It seems like just yesterday, Brendan Murphy was talking to us about Brock Spack on our little podcast called the Handsome Hour...and now, Mr. Murph has gone big time.
If you do a Google search for "Butch Jones Purdue" you'll see a bunch of hacks quoting a "source" or Twitter as the way they heard that Butch Jones has been offered the head coaching job by Morgan Burke. Well, there's one source that's in the know who's talking, and it's Murphy. I did a little investigating of my own to see if our pal would squeal like a pig about the juicy details*...and of course, like all good girls, he doesn't kiss and tell. If you want to ask me if I believe the source- Hells yes, I do. Murphy doesn't lie. Let's be clear though, no one has said Jones has taken the job...yet...accept for one moron on the radio out of Cincy. But he even backpedalled in the last 24 hours as well.
If you jump in the way back machine, you might remember this article that showed Jones as the apple of J's eye. Before he published this piece, we discussed Jones...and I told him that he was dreaming. I didn't think Burke would be able to pay Jones' buyout or subsequent salary...but we all know now that the rules have changed a bit as Burke understands the importance of hiring a guy who will win quickly win...and subsequently, quickly get the enthusiasm among Boilers back to an acceptable level.
Burke made the firing of Hope official on Sunday evening (as you all know)...Shortly after, this listing for the job was posted. Since there's yet to be a final decision, you should apply- Chase that dream dagnabbit!
We'll see what happens in the next few days with this situation...but here are some interesting details around this story:
-GBI has reported since this was made official that Jones was the number one candidate and that he was contacted with the first group of "feeler" calls.
-Jones is 0-3 v. Purdue as a coach (while at Central Michigan)...All three losses came versus Joe Tiller-coached teams; all were close, if my memory serves me correctly. Maybe most-interestingly, all three losses came in just over one year (07-08). The most-notable loss for Jones' CMU team v. Purdue was the 51-48 barn burner in Detroit that pitted Painter v. Lefevour gave Purdue its first Motor City Bowl Championship (meh).
-Jones took the Cinci job in 2010...following Brian Kelly...and before Kelly, Mark Dantonio.
-He's been a head coach for six seasons...four of those seasons ended in bowl appearances. His combined record at CMU and Cincy is 49-27.
-Before being HC, he was WR coach under Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia...before that, his first stint at CMU was from '98 to '04, coaching tight ends, then running backs, then becoming the offensive coordinator. He was OC for his alma mater, Ferris State, OC for tiny, private Wilkes college and GA for Rutgers after his playing days at Ferris State were over.
-Purdue is set to play Cincinnati in the last day of August, 2013...the season opener; I'm sure they'd be happy to see him back, should he choose to come to Purdue.
-Cincinnati will be looking for its ninth win this season on Saturday at Connecticut...so I don't expect to hear anything before Sunday. But like I've been for much of this of this process, I'm speculating.
 |
| "Purdue is that way from here, correct?" |
*For the record, I wouldn't have published our conversation had he told me...but since he stayed tight-lipped, I thought it'd be A-OK to share with the class.