Purdue’s radio play-by-play man talks Boilermaker football
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Assistant Editor
One look at Purdue’s schedule heading into this season and it didn’t take a genius to figure out Darrell Hazell’s first Boilermaker team could struggle … mightily.
That’s exactly what has transpired five games into the season in West Lafayette.
Purdue just isn’t a good football team. Far from it, in fact. You would be hard-pressed to find a game on the remaining schedule that you can make a strong case that the Boilermakers will win.
Hazell’s team currently sits at 1-4 overall, 0-1 in the Big Ten and hosts Nebraska today.
After entertaining the Huskers, Purdue’s last six regular-season games will be against teams that currently have winning records.
This season appears to be a lost cause, but what about the future? Is Hazell the right man to reverse Purdue’s fortunes? The university certainly has finally invested the kind of money in its football program necessary to make it competitive and a regular bowl participant. How long will it take Hazell to build Purdue back into a winner and how long will his honeymoon period last?
IndySportsLegends.com posed these questions and more to Tim Newton, the “Voice of the Boilermakers.”
Following is what Newton had to say.
IndySportsLegends.com: Did you think this season would be as tough as it has turned out to be so far?
Newton: “I do think, and Darrell would be the first to tell you, they’ve underachieved so far this year and it has been a tougher road.
“You mentioned the quarterback position … I think they were hoping they could get through this season with Rob (Henry) and Rob played very well last spring and in fall camp, but for whatever reason that didn’t translate onto Saturdays this fall.
“To lay all the blame on him is completely unfair, but also as we know in athletics you can’t fire everybody and can’t get rid of everybody so the most prominent change you can make is at the quarterback spot.
“Looking at them in practice this week, it’s looked like a different football team offensively. This is something Darrell talked about yesterday, but they’re using sideline to sideline now (in the offense).
“Because of Rob’s arm strength compared to (quarterback) Danny (Etling) they were pretty much playing between the hash marks. They weren’t able to get the ball all the way out to the sidelines. Now they’re able to stretch it more. The more space you’ve got to defend, the tougher it is to defend.
“You’re going to see us take more chances down the field, which I think will help. Hopefully it will help the running game because now you can’t bunch everybody in the box.”
IndySportsLegends.com: Why did it take so long to bench Henry and go with Etling?
Newton: “I think this was a decision they didn’t take lightly because once they made this decision there was no turning back.
“I think they wanted to give Rob every opportunity to turn the offense around.
“You have to look at Rob and what he’s given to the program in five years. He’s been a real leader. He’s a good, off-the-field, locker room guy. He’s popular amongst his teammates. They wanted him to succeed. He’s a co-captain. You don’t just pull him out of the lineup without understanding all the ramifications of it.
“In theory, I guess you could’ve made the switch sooner, but if you go back after the Notre Dame (game), Rob played well and the offense moved the ball. But then came the Wisconsin game and in the Northern Illinois game he took a step back and at that point it was time to make a change.
“In a perfect world, you would’ve loved to have kept the redshirt on Danny, but Darrell is not willing to sacrifice the rest of the 2013 season. They want to win football games.”
IndySportsLegends.com: What do you like about Etling’s game?
Newton: “I’ve asked people, ‘Does this guy have the ‘it’ factor?’ Drew (Brees) had it. Kyle (Orton) had some measure of it. Mark Herrmann had it. The answer is a unanimous, ‘Yes.’
“He has all the physical tools. He’s got good size. He’s about 6-foot-2. He’ll get stronger, but he’s no lightweight now. He can make all the throws.
“The thing I like the most and I’m hearing the most is he’s in the film room as much if not more than the coaches are. They’ve talked about sometimes coming in at 6 o’clock in the morning and he’s already there watching film. It really means a lot to him. He’s kind of a film junkie. He actually goes in a room and practices making the calls and looks at something on defense and will stop the film and ask himself, ‘OK, what would I call here and how would I call it?’ Mentally in his mind, he’s probably already played the game five times this week. Now things never work out the way you want them to, but he will be prepared.
“Having said that, he’s a freshman and like we saw in the Northern Illinois game, he made some great throws, but he also made some bad decisions. I think Purdue fans are going to have to live with that for the rest of the season.
“He’s going to have some spectacular moments and he’s going to have some moments where you’re thinking, ‘What are you doing?’ Mark Herrmann went through it, Drew went through it his freshman year. It’s going to happen, but the upside and payoff is going to be worth some of the problems getting there.”
IndySportsLegends.com: Does Purdue overschedule? Does it need to take a serious look at the nonconference schedule and dumb it down?
Newton: “It will probably become more of an issue going forward because when you go to the nine conference games, you’ve only got three games to play with and you better be 3-0 or at the very least 2-1 going into your conference games.
“I hear from people that Purdue needs to tamp down the schedule a little bit, but on the other hand everybody wants to play Notre Dame or at least most people want to play Notre Dame. Well, which do you want? Do you want to play Notre Dame every year and then play another BCS or two BCS schools? (Athletic director) Morgan (Burke) has to make that decision, but I think the fans have to realize that scheduling games that might bring good teams into Ross-Ade Stadium also means you have a chance of being beaten by those teams.
“If you’re going to stretch yourself in the nonconference schedule, now 6-6 becomes a tougher and tougher test every year.
“What you hope is Darrell can get the level of recruiting up so you don’t have to worry about just making a bowl game.
“I will say this, getting into the West Division in the Big Ten was the best thing that’s happened to Purdue football in a long, long time.”
IndySportsLegends.com: Most Purdue fans believe Hazell is the right guy for the job. What have you seen from him that you’ve liked and what has impressed you about him? How long does the honeymoon last for him?
Newton: “The honeymoon may be over for some people. I know probably by the first half of the first game there were some questioning some things.
“I do think that what you’re seeing right now that will pay dividends down the road is a consistency and an accountability that we haven’t seen for a while. He has a player’s manual where the whole year is basically scripted out of how they’re going to do things and what they’re going to do. The players will know the expectations coming in.
“I think there is more discipline around the program than there was, but I’m really convinced Darrell is going to raise the bar a little bit with recruiting. I do like his footprint, the fact that he’s staying a little more regional than we have in the past few years. You’re basically taking Indiana and the surrounding states and saying, ‘Lets try and get the best talent out of what he calls the ‘State of Purdue.’ Then if we have to go to other places like Florida, Georgia or the Washington D.C. area, we can do that, but we’re not going to make that our main recruiting base.
“When you combine the attention to detail, the discipline he’s brought in and the fact that I think he will raise the level of talent here hopefully fairly quickly, I’m just convinced … and he just has the ‘it’ factor. When you talk to him, you believe what he’s telling you. It doesn’t come off as a grandiose or, ‘What are you talking about?’ It’s very believable. He’s just a very impressive guy.
“I think he’s a guy who can impress not only recruits, but recruits’ parents and make them feel good about what their son can do here.”
IndySportsLegends.com: Do you believe at Purdue you need a good quarterback and some type of gimmick offense to win on a consistent basis? Do you think Hazell has that?
Newton: “You’re never going to out-Ohio State, Ohio State. If you line up in an I-formation and double tight ends, they’re just going to blast you into next week because their guys are going to be bigger and stronger. Right now that’s the law of the jungle.
“If you go back and look at when Purdue has had its most successful teams and most successful periods in its history, it’s always been with a guy who has been able to play on Sundays. I do believe that the guy they have in there now at quarterback is going to be the next in line. I think he has a chance to be special here.
“The gimmick part, yes a little bit. You have to do a little bit something out of the box. The big thing now is the zone read, but you’re starting to see that in the NFL this year not be as successful as it was. Everybody always catches up to everything. They caught up to the spread.
“I do like the mix that (offensive coordinator John) Shoop has in his offense of running and passing.
“What they’ve really got to do to get this offense clicking and get this program where it needs to go is you’ve got to have a strong offensive line because you have to be able to run the football and you to give your quarterback time to throw.
“Go back to the Rose Bowl team (during the 2000 season) and all five of those (offensive linemen) played in the NFL. Understandably everybody remembers Drew (Brees), the skill guys and some of the guys on defense, but that might be the best offensive line collectively that Purdue has ever had. You’ve got to get back to those days.”
IndySportsLegends.com: Isn’t it fair to say that you would be hard-pressed to find really consistent playmakers on the current Boilermaker roster?
Newton: “Yeah, but I do think they’re there. I think they’ve got some guys that are going to be awfully good receivers and backs, but they’re awfully young, too.
“I went through the two-deeps and the number of freshmen and sophomores that we’re playing at the receiver positions and another one as the backup running back … it’s just going to take these guys some time. They’ve got to get stronger and a little more savvy in terms of getting off press coverage and getting open.”
IndySportsLegends.com: Hazell came to Purdue with the reputation of being a very good recruiter. Early returns suggest he’s having an impressive year on the recruiting trail.
Newton: “You always look to see where the other offers are coming from and who you are competing with and some of the folks we’ve been in the pool with here with some of these guys are real teams and real programs.
“Right now we’re in on some pretty big guys. I think he’s getting some momentum going.
“What would help a heck of a lot more and another reason why you’re not going to write the rest of this season off, you want to show some success on the field. You’ve got to show some of these recruits coming in, ‘You know what? We’re not going to roll over. Even though we’re 1-4 and not where we want to be, this is not where we’re going to be in the future.’
“He’s got to show some of these recruits that if they come here, they’ve got a chance to be successful because they’re going to be surrounded by some talented guys and there are some talented guys here, more so on the offensive side than the defensive side.”
IndySportsLegends.com: It’s been well-documented that Purdue upped its commitment to the football program in its investment to Hazell and his coaching staff. Do you think that’s resonated with Purdue Nation and do they finally see the kind of commitment they’ve been longing for so long?
Newton: “I like this coaching staff. Sometimes in life you do get what you pay for. As you mentioned, they had to up the ante a little bit, but they have a really talented group of guys in here. I really like what this group does and I like the way they go about their business.
“I know they’re frustrated with where the team is record-wise. Everybody thought we would be playing better at this point, but they’re staying very positive. These guys are in it for the long haul and I think they know they have a chance to be successful here.”
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