Former Purdue head coach Danny Hope is making a return to his old stomping grounds.

On Wednesday, Eastern Kentucky announced that Hope was returning to the program, this time to serve as the team’s offensive line coach. He had previously been the head coach of the Colonels from 2003-07 and was a former player from 1977-80.

Hope will be joining Mark Elder at EKU, who has been the head coach since 2015.

“We’re very excited to have coach Hope return to EKU as our offensive line coach,” said Elder. “He brings an extraordinary amount of experience – both as a leader of men and as an offensive line coach. He will help our players continue to develop themselves as men, grow in their technique and will bring an edge of toughness to our offensive line. His experience will certainly help us on offense from the standpoint of putting together a game plan and leading a group on that side of the ball. His experience will be instrumental in helping us be successful.”

The last time Hope was on a college football field was in 2015, when he was the co-offensive coordinator at USF. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Purdue from 2009-12.

In four seasons with the Boilermakers, Hope compiled a 22-27 record, leading his team to two bowl games. He was fired following the 2012 campaign, after a second straight 6-6 season. Purdue never finished above .500 in B1G player under his guidance.

Before becoming the head coach at Purdue, Hope spent five years serving as the head coach at Eastern Kentucky. During his time, the Colonels went 35-22 and never finished a season with a losing record. In 2007, Hope led EKU to a perfect 8-0 season in the Ohio Valley Conference, winning the league. They finished the year 9-3 overall and reached the NCAA FCS Playoffs.

Hope has been in college football for 30 years and has always served in a head coaching or offensive line coach role.