Danny Hope doesn’t spend a lot of time in bed. And that’s the way he likes it.
“The man probably does not sleep,” said Purdue defensive lineman Mike Neal at Big Ten Media Day in July. “No matter how early I get to the stadium, I always catch him walking in before I do, and he’s always leaving super late. I don’t understand.”
Hope has never been one to get a lot of shut-eye.
“I don’t sleep very much,” he said. “It’s not a result of the job, it’s a chemistry thing. I never have slept very much, even when I was young.”
Luckily for Hope, he has found a way to keep himself busy.
Hope is replacing the winningest coach in Purdue history, Joe Tiller. When Tiller took over in 1996 he brought one of the most prolific offenses in college football history to West Lafayette, Ind. Tiller’s fast-paced, high-scoring spread offenses, often called “basketball on grass,” produced a string of successful quarterbacks, including Drew Brees, Kyle Orton and Curtis Painter. During Tiller’s 12 years at Purdue, the Boilermakers reached 10 bowl games. The only other conference teams to accomplish the same feat over the same time span are Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin. In the 81 years prior to Tiller’s arrival, Purdue made six bowl appearances.
Hope has more in common with his predecessor than a trademark mustache. After serving as an assistant to Tiller at Wyoming in 1996 and Purdue from 1997 to 2001, Hope incorporated much of Tiller’s offense during his time as coach at his alma matter, Eastern Kentucky. As head coach of the Colonels from 2003-2007, Hope was 35-22 and was named Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the year in 2007. Tiller handpicked Hope as his successor and invited him to be an assistant during the 2008 season. For Hope, this was an invaluable experience.
“It was huge,” Hope said. “There’s a difference when you’re the coach-in-waiting and the clock is ticking and the due date is coming fast, compared to being the coach-in-waiting and you’re not sure when your time is going to come. I knew when Coach Tiller was going to retire, so when I came on board in 2008 anything that had to be dealt with in 2009 was put on my plate.”
While he has the utmost respect for Tiller, Hope is now focused on being “his own man.”
“We have a great plan for three phases of our program,” he said. “One of them is from an academic standpoint-we want our football team to carry a cumulative grade point average of a 3.0. We have a plan from a player development standpoint that is a little more position-specific. And we have a plan from a recruiting standpoint to really increase the pool size of top-of-the-line players that could be impact players at Purdue. With those three master plans in place, we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Hope’s Boilermakers have stumbled out of the gate this year, losing three straight games since a season-opening victory over Toledo. But according to coach Pat Fitzgerald, their record may not do the team justice.
“They’re about eight plays away from being 4-0,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s doing a great job, his staff is doing a great job. I’m glad to have the person in the league because he’s a great man, but I’m not happy to have a great coach in the league because I think he’s going to do a great job.”
After going 16-11 in 2006 and 2007, the Boilermakers slipped to 4-8 last year. Coming into the 2009 campaign, the Boilermakers lost starters at every skill position. Still, Purdue has rebounded nicely – running back Ralph Bolden leads the Big Ten in rushing while receiver Keith Smith is second in the conference catches.
The Purdue faithful know there is still work to be done if the Boilermakers want to avoid consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1995-1996. Boilers fans have learned replacing a legend isn’t easy, but according to quarterback Joey Elliot, hope is on the way.
“Whenever your program wants to go to new levels,” he said. “It needs a new face.”
