WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Joe Tiller's decision to retire from Purdue had more to do with fishing than football.
"I'm 65, and there's a lot of rainbow trout waiting, and they're not going to wait much longer," he said.
Tiller hopes the fish can wait at least a year. Tiller will retire after next season and be replaced by new associate head coach Danny Hope, the university said Friday in an announcement that had been expected.
Hope was 35-22 in five winning seasons at Eastern Kentucky. The 49-year-old Hope was an offensive line coach on Tiller's staffs at Wyoming, then Purdue, before leaving the Boilermakers after the 2001 season.
In 2007, Hope led the Colonels to a 9-3 record and the Ohio Valley Conference title and was a Football Championship Subdivision Regional Coach of the Year.
Hope will coach Purdue's offensive line in 2008, and Tiller said his linemen are in for a rude awakening when they go through Hope's demanding practices. Tiller said Hope's intensity and teaching ability made him an ideal choice.
"I must have had my fingers crossed behind my back because I think he's the right guy, at the right time," Tiller said.
Hope took Tiller's spread offense to Eastern Kentucky.
"It really was the backbone to a lot of our success," Hope said.
Brock Spack, Purdue's defensive coordinator, also was a finalist. He said it was tough to be bypassed, but Hope is a good coach.
"I respect the decision they made," he said. "I think it's the perfect decision for right now."
Hope will be signed to a six-year contract, with the final five as head coach, the university said. Athletic director Morgan Burke said Hope will make between $470,000 and $550,000 his first year, then a minimum of $825,000 the next year with incentives that could take him over $1 million.
His appointment as head coach must be ratified by the Board of Trustees.
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