Tiller Offers His Perspective On Painter Situation

The Boiling Point: Joe Tiller talked to the Purdue student newspaper to offer his perspective on the Matt Painter situation, as well as Purdue’s approach to assistant coaching salaries.

Joe Tiller has always been an outspoken guy, so I like that the Exponent went to him to talk about Purdue’s “dedication to championship programs,” a term that’s become popular this week as Matt Painter’s flirtation with Missouri has unfolded.

Reports say Painter is unhappy that Purdue won’t shell out for assistant coaches salaries and benefits, which results in a higher staff turnover. Tiller understood Painter’s complaints. Following are quotes from the Exponent’s conversation with the former Purdue football coach:

"“I lost a lot of coaches and I really think that hurt our program,” Tiller said. “I lost them because of salaries more than any other reason.”"

"“Guys were appreciative because they got a bump in pay coming from Wyoming,” he said. “But then I started losing guys.”"

"“Staff turnover is a huge negative in my opinion,” he said. “I can remember telling (athletic director) Morgan (Burke) one time, ‘There’s only so many guys I’ve worked with and so many guys that I’m really comfortable with hiring.’ You have to go into the market place and pony up, and we weren’t in that position.”"

"“It’s a people business,” he said. “People are what it’s all about. You can’t lose a guy and just go out and plug in another guy because you might be giving up a real good mind in terms of strategy or he may be a heck of a recruiter and the guy you replace him with may be a good person or a good guy, but he’s not the same quality. If that goes on and on, your program begins to suffer.”"