Mike Bobinski New AD At Purdue, Big Ten’s Seventh New AD In Two Years

Athletic Directors have been bouncing around the Big Ten conference the last couple of years but Purdue has a history of keeping athletic directors for a long time. Mike Bobinski will be Purdue’s fourth AD since 1942.

Bobinski will replace Morgan Burke who has served as the AD at Purdue for 23 years. Burke is currently the longest serving AD in the Big Ten. He doesn’t retire until June 2017 so Purdue will have just shy of one year to complete the transition.

Bobinski fielded questions from the media after being introduced as the new AD.

Bobinski came from ACC school Georgia Tech where he served as the AD for three years. Prior to Tech Bobsinki was the AD at Xavier for five years and before that he was at Akron for four years. In 2012 while he was at Xavier he was named the NACDA Division I Northeast AD of the year.

Coming to Indiana is a good fit for him both geographically and philosophically, Bobinski said. According to Big Ten Network Burke agrees. “Mike Bobinski truly understands the lasting value of college athletics in preparing young people to experience success in competition, in the classroom and most importantly in life,” Burke said. “His values match Purdue’s, and I look forward to working with him and the athletics staff in what is my ‘senior year’ to hand the baton over in a smooth and seamless transition.”

According to Big Ten Network others that were considered for the Purdue AD job were San Francisco 49ers executive Keena Turner, Xavier AD Greg Christopher and Ohio AD Jim Schaus.

In the last ten years there have been 12 new hires for Big Ten AD’s and four of those have been hired in 2016.

Purdue has always had decent basketball teams, but it’s the football team that needs work. Last year the Purdue men’s basketball team was 12-6 in conference play and made it to the NCAA tournament but lost to Little Rock in double overtime in the first round. The women’s basketball team also made it to the NCAA tournament this past year and fell in the first round to No. 6 seeded Oklahoma. The football team was 1-7 in conference play last season and has an overall record of 6-30 over the past three years.

In December 2012 Darrell Hazell became the head football coach for the Boilermakers and signed a six-year contract, which will be up at the end of the 2018 season provided Bobinski doesn’t let him go before then.

Article by Lindsey Horsting