New Purdue coach Hope brings intensity to job

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Danny Hope doesn't want his emotional state to be misunderstood as he starts his first season as Purdue head coach.

He says he's fired up, but not nervous, heading into the season opener Sept. 5 against Toledo.

"There's a difference between being intense and tense," Hope said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I like to be intense. Tense is not a good thing. I'm going to be intense and get excited, and we're going to have a ball."

Former coach Joe Tiller often used humor and sarcasm to deflect tough questions. Hope, a former offensive guard, prefers to take them head-on. He looks the part too -- he's arguably the most intimidating-looking man on the team poster.

Hope's enthusiasm has spread to his players, who respect the fact that he's demanding, yet looks out for them.

"Everybody's really excited, more excited than we've been in a long time here at Purdue," co-captain Torri Williams said. "Our coaching staff has helped us bond and be closer together."

A byproduct of Hope's intensity is that he rarely stays still.

"He's the Energizer Bunny," receiver Keith Smith said. "He's always running around doing something, he's never in one spot. He's always in the mix. He always wants to know what's going on."

The opener will mark the first time in 12 years that the Boilermakers take the field without Tiller on the sideline. Tiller brought the spread offense, and most importantly, wins to West Lafayette. The Boilermakers played in 10 bowl games, including a Rose Bowl, under him.

Hope respects all that Tiller accomplished, and shared in it as an assistant coach from 1997-2001 and as the coach-in-waiting last season. He respects Tiller's accomplishments, and wants to build on them.

"I really understand the Joe Tiller way, or the Purdue way, how they've gone about business the last 12 years," he said. "There are some new ideas or some plans, I think, that fit inside of the already ongoing process."

Part of his plan is to recruit Florida heavily. On signing day, 14 of the 20 players who agreed to go to Purdue were from the Sunshine State.

Hope's Florida roots are deep. He was born in Gainesville, Fla., and went to high school at Miami Killian. He was an assistant coach at Bradenton (Fla.) Manatee High School from 1981-1984. He won a conference championship at Eastern Kentucky in 2007 with a roster that was 1/3 Floridians.

Hope said he went back home to find players who can make a difference quickly.

"Part of the master plan is to increase the pool size of top of the line players at Purdue, top of the line guys that could come in and impact the program in their first two years, that we have a chance to get," he said.

He took no in-state players in the 2009 recruiting class, but that likely won't happen in the future.

"We start in Indiana first," he said. "If we could sign the top players in Indiana every year, we'd be a championship football team. Numbers-wise, sometimes there's not enough to go around for everybody, so we have to go other areas in order to meet our needs."

He got a head start to recruiting while he was the coach-in-waiting.

"To be on board a year in advance prior to taking over as the head coach -- there's a difference in years in terms of expediting the growth of the program," he said. "I think the succession plan has helped build some momentum as a football team."

One of Hope's biggest recruits from Florida is quarterback Robert Marve, a transfer from the University of Miami who won't be eligible until next season.

Marve said Hope has impressed him.

"Coach Hope is a very different head coach," Marve said. "He's a great head coach. He's one of the few guys who goes out of his way to show anybody, no matter how big or little you are, how much he cares. It's easy to go up to your starting quarterback and be good with him, but when you're good with everyone, with walk-ons, that really tells a lot about his character."

One subtle, but important change for the Boilermakers is that there are names on the back of the jerseys, which never was the case under Tiller. Hope said it was an easy decision because the players asked him to do it.

"Anytime that there's a recommendation from the players, I always look to see is it going to make a difference in winning and losing," he said. "If it doesn't make a difference in winning and losing, I'll make a decision based on what makes the players happy. I don't believe you have to take names off the jerseys to emphasize that team is number one."