Posted by: Chris Vannini on November 25, 2012

After four seasons, Danny Hope will not return at Purdue, sources have confirmed to CoachingSearch.com.

Hope took over for longtime coach Joe Tiller in 2008. Although Hope reached back-to-back bowls in 2011 and 2012, his overall record at Purdue is 22-27 (13-19 in the Big Ten).

The Boilermakers were expected to compete for the Leaders division title this season, with Ohio State and Penn State both ineligible, but started 0-5 in conference play. However, there were last-second losses to Notre Dame and Ohio State. Hope will receive a $600,000 buyout and wide receivers coach Patrick Higgins will coach the bowl game.

Although it's early in the process, here are four names that could be in the mix at Purdue.

Dave Doeren (Northern Illinois - head coach): Doeren has guided the Huskies to 11 straight wins after a season-opening loss to Iowa has a chance at a second straight MAC championship. Although he's only in his second year as a head coach, he has ties to region, having been Wisconsin's defensive coordinator from 2006-10. Doeren admitted earlier this month that he would listen to potential job offers if something good came along.

Darrell Hazell (Kent State - head coach): Doeren's opponent in the MAC Championship Game will be Hazell and his Kent State Golden Flashes, who are looking for their second conference championship in school history. Since a 1-6 start in his first season last year, Hazell has won 15 of his last 17 games, including an 11-1 record this season. He also has ties to the Big Ten, having coached the wide receivers at Ohio State from 2004-10. He also was the assistant head coach under Jim Tressel from 2005-10.

Randy Fichtner (Pittsburgh Steelers - quarterbacks coach): The Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterbacks coach since 2007, Fichtner is a Purdue graduate. He worked as a student assistant and graduate assistant there in the mid-1980s and returned as a wide receivers coach/recruiting director from 1994-96. With Purdue being known as the "cradle of quarterbacks," a coach with experience handling pro quarterbacks would certainly be appealing to recruits.

Chuck Martin (Notre Dame - offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach): Martin has plenty of ties to the Midwest. Along with spending the past three seasons in South Bend, he took over for Brian Kelly as head coach at Grand Valley State in 2004 after four years as the defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach. As head coach, he won two Division II national championships in 2005 and 2006.

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Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com