Purdue has hired Kent State's Darrell Hazell as its new head football coach.The university made the news official Wednesday morning.

"I'm extremely excited to work with the players at Purdue, and I look forward to experiencing a lot of success in the future," Hazell said. "It's a wonderful opportunity. Purdue University has a great football tradition, and I can't wait to get started."

Hazell becomes the 1st African-American head football coach at Purdue, which fired Danny Hope at the end of the regular season.

Hazell completely turned around Kent State in just two season as its head coach, leading the Golden Flashes to an 11-2 record this season.

He previously served as Ohio State's wide receivers coach from 2005 to 2010.

"Darrell is a great fit to build on our existing foundation," Burke said. "His leadership at Kent State, combined with his prior experience at Ohio State and other stops along the way, has prepared him to help us continue to move toward developing a championship-caliber program. He understands our `25/85' vision as well as our desire to recruit both locally and nationally. Furthermore, it is clear that he appreciates the Cradle of Quarterbacks tradition, and it will remain a focal point of our program."

Hazell said Wednesday that he was offered the job at 4:30 Tuesday and accepted around 9pm. He said Purdue has granted him permission to coach Kent State in its bowl game. Kent State has yet to announce if they will allow him to do so.