As you may have heard by now, Terry Hoeppner lost his battle with brain cancer this morning at the way-too-young age of 59.
Coach Hoepp was the football coach of our longest-standing rival, Indiana University. It's hard to say what this will do to the program, but there's no doubt that Coach had them headed in the right direction. They weren't exactly burning up the Big Ten but he did have people starting to believe in little things. He had the team believing and pulling out some wins and close games against big-time opponents. He'd gone 9-14 over his two seasons and he seemed like a genuinely good guy.
This sucks on so many levels. We're Purdue alums and dislike IU with a great fury, but today we feel nothing but compassion and heavy hearts for Hoepp's family, which obviously includes all the players that served under him.
Terry Heoppner left behind a wife and three children. The fact that this happened right after Father's Day is wholly unfair, as is the fact that anyone so young and energetic would be afflicted this way.
Seriously, IU, you're in our thoughts.