On the surface, the news that Purdue athletics officials have reportedly decided to retain football coach Darrell Hazell for another year might seem both surprising and confounding. If the best way to determine a coach's value is measured by how many wins his program has, then Hazell has failed to adequately justify his salary in three seasons.
Hazell's record is just 6-26 (.188 winning percentage), which gives him the lowest winning percentage in school history for a coach at Purdue longer than one season. Purdue's 55-45 victory against Nebraska last Saturday snapped the Boilermakers' 12-game losing streak against FBS programs and moved Hazell's Big Ten record to 2-18.