Report: Hazell Leaving Kent State for Purdue Coaching Job

Kent State University may have just lost the best football coach it's seen in decades.

An Indiana-based journalist reported this afternoon that Kent State head football coach Darrell Hazell has reached an agreement with Purdue University to take over the head coaching job for the Boilermakers, who are part of the Big Ten Conference for intercollegiate athletics that includes Ohio State University.

Hammer and Rails, a blog about Purdue sports, attributed the news to a former ESPN radio host and journalist for the Lafayette, IN, newspaper the Lafayette Journal and Courier, Brendan Murphy, who tweeted this statement this afternoon:

"I've been told an agreement in principle has been reached between Purdue and Darrell Hazell, just contract language being worked out now."

Hazell, who led the Kent State Golden Flashes (11-2, 8-0 MAC) to their first bowl game appearance this year in more than 40 years, has been rumored to be a candidate in several head coaching jobs across the country. The Flashes will play in the GoDaddy.com Bowl Jan. 6.

The Akron Beacon Journal reported that Hazell was interviewing with California for a coaching position on Sunday.

“My focus is on this Kent State football team like it always has been,” Hazell told the Akron Beacon Journal.

There also were reports he was considered a candidate for the head coaching job at Boston College.

But the Purdue position seems most concrete, as ESPN reported today that Hazell was in the running with Purdue expected to make a decision by Wednesday.

Check back with Kent Patch for more on this developing story.