A website known for discussing the latest news in the NCAA football coaching carousel has stated that “informed sources” indicate that Danny Hope will “almost certainly be fired at season’s end.” Before I give any credence to some anonymous source, let me just say that I only wanted to share this post to discuss the idea of Coach Hope getting fired. I don’t necessarily think that this rumor has validity to it, although it’s certainly a possibility.
Coach Hope has a few things going for him, but he does have a lot of strikes against him. First, his team was manhandled like I’ve never seen by Wisconsin last week. The Badgers’ offense made Purdue’s defense look like a JV squad. Hope is in his third year, and even if he was dealt a tough hand with injuries over his tenure, most of those injuries did not contribute to Purdue getting stomped so badly on defense.
Secondly, the attendance is at an absolute low. This isn’t entirely Coach Hope’s fault though because he inherited a team that was spiraling downward at the end of the Tiller era. However, Morgan Burke may feel pressure to make a coaching change now to hopefully put an end to the declining ticket sales at Ross-Ade Stadium.
Third, Danny Hope’s teams have had some embarrassingly bad losses. The loss at Rice and the near loss to Middle Tennessee State was enough to sink any high expectations I had of this season. Last year, Purdue lost to Toledo. And the year before, the Boilers fell to Northern Illinois. Losing to MAC teams regularly (and whatever conference Rice is in) just won’t cut it at a Big Ten school.
There are other things you can point to as criticism of Hope: the failing two quarterback system, his questionable use of timeouts, and the most penalties of any Big Ten team this season. But what really may force Hope out is the unrest among Purdue alumni. Many John Purdue Club members are not happy about the way their team is prepared on Saturdays and Morgan Burke may not be able to sit on his hands this offseason.
Before we accept these rumors as true, let’s not forget that if Purdue wins two more games this year, the Boilermakers will go bowling. If that were to happen, I think Coach Hope’s job is safe for another year. If not, well…there may be something to this rumor.
