Fansided

Five college football coaches who should have been fired

By Rucker Haringey

Oct 18, 2014; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong reacts prior to kickoff against the Iowa State Cyclones at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Texas beat Iowa State 48-45. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2014; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong reacts prior to kickoff against the Iowa State Cyclones at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Texas beat Iowa State 48-45. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 27, 2014; West Lafayette, IN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Darrell Hazell looks at the field after a play during the second half of the game at Ross Ade Stadium. The Iowa Hawkeyes beat the Purdue Boilermakers 24 to 10. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 27, 2014; West Lafayette, IN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Darrell Hazell looks at the field after a play during the second half of the game at Ross Ade Stadium. The Iowa Hawkeyes beat the Purdue Boilermakers 24 to 10. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /

Darrell Hazell-Purdue

Purdue took a serious gamble when they hired Darrell Hazell after just two years at Kent State and through three seasons it is pretty clear that gamble isn’t going to pay off. Winning six total games and just two Big Ten games in three years just isn’t enough to justify continued employment.

Much like Strong, Hazell can be excused for his difficult first year at Purdue. He took over a team in disarray that was short on talent so early struggles were to be expected. Boilermaker fans might have hoped for better than one win in his first year, but they couldn’t be too surprised.

What they can be surprised about is the lack of progress that Hazell’s teams have shown in the two seasons since. This season Purdue showed flashes of competitive spirit, but the results were just awful. They only managed to defeat one FBS team (Nebraska) with the other victory coming against Indiana State. As you might have guessed, Purdue finished last in the Big Ten once again.

In year three athletic directors expect to see some progress and Hazell hasn’t given Purdue any hopeful signs. They would be well served to cut the cord with him this off-season, but likely want to give him the fourth year to make sure that more of “his players” can enter the program. I can understand that logic, but happen to disagree with it strongly in this instance.

Trying to picture Hazell fielding even a competitive team next year for Purdue is next to impossible. All allowing him to stay on and coach one season is going to do is delay the inevitable another year. For Purdue to have a winning football program they are going to have to make a coaching change. If they were smart, they would go ahead and bite the bullet this year and be on the market for a coach who might be able to revive their flailing program.

Next: Bobby Wilder

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