
So that's my big beef with Burke. Not supporting Hope with the same resources you gave the next coach was a mistake. Firing Hope without having a viable candidate to replace him was a mistake. Hiring a coach who was a Jim Tressel disciple after having preached about the importance of the passing game to the identity of Purdue football was a mistake. And then, ultimately, Hazell was just a mistake all on his own. The whole process was one blunder after another.
All that said, I'm in no rush to replace Hazell. Make no mistake about it, I'd advocate changing coaches tomorrow if we can get the right guy into the position. Our pool is limited though and I don't think there is always going to be the "right" guy every year. We need to realize that replacing Hazell just for the sake of replacing him could only extend the length of this downturn if we don't end up hiring the right guy. Furthermore, I think it is correct to let the next AD hire the next football coach. Burke messed up the last one so any trust we had that he could identify the "right" guy has been lost and the next AD will be given a potentially career-defining opportunity to bring in someone to resurrect the top money-making program in the athletic department. Fair or not, that hire will define the new AD. As for Burke, I'm fine with him waiting out his time. He can help finish off or hand off some of the facilities things that have started under his watch and get the new AD up to speed on things while leaving the big decisions with longer lasting implications up to the next guy. Let's just hope we get an AD that can hire a football coach.
