Hazell making changes to avoid repeat performance at Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Purdue's numbers are alarming.

Coach Darrell Hazell has won six games in three years. He has three wins against FBS foes and two in Big Ten play. Empty seats have become the norm at Ross-Ade Stadium, and the school known as the Cradle of Quarterbacks has become a quarterback carrousel with six different starters since 2013.

Nobody knows better than Hazell that things must change next season.

"We will take a long look at things, everything from A to Z," he said Saturday after finishing another season with another loss to rival Indiana. "We will make the appropriate changes we need to make to be sure this program moves forward to where we all want it to be."

The reconstruction project has already begun.

Just 24 hours after Purdue completed a 2-10 season (1-7 Big Ten), Hazell said his offensive and defensive coordinators - John Shoop and Greg Hudson - and defensive tackles coach Rubin Carter were out.

Hazell is not, to the dismay of some critics who think they've already seen enough to pass judgment. But it's going to take a lot more than a staff shake-up to appease an increasingly frustrated fan base that expects more than its gotten out of this football program.

Since Hazell's arrival in 2013, the Boilermakers have:

- Gone 6-30 overall, 5-15 at home, 2-22 in Big Ten play and 0-13 in November.

- Finished the last three seasons with losing skids of 10, six and four games.

- Allowed Indiana to score a school-record 56 points in the 118-game series in 2013 at Bloomington and then gave up 54 points on Saturday -- the Hoosiers' highest scoring total in West Lafayette.

If the Boilermakers don't reverse the trend next season, Indiana could tie a school record for consecutive wins in the series (four), something that hasn't happened since 1944-47. And while the Hoosiers used their home turf to push three top 15 teams to the limit, Purdue's home fans watched their team go 2-5, get outscored by an average of 41-30 and allow the last four visiting teams to surpass 40 points.

Within 48 hours of the season finale, Purdue's athletic website had pulled down this season's results and replaced them with a 2016 schedule.

"They've got to stick with us," Hazell said when asked about his message to fans. "They need to see the progress made by the young guys coming up through the ranks. We will get it flipped."

There are promising signs.

On the road, the Boilermakers made life tough on perennial Big Ten powers Michigan State and Wisconsin. Markell Jones set a school rushing record for freshmen with 875 yards and became the first Boilermakers' running back to run for 10 or more touchdowns in seven years. Redshirt freshman David Blough started seven games and one of the two wins came against Nebraska.

The hope is that Blough and Jones emerge as the cornerstones Hazell needs.

"We have a long way to go, but I am looking forward to getting there," said Jones, Indiana's Mr. Football Award winner in 2014. "In the offseason, I am going to be sure to do everything I can do to be sure that happens. We are going to continue to fight and not continue to settle for this kind of season. I think we have a bright future."

After four straight losing seasons and only two bowl bids in seven years, what Hazell needs most is wins.

"I understand where they (the fans) are," said Hazell, who has three years left on his original contract. "I understand what their mindset is. We have not been successful the last couple of years, but we will get it fixed."