Purdue hires Hazell, will hold press conference today

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Sports 18 and GoldandBlack.com confirmed Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke has hired Kent State Darrell Hazell to be the new head football coach. And Wednesday morning, Purdue officially announced its pick.

The 48 year old becomes the 35th coach in Purdue history, and the first black coach in Purdue's history.

Terms of his agreement have not yet been announced, but Purdue will hold a press conference tonight to introduce it's new head coach.

“Darrell is a great fit to build on our existing foundation,” Burke said. “His leadership at Kent State, combined with his prior experience at Ohio State and other stops along the way, has prepared him to help us continue to move toward developing a championship-caliber program.

"He understands our ‘25/85’ vision as well as our desire to recruit both locally and nationally. Furthermore, it is clear that he appreciates the Cradle of Quarterbacks tradition, and it will remain a focal point of our program.”

“I’m extremely excited to work with the players at Purdue, and I look forward to experiencing a lot of success in the future,” Hazell said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity. Purdue University has a great football tradition, and I can’t wait to get started.”

Hazell led Kent State to an 11-2 record this season and was the Mid-American coach of the year.

Kent State reached No. 17 in the BCS standings, the best in school history, before they lost to Northern Illinois 44-37 in double overtime in the MAC championship game.

Hazell has been head coach at Kent State for two years and before that was Ohio State's receivers coach from 2005-10 under Jim Tressel. Hazell has a lot of familiarity with the Big Ten and its recruiting area.

He held assistant coaching positions at Oberlin, Eastern Illinois, Penn, Western Michigan, Army, West Virginia and Rutgers.

Danny Hope was fired as the head football coach at Purdue on Nov. 25. Cincinnati head coach Butch Jones became Purdue's number one target. Jones met with Burke on Purdue's campus Sunday to interview for the position then flew to Colorado Monday to meet with Colorado officials about the Buffaloes head coaching position.

On Tuesday morning, GoldandBlack.com reported a source said Cincinnati Bearcats Head Coach Butch Jones will not be coming to Purdue to take the Boilermakers head coaching position.

Hazell then became Burke's next target after Burke and Associate Athletics Director Nancy Cross flew to Ohio to reportedly meet with Hazell.

A native of Cinnaminson, N.J., Hazell (born April 14, 1964) and his wife, Annmarie, have a son, Kyle.

Hazell Coaching History:

2011-12         Kent State (head coach)

2005-10         Ohio State (assistant head coach/wide receivers)

2004               Ohio State (wide receivers/kick returns)

2003               Rutgers (assistant head coach)

2001-02         Rutgers (wide receivers)

1999-00         West Virginia (running backs)

1997-98         U.S. Military Academy (wide receivers/tight ends)

1995-96         Western Michigan (wide receivers)

1992-94         Pennsylvania (running backs)

1989-91         Oberlin College (offensive coordinator)

1988               Eastern Illinois (running backs/wide receivers)

1986-87         Oberlin College (running backs)