Purdue on rise

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Joe Tiller sometimes feels cursed by his success at Purdue.

From 1981 to 1996 – before Tiller came from Wyoming with his spread passing attack – the Boilermakers had just two winning seasons.

In 10-plus seasons under Tiller, Purdue is 80-49 and made nine bowl appearances, the high point coming in 2000 when Drew Brees led the team to its first Rose Bowl since 1967.

Still, some Boilermakers fans want more and have grown frustrated by Purdue’s inability to reach the elite status of other Big Ten teams such as Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin.

“We’ve changed the culture surrounding the football program,” Tiller told the Associated Press before the start of his 11th season at the school. “I think that we certainly have changed the expectation level, and I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

Maybe this is the year Purdue (5-0) returns to the Rose Bowl? Michigan has struggled, Ohio State has a rebuilt offense and Wisconsin has been less-than-dominant. Purdue supporters are feeling good about their team’s chances.

“The way Purdue is playing, the way they beat the first three teams the way you’re supposed to beat lesser teams, this very well could be their year,” said Craig Dragash, a 1992 Purdue graduate who lives in Carmel, Ind.

Purdue has set nearly every conference passing and receiving record, and some national ones, since Tiller took over. Curtis Painter last year broke Brees’ Big Ten record for passing yards in a season.

But how many more records Tiller’s teams will reach under his watch is a mystery as his contract is up in 2010. The 64-year-old said he still enjoys his job, but he won’t coach as long as 80-year-old Joe Paterno.

“I enjoy the college environment, so much so that I don’t see myself ever doing anything other than this,” Tiller said. “Right now, I couldn’t tell you when I would no longer be doing it.”

Tiller is known as much for his sense of humor as his flashy passing game.

But he also is a brutally honest, old-school coach with a reputation for being extra tough on quarterbacks.

Chicago Bears third-string quarterback Kyle Orton remembers being benched for Brandon Kirsch in 2004, even while he was considered a Heisman Trophy candidate. He realizes now that Tiller was challenging him.

“Whether you want to hear it or not, he’s going to let you hear it, and you’ve got to respect that,” said Orton, now in his second year with the Bears. “I’ve been through a lot with Joe. But at least he was always straight with me and that’s all you could really ask for.”

Tiller offers no apologies for having high expectations for his signal callers.

“I’m very demanding of them because I realize that in the heat of the battle, as they go, we go,” he said. “There are some coaches out there who believe that you never raise your voice to a quarterback, or you treat a quarterback different than you treat the rest of your team. I don’t believe that.”

Purdue doesn’t have the football stadium capacity to draw the revenue of its top competitors. Ross-Ade Stadium seats 62,500 fans, ninth in the 11-team conference. Because of the disadvantages, Tiller takes special pride in having made Purdue competitive.

“Each time we take the field, we’ve got a chance to win,” Tiller said.

There was a time that would’ve been enough for Purdue fans. Not anymore.