GoldandBlack.com Saturday Simulcast: Purdue coaching search chat

GoldandBlack.com staffers Tom Dienhart and Alan Karpick hash out the latest in the Purdue football coaching search. Is it nearing an end? Does Purdue have its next coach?

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CBS Hotboard

Purdue Coaching Search Day 5 (Friday’s report)

Purdue enters its fifth day in search of a replacement for Ryan Walters, who was fired on Sunday, Dec. 1. Here are some thoughts and buzz surrounding the program during the search …

• For all we know, this search could be wrapped up. It could have been wrapped up a week ago. Who knows? AD Mike Bobinski was at the volleyball game tonight. Is the hay in the barn? Maybe we have a press conference on Sunday.

• Again, it is thought Bobinski is a one-man show on this search. Some think making this hire may extend his stay a few years in the big chair along Northwestern Avenue, energizing him to make it work.

• A sitting Power Four head coach texted this to me this morning: “Heard Monken at Purdue.”

Would Purdue REALLY wait out Army’s Jeff Monken, who coaches in the AAC title game vs. Tulane this weekend and then vs. Navy on Dec. 14? It is thought Bobinski wants a head coach no later than Monday. Just wanted to share.

• North Carolina may be waiting on Tulane’s Jon Sumrall. And some think Iowa State’s Matt Campbell may be in the mix in Chapel Hill. There was a report today that UNC interviewed … Bill Belichick. Yes, THAT Bill Belichick.

• The UCF search? It is “all over the place.” Looks like UNLV’s Barry Odom could be a guy in Orlando. The school is interviewing two former Gus Malzahn assistants but both appear to be backups. Get this: Scott Frost may be a back-up plan. Memphis’ Ryan Silverfield could be on the UCF radar.

• At West Virginia, Jacksonville State’s Rich Rodriguez and Jimbo Fisher are working to get in the mix. And, as mentioned in this space before, Odom could be a guy with ties to the AD in Morgantown. Liberty’s Jamey Chadwell also may be working it. Is Rich Rod, Part 2 coming?

• Marshall’s Charles Huff supposedly would not sign his contract the last few years in Huntington, WVa., thinking he was going to get something bigger. The AD then pulled it off the table. Now, Huff looks headed to Southern Miss, as we have mentioned. N.C. State DC Tony Gibson could be a guy at Marshall.

• Why did App State dump Shawn Clark after one losing season, a losing season that happened when a hurricane tore that community apart? The AD is a guy that reads every social media post, every email, etc. So, he is reactive. They have Alabama expectations with a lower-level Sun Belt budget which cannot sustain.

• There is a conversation in the coaching community around why Western Kentucky’s Tyson Helton wasn’t hired two years ago at Purdue. People think it was money and the AD didn’t want a mini-Brohm. The conventional wisdom was it was a no-brainer transition from Brohm to Helton in 2022. Didn’t happen.

• Just throwing this out there: The guy who often gets hired is the guy NO one is talking about. Keep that in mind.

• Your out-of-left-field names for today: Former Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst and ex-Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald.

• Asked a former ACC head coach and longtime DC to rank the four Power Four job openings: 1) UNC, 2) UCF, 3) WVU, 4) Purdue.

• An analyst for a network that covers Big Ten games shared this thought with me on Purdue today via text: “I don’t know why anyone would take the job. It’s set up to fail. No talent on the roster. Minimal commitment for support staff and NIL. Heavy eye balls playing in the Big Ten. Unreasonable expectations relative to commitment. Biggest rival Indiana has an elite HC and he has $12M to fill out his staff. And the schedule is really challenging again next year. I think Purdue would be lucky to get to 5-6 wins. Maybe not even that.”

MORE: The 3-2-1: Walters departs, portal pops, coach search is on! | Day Four of Purdue search | Signing Day notebook | Day Three of Purdue search | Ryan Walters Q&A | Day Two of Purdue search | Day One of Purdue search | GoldandBlack.com Analysis: The end for Ryan Walters at Purdue and what may lie ahead | It’s over: Purdue pulls plug on Ryan Walters era | Hot board 1.0 | Transfer portal tracker | Bobinski press conference transcript | 2025 football schedule