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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYSJuly 26, 2012Danny HopeCHICAGO, ILLINOIS THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Head Coach Danny Hope with Purdue. COACH HOPE: This is an exciting time for all the boiler maker nation, our fans and our players and our coaches. First time since I became the head coach at Purdue we potentially have a very good football team coming back. We have a lot of experience. We have some maturity. We have a lot of team speed. For the first time in a long time experienced accomplished quarterbacks, a lot of good signs for this upcoming season. Our players are really excited. We had 90 something guys on campus for the last eight or nine weeks. It's been a great collective effort and we can't wait for the season to get here. And I'll end with that and open it up for questions. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach? Q. Same question as I asked Coach Bielema, do you have a problem with the concept of coaches reaching out, soliciting Penn State players at this point? COACH HOPE: We have an‑‑ NCAA has established the rules and the guidelines and obviously because they're strong from an ethics standpoint, and as long as we're compliant, we're going to exercise every opportunity we can to enhance our own football team. Q. Only four teams eligible for the Big Ten title game from your division, does that change your approach to how you look at the Big Ten season? COACH HOPE: Not necessarily. Obviously it increases those that are eligible, increases their odds some, but it's still going to boil down to who wins the most, who plays the best. So rather than complicate it and assume that it may be an easier road, I think that we certainly have to grasp the idea that you have to win. We have to beat the teams that are eligible for the division championship, and also the teams that aren't eligible in order to be the team that goes. So I don't think it changes the big picture all that much. Q. How would you assess your quarterback position? Would you say it's an open competition going into camp? Do you think TerBush is going to be your starter? How do you feel about your quarterback position? COACH HOPE: We're very fortunate to be in the position that we are right now with what we have at the quarterback position. We have three experienced quarterbacks, three very talented quarterbacks, three very driven quarterbacks. Caleb TerBush was the starter last season. He started every game, didn't throw an interception in the last four and a half games, threw for a 62percent completion. Really improved throughout the course of the season and did a fine job. So he came out of the season as number one. He went into spring practice as the number one quarterback. He came out of spring practice as the number one quarterback, and he'll go into fall camp as the number one quarterback. We were very fortunate that Robert Marve was able to play a significant amount last season as his knee progressed, his play really progressed. He got better and better as the season went on, had a big game against Ohio State. Really made great progress throughout the course of spring ball. I think he's 100percent healthy now. It's the best he's looked since he's been at Purdue. In the spring game he was outstanding. He looked like a big‑time quarterback. Rob Henry missed all of last season. He was a starter a year ago. He's a great athlete. Tremendous leader, has improved a lot as a passer. So there is a competition at the quarterback position but we have a plan to utilize all three of those guys throughout the course of the season in different facets of our offense. So there is competition. It's going to be difficult in some ways that all three of those quarterbacks go out this camp and do well; it's going to be hard to change the lineup. We're not going to go live on those three quarterbacks in the fall camp. Two of them have had knee injuries and we're trying to keep TerBush from ever having a knee jury. So we won't go live on those three guys. And the performance is different when the bullets are live. So if all three of those quarterbacks do well throughout the course of camp, I don't anticipate the depth chart changing a whole lot. Depends on how they play in the games that that could dictate a change in the depth chart. But there is competition. There's an opportunity for each one of those guys to be a major contributor this season. We have a master plan in place. One we've wanted to utilize over the last couple of years. But injuries have not allowed us to go in that direction. So we're very fortunate to have what we have at the quarterback position. We have two seniors that are experienced players that are very talented and a junior that's an experienced player that's very talented. So we're very fortunate. Q. How do you go back from being a middle‑of‑the‑pack team to being a divisional contender? What two or three things have to happen this the season? COACH HOPE: Well, we have to play better in certain areas. Obviously taking care of the football is huge. If you can win the turnover margin and if you can win it significantly, that greatly increases your odds of being a championship contender. We have to stay healthy. That's been a nemesis of some the last couple of years. We have to be a much more disciplined football team from top to bottom. That was a huge emphasis this past spring. And we have to stay together as a team and leadership from coaches all the way down to the players will be an important factor in the outcome of the season. I believe we have the talent. I believe we have the experience. We're a very fast football team. A lot of fast guys on our team on both sides of the ball. We have a very big strong defensive front, experienced secondary, great experience and potential at the quarterback position. So all of the pieces are there. We have to put it all together and make it happen on the team. That's on the coaches and that's on the players. There's many areas of our play that we can improve on from last year. We earmarked each of those areas, and we believe we have a plan to get better in those areas and believe that can help us in our pursuit towards a division championship. Q. You talked about the rules of recruiting the Penn State players. The topic of discussion the past few years has been the fifth year transfer. Obviously Wisconsin has a second quarterback with that. What's your thought on that, not necessarily with the rules itself but with the thought of it not pertaining to staying within the rules of the NCAA? Do you think it's a rule that should be kept or do you think it should be altered? COACH HOPE: Haven't really given it a whole lot of thought to it right now to be quite honest with you. It seems there's some sense of fair play about it. A guy has graduated and has spent his time at the institution and he has his diploma and has other options that he feels can best serve himself. And maybe that's a good thing for the player. On the flip side, if you're the coach and you invested four years and training an athlete, spending a lot of time teaching him the plays and developing as a person and as a man you hate to see that guy leave your program. You've invested a lot of time. There's certainly some pluses and minuses to both sides but obviously the rules are the rules and they're there for a reason and we all play by the same rules. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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