DARRELL HAZELL – Former Head Coach, Purdue
Please, before you scoff this choice off, look back to the example of Brady Hoke. Darrell Hazell was an awful choice for the Purdue Boilermakers. He was not ready for that type of stage and it would be a mistake for him to stay at that level. This, however, does not negate the man's talent for creating high-powered offenses.
In his four years in West Lafayette, Hazell's teams saw gradual improvement in the passing game productivity over his four years there. The Boilers went from being 121st (out of 125 FBS teams at the time) in passing yards per game in 2013, to 80th in that category this past season. Now granted, it still isn't eye-popping, but Purdue has not had the greatest crop of talent in some time.
And in his two seasons at Kent State (2011-12), Hazell turned the Golden Flashes from one of the worst rushing attacks (107th in rush YPG in 2011) to one of the best (18th in 2012). KSU won 11 games in the latter of the two seasons and averaged better than 33 points per game, good for 35th nationally. Hazell turned Dri Archer into a household name during the 2012 season; Archer became a consensus All-American, won MAC Special Teams Player of the Year, became All-MAC first team as a running back and kick returner, and finished 2012 as a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award (most versatile college football player).
At WMU, Hazell could improve on the offensive strides he was starting to make at Purdue. While his tenure there was cut short, his previous success at a fellow MAC school and a clear penchant for offense would be a good fit for the Broncos.
Doomsday Ranker: 8/10
