Joe Nocera is the new sports business columnist for The New York Times. You can read more of his columns here.
John Shoop, the offensive coordinator for the Purdue football team, was called into the office of Darrell Hazell, the team’s head coach, and fired. It was 12:45 p.m. Sunday.
At first glance, this would appear to be a classic case of a coach firing some assistants — two defensive coaches were also given the boot — to save his own skin. The day before, Purdue had ended its season with its 10th loss; indeed, in his three years as head coach, Hazell has gone 6-30, winning only twice against Big Ten opponents.