(05-26-2016 04:55 PM)Big Ron Buckeye Wrote: While I'd take Northwestern over Purdue because of a nice trip to Chicago. I think we woulsnt miss either of them. A better way to think about it is like this... If we were forming the B1G today who would get an invite. I don't think either of them would.
Even with your hypothetical question I still disagree with you and would take NW. As a Hoosier I agree with you on Purdue
Answering the original question of the post and how good of a job Purdue is: if we are rating Big Ten college towns, West Lafayette is probably near the bottom next to College Park and New Brunswick. Those two locations would probably get the edge due to close proximity to DC and NYC, respectively.
Right off the bat Purdue has location working against them. They can't bring in recruits and show off a pretty college town or a campus of pretty girls like other B1G schools can. At least they are not in a remote area of the country like Aimes, IA or Pullman, WA.
I echo a lot of the points made by Ron, especially considering recruiting competition and institutional commitment. The school recently announced a $60M expansion to its football practice facility, which will be nice for the next coach.
http://www.jconline.com/story/sports/col.../74320512/
Speaking of coaching salaries, they made a bold move by paying Hazell $2.14M annually. It has simply worked out terribly.
IMO Tiller laid out the plan for success at Purdue. He was very well respected, was a good teacher, and no player was above the team. He won a B1G title and went to a Rose bowl, and his teams were always well coached and a threat to win 8-9 games. The B1G West is weak, so there is opportunity for Purdue.
Purdue needs an older, experienced coach with legit P5 experience to be the face of the program and establish an identity, like Tiller did. Times have changed, Tiller was able to recruit Texas. Texas is so much more competitive now than it was a decade ago, but Purdue can leverage its strong academics (especially engineering) to get smart 3 star kids from the east or west coasts who fit a system. So they need a coach that can bring in the right system.
The job itself is probably comparable to Iowa State or Washington State. Which is why they need to hire an older coach who is looking to end his career with his next job. Otherwise a younger guy will bolt first opportunity. Purdue has a great opportunity to compete in the B1G West and annually play in Bowl games, which gives it an edge over ISU or WSU, IMO. If Purdue was in the B1G East, I'd say the job would be hopeless.