Purdue University finally started to care about sports again last week as it announced that it had relieved head football coach Darrell Hazell of his duties. Which was ironic because his on-field product was mostly doodie during his tenure in West Lafayette.

This move means that Purdue has officially opened up a nationwide search for its next head coach. I’m a die-hard Indiana fan, but I’m going to do a big favor for Boiler Nation here and tell them who it needs to go hire. I can only hope that first-year Purdue AD Mike Bobinski is reading this.

Bobinski has never had to make a major college football hire as an AD. He worked at Xavier where there is no football program, and at Georgia Tech, where he inherited the successful Paul Johnson. So, this is sort of uncharted territory for Bobinski. That’s why I’m offering my expertise to help Purdue to leap off the coaching carousel.

Some casual fans might be looking at Purdue’s job as a total black hole at this point, but that’s just not what it is by any means. Joe Tiller was able to win there for years. The head football job in Bloomington features similar expectations and challenges and Kevin Wilson has appeased fans there by simply being competitive and making a bowl game last year. The same, if not more, can be accomplished in West Lafayette as Purdue actually has some football history and is in a much, much easier Big Ten division than the Hoosiers.

Speaking of history, that’s where we’re going to get the next Purdue head coach. Hello, Brock Spack.

Spack played for Purdue in the 1980’s and served as a positional coach under Jim Colletto for a few years before ultimately serving as a very successful defensive coordinator under Tiller from 1997-2008. Spack was the guy that most assumed would be getting the head job at Purdue after Tiller’s retirement. But, for some reason, Tiller and the university elected to bring back Danny Hope, another former assistant, to lead the program. That was a colossal failure, despite squeaking out a bowl win over Western Michigan in Detroit. Woo.

Spack, a man that expected to succeed Tiller, left and started his own journey as a head coach at Illinois State. He took over as the head coach of the Redbirds in 2009, going 6-5. Spack led the team to four-straight winning seasons to start his tenure, including a playoff appearance in 2012. His first losing season was a 5-6 campaign the following season.

In 2014 Spack rebounded from his first losing record by going 13-2 and making it all the way to the FCS national championship game. The Redbirds lost that game 29-27 to North Dakota State, a program that claimed its fifth-straight national title last season. That two-point heart breaker was the closest playoff game the Bison have had during their unprecedented run.

The Redbirds returned to the playoffs last year, losing in the quarterfinals and finishing with a 10-3 record.

In his first seven years, Spack took the Redbirds to the playoffs three times, matching the program’s total amount of playoff trips in its history. This year ISU stands at 3-4 but did beat Northwestern in Evanston this year. You know, a Big Ten school. Illinois State has one-less Big Ten win than Purdue.

Spack is the man for the job. He’s a winner and he’s a die-hard Boiler. But, the school screwed him over in 2008, and he doesn’t expect much to change.

“I don’t see it happening,” Spack said Tuesday in an interview with Pantagraph. “I’ve kind of moved on from that a long time ago.”

Spack later added, “They stink right now. I hope they get a good coach. I’ve got a lot of pride in the place. I put 22 years of my life in there. I like to see them win. But I don’t think it will be me.”

And the final comment, exercising the recent stupidity of Purdue, “I just don’t see Purdue going after an FCS head coach right now. It’s difficult for me. It’s the same record that keeps playing over and over again. I don’t think it’s healthy for me to go through all that stuff so I don’t really think about it.”

Spack would come to Purdue and he would not leave. He would rebuild a once stout defensive unit and return the Boilers to playing competitive football. Yes, I would hate this as an IU fan, but it’s the right move. It’s the move that needs to be made.

The Old Oaken Bucket looks great in Bloomington, I hope it stays for years to come. But if Spack gets the call from Bobinski, Purdue fans can finally wake up from the nightmare they’ve been living since Tiller retired nearly a decade ago.

Also, did I mention Spack has a great mustache?

He’s like a football version of Nick Offerman!

Do the right thing, Purdue!

Last Week: 4-6
Overall: 51-27

High School Football Sectional Week One 10/21

Wawasee (4-5) at Northridge (2-7), 7 p.m. 4A Sectional 19 Quarterfinal
The Scoop: It’s round two for the Warriors and Raiders and this time we get to throw down in Middlebury. These two teams kicked off the conference season with a thrilling double overtime game that ended as a 21-20 Wawasee victory. It was a sloppy game, for the most part, on both sides of the ball for both teams.
It was a game Wawasee should have won by more than a point. The Warriors are 4-5 but this is honestly a team that is much better than its record shows. In a ll fairness, I think Northridge is better than its 2-7 mark. I believe this was a very strange year in the Northern Lakes Conference. NorthWood is the favorite in the sectional field for obvious reasons, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see Plymouth or Wawasee upend the Panthers either and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Northridge win tonight. However, Wawasee played poorly in its last meeting with the Raiders and it knows it played poorly. I expect the Warriors to pick up the win tonight by two scores.
Nick’s Pick: Wawasee 34, Northridge 20.

Class 3-A Sectional 26
West Noble (3-6) at Tippecanoe Valley (3-6), 7:30 p.m. 3A Sectional 26 Quarterfinal
The Scoop: A few weeks ago Valley co-head coach Jeff Shriver said that the team was finally “getting back to Valley football” since that time the Vikings won their first three games of the season and have somewhat righted a ship that was sinking just a few weeks into the season. The Vikings drew a great opportunity to start the postseason trek. West Noble has struggled to score points and has struggle to stop opponents from scoring all season. While the teams are even in terms of record, this looks like a game that Valley can beat with ease.
The Chargers surrender over 30 points per game and have not been close in any of their losses. West Noble has also only been victorious in one road game this year, that was last week at 0-9 Prairie Heights. I think Valley continues its recent turnaround and picks up the win at home.
Nick’s Pick: Valley 35, West Noble 17.

Whitko (6-3) at Central Noble (2-7), 7 p.m. 2A Sectional 35 Quarterfinal
The Scoop: It’s time to get back on track. Whitko has lost three of four games after an exciting 5-0 start to the season. Much like the Packers needed the Bears to remedy their rough play last night on Thursday Night Football, the Wildcats need the Cougars tonight.
Central Noble has struggled for much of this season and I don’t seem them keeping up with Whitko tonight. Elder scored four times in last week’s loss to Peru, I think he’ll have another big week here along with Hunter Reed. This team should shake off the recent losses and roll to a win to start the postseason off the right way.
Nick’s Pick: Whitko 43, Central Noble 12.

Class 1-A Sectional 43
Triton (1-8) at Caston (2-7), 7 p.m. 1A Sectional 43 Quarterfinal
The Scoop: Oh buddy, the Comets better be ready. When this game was drawn a few weeks ago, I called it then. The Trojans would be winning this game. Triton had struggled for much of the season to get into the win column but finally broke through last week against West Central, despite several other close calls this season. One of those close games was the season opener at Caston, a 6-0 defeat.
Triton has only improved since then, as I’m sure Caston has as well. But the Trojans are motivated by evening the score, so to speak. I like the way they’ve played recently. Caston enters on a six-game losing skid. This game could go either way, but I really like Triton to move on this week.
Nick’s Pick: Triton 26, Caston 13.

College Football 10/22

Indiana (3-3, 1-2) at Northwestern (3-3, 2-1), noon.
The Scoop: It’s a showdown of mediocrity in Evanston! This game could determine if either of these teams actually makes a bowl this year, so there is a level of importance placed on what happens this Saturday. The Wildcats need this game more than IU right now. After this weekend, Northwestern plays at Ohio State and then hosts Wisconsin, most likely two losses. It would set up a tough scenario for the Wildcats to reach a bowl. IU still has four very winnable games left on its schedule and a loss waiting for them up in Ann Arbor.
IU is the better team. They have the better defense and they have the better skills players. It should be a win for the Hoosiers, but I have a bad feeling. I just think this is one of those games IU screws up at the end and misses out on what should’ve been a win.
Nick’s Pick: Northwestern 27, Indiana 24.

Purdue (3-3, 1-2) at No. 8 Nebraska (6-0, 3-0), 3:30 p.m.
The Scoop: It helps that Hazell was fired, but this game is a whole lotta nope for the Boilers.
Purdue stunned the Huskers last season thanks to four turnovers, but this is in Lincoln and Nebraska is much, much better. I’m looking for a big win out of Nebraska this week.
Nick’s Pick: Nebraska 45, Purdue 14.

Ball State was placed on picks probation a few weeks ago due to dumb losses. The Cardinals finally won last weekend are one win away from having their ban lifted. Notre Dame has officially been placed on picks probation after blowing yet another game. The Irish might have their ban lifted if I decide to go to the game next week. Take this time to realize that the Indiana Hoosiers are the best football team in the state right now. Yikes.

NFL Week Seven 10/23

Bears lost at Green Bay Thursday night. Shocker.

Indianapolis (2-4) at Tennessee (3-3), 1 p.m.
The Scoop: Last week I titled my article “The Bears and Colts are bad.” I could have gone back to that this week and it would have been an understatement. The Bears and Colts are worse. I legitimately have zero faith in my Colts at this point. Zero. The Titans will win this game and I have a gut feeling that rookie running back Derrick Henry will be a big part of the win because that just seems like something dumb the Colts would let happen. This loss should put Indy on a fast track to a top 10 pick.
Nick’s Pick: Titans 31, Colts 20.