The Joe Tiller era is over in West Lafayette as Purdue football hope to rebuild this spring. New head coach, Danny Hope will take over the reigns after serving as associate head coach to Tiller last season. Hope has been an assistant at Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Purdue. He served as offensive coordinator at Louisville before becoming the head coach at Eastern Kentucky. He coached the Colonels until returning to Purdue last season.

Hope will have some big shoes to fill. Although Tiller’s final seasons were lackluster, his overall career was one of the best in Purdue’s history. He leaves as the school’s all-time winningest coach with 87 career victories. He led the Boilermakers to 10 bowl appearances in 12 seasons. Prior to his arrival, Purdue had only been to 5 bowl games in its entire history. But being eight seasons removed from their last conference title, fans and school administrators had grown impatient with Tiller. Over his last three seasons, he had managed a mediocre 20-19 record.

Purdue will have its hands full this season. Their non-conference schedule includes games against Oregon and Notre Dame. The quirky Big Ten schedule didn’t give Purdue any breaks this season. They face Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. The only ranked team from the conference they managed to avoid is Penn State.

All of this isn’t comforting news coming off a 4-8 season, including 2-6 in the Big Ten. However, the Boilermakers are only a season removed from their last winning record and bowl appearance. Purdue won the Motor City Bowl in 2007 and lost the Champs Sports Bowl the year before.

Dominating spring practice talk this season will be the competition for the starting quarterback job. Battling it out are Justin Siller and Joey Elliot. Siller is a 6′4″ sophomore from Detroit. Elliot is a 6′2″ senior from Evansville, IN. Siller threw for 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in limited action last season. Elliot saw even less playing time, managing only 5 completions on 10 attempts.

Both players realize the significance of playing quarterback at Purdue. The NFL has had many successful Purdue signal callers playing on Sundays. Former Boilermaker QB’s that are currently playing in the NFL include Drew Brees and Kyle Orton. Hall of Famers Len Dawson and Bob Griese played for Purdue. Other former NFL stars include Gary Danielson and Jim Everett.

One of the big challenges facing Hope will be stepping up recruiting. The Boilers have ranked at or near the bottom of the Big Ten for the last few seasons in recruiting. The 2009 class is ranked last in the Big Ten. In order to rebuild, Purdue must retake the state of Indiana and prevent the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State from pulling top recruits.

Don’t look for a huge turn around this season for the Boilermakers. New head coach Danny Hope has his hands full and will need time to recruit new talent. He will also need help from his athletic director to put together a less challenging non-conference schedule. In the meantime, Purdue football fans will have to be patient. A win over Indiana in the Old Oaken Bucket game may be the one of the few things to celebrate in 2009.

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