Coast2Coast wrote:
Thanks Rick. I don't know that JoePa "ignores" off field issues as you suggest, because he has suspended guys about as much as many coaches. THey have had issues and bad actors, no question. My impression though is he has dealt with them by suspending guys about like most coaches. The difference is he doesn't seek style points from the media about how he publicly talks about his miscreants. He doesn't let the media spend time in his press conferences talking about it and he doesn't talk about it publicly much. That may actually be a good thing for his team and a positive and professional way to handle things, rather than being a media whore about it. My impression of JoePa is they have screwups and they deal with them. And when they screw up, Joe is not going to drag the kids through the mud by repeatedly talking about their screwups no matter how much the media asks him the questions. I'm not sure it's ever a good idea for a coach or manager of any organization to throw a player or worker under the bus...regardless of how much fans or the media expect them to do just that. He's kicked some kids off the team and he's suspended some, depending on their violations. I just don't see that as being "ignoring" the issues.
JoePa does seek style points from the media. Take a look at his "clean the stadium on Sundays" punishment and how the media ate it up. It still didn't stop more off the field issues. I don't really want to bash PSU, as I have great respect for them and they probably have the best fans in the Big Ten. I hope PSU wins out from here.
Coast2Coast wrote:
Yeah I have one more question. Is it a smart strategy to have coaches announce they are retiring after "next season" and then let them play out the string in their last season? Purdue has now allowed both Keady and Tiller to do this. And while that's not a lot of evidence, it sure doesn't seem like either team played/is playing very hard for those lame duck coaches. I've seen teams, particulary college teams, win one (game) for the gipper. Asking them to win an entire season for a coach they know is going to be gone next year doesn't seem to be working very well.
I think the Keady transition plan was a resounding success. It was going to be tough no matter how it was done. There was little talent on those teams and the cupboard was bare. In hindsight, it was about 4 years later than it should have been. I'm not sure if it was about playing hard for those teams, but talent. As for the actual transition plan, Matt Painter used his year as an associate head coach to recruit heavily and convince a bunch of top 100 talent to come to a school that was down to buy in to the system. Given where Purdue was during Keady's last season, I think the turnaround has been as quick as it could have been. If I could go back and change anything I wouldn't and I don't think any other Purdue fan would.
As for football, it would be quite a leap of faith to think that the transition plan will work as well as it did in basketball. So far, besides some talk and some early signs of "Hope" it isn't really known what is going on. We won't really know how successful the transition plan is until we see how recruiting goes for the class after this one as he'll have had ample time to make contacts with recruits earlier on. Matt Painter was able to use the transition plan and sell the program. So far, I have to grade this plan as an incomplete but I am excited to see what Danny Hope can do. This season seems to be the start of another rebuilding mode.
Coast2Coast wrote:
This whole notion that coaches..like Tiller for example...should be able to decide when they retire on their own terms is a bunch of BS. Who else in America, other than these egocentric coaches, can control their retirement date when their job performance is not meeting expectations? I said four years ago Tiller should have been gone when he repeatedly missed expectations and his teams played below their talent. Of course, I said the same thing about Joepa too a few years ago. That the game had passed him by. Tells you what I know.
I think you have to understand the mindset of most Purdue fans. I'm lucky. I became a Purdue fan and 6 months later they went to the Rose Bowl. I missed the 30 years of bad, big ten bottom feeders. Joe Tiller saved the football program and the financial viability of Purdue athletics. At schools who have had tons of historical success, just going to a bowl isn't good enough. At Purdue, when it was a rarity before, it became standard. This was clearly bad thinking and has caused the last 4 years of stagnation. Unlike the basketball program, I would go back and change the coaching situation after the season they didn't go to a bowl game.
I'm ready to see a Purdue team not coached by Joe Tiller and the one good thing about the predetermined end to his coaching career here is that I can go to a game and enjoy it without worrying that he won't be fired.
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