It sounds like we will definitely know what's happening with the Purdue football coaching situation in the very near future (about 51 hours from now). The buzz on the interwebnet is that there will be a succession plan and it may involve a name that has some Purdue/Tiller ties.

(This photo is not of Ron Zook in a bad disugise...it's EKU's coach, Danny Hope)

Hope is currently the head coach at Eastern Kentucky. In his four seasons, his teams have had four winning campaigns, and has a total record of 35-21 (62%). Hope has no NFL experience, contrasting with most of Burke's candidates for this Purdue's coaching vacancy. He graduated from EKU, coached briefly for Manatee High School in Bradenton, FL, coached on two occasions at Louisville, then a season at Oklahoma and finally connected with Joe Tiller at Wyoming. He followed Tiller to God's country and coached the Boilers offensive line from 1997 through 1999...5 of his pupils at Purdue went on to play in the NFL. Unlike Chryst, the other frontrunner for this job, Hope is an energetic people person, according to many accounts.

Here are my thoughts on this possiblity:
-He looks like Ron Zook with a mustache
-It will be easy for Purdue fans to transition from Tiller's 'stache to Hope's 'stache
-I kept waiting to hear about more candidates with a Purdue connection...this one has it; I think he'll be the guy.
-This probably makes Tiller pleased since he comes from the Tiller coaching bloodline...I don't think that makes me happy; but it probably pleases a lot of old people who give money to the program. I'm going to take a wait-and-see approach on Hope.
-I don't think Tiller was ever as upset with the idea of a succession plan as originally reported by Boiler Station...but I do think he wanted to have one of "his guys" involved in the mix. Looks like he got his wish.
-There is no formula for successful coaching hires, but it seems to me that Burke wants someone that he doesn't think will use Purdue as a stepping stone and will win without raising flags to the NCAA with questionable practices...Burke seems to have been very particular on the ages of the candidates as well; they're all young-ish.

We'll be on top of it when the announcement's made Friday.

Baby Boiler Update
A short-handed Purdue team traveled north to East Lansing and allowed the Spartans to grow a colossal lead before clawing back into the game. Chris Kramer led the team in scoring with 19 points, and shot the ball well (7-of-9). Calasan and Green both added key buckets and stops at important times. But Martin didn't play well, Hummel didn't play due to illness & Crump played limited minutes due to his ankle.

It was a good effort, but the NCAA committee might have penciled a note to themselves if the Boilers would have come away with the unlikely win in the Breslin Center. Hopefully, these young guys are learning a lot this season (which I think they are)...because it's painfully obvious, at this point that they're just not that good, yet. I do think that Tuesday's game was a step in the right direction, but the slow start is something that simply must be eradicated by Painter and his staff...that and the propensity for these Boilers to lose leads in the final minutes of close games.

Tom Izzo thinks Kramer has the heart of lion...too bad he's got the knees of a 60 year-old human. Sadly, Kramer has not played healthy since his arrival on Purdue's campus. Next up, Ohio State comes to W. Lafayette on Saturday.