Purdue Football Coaching Changes: Hazell’s Denial

The most recent article from Mike Carmin at the Lafayette Journal & Courier sheds a little more light on the growing discontent within the Purdue football program:

Has Darrell Hazell been told he'll return as Purdue's football coach next season?

"We have not had those conversations. I'm not sure which media started that but (athletic director) Morgan (Burke) and I will talk after the season," Hazell said Monday.

So maybe we're not stuck with Hazell. I would hope that, at minimum, Shoop and Hudson will be gone at the end of the season. In fact, it baffles me as to how they are still employed at this very minute. Hazell is also playing it close to the vest:

"I don't know if I have any comments to that right now," said Hazell, whose buyout is $6.7 million on Dec. 1.

Could that be because he is in line for nearly $7 million regardless of what happens? Probably. I don't understand how he can say the following, however:

"I think we're heading in the right direction, for sure, absolutely, 100 percent certain we are heading into the right direction," he said. "Obviously, not on the wins and losses but are we getting close? Absolutely.

"We're like this right now (up and down) and that's the thing I talked our team about (Sunday) night is you can't play here one week and play here another week."

How? What in the f**k are we getting close to? How can you think we are heading in the right direction when we just gave up 380+ yards on the ground to one of the worst rushing teams in America? Yes, Purdue is up and down, but the ups are still not good enough and the downs are wildly careening through an atmosphere before becoming a smoldering crater on a planet. How can you possibly look at home blowouts by mediocre at best teams in Virginia Tech, Minnesota, and Illinois and say things are going in the right direction?

4 days until basketball season.