WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Purdue has hired Darrell Hazell as its new football coach.

Hazell won this season's Mid-American Conference coach of the year award after leading Kent State to its first winning season since 2001, first bowl appearance in more than four decades and the brink of a BCS bowl game.

The 48-year-old Hazell grew up in New Jersey, but played football at Muskingum College in Ohio. He has strong ties to the Buckeye State, including a seven-year stint on the staff of former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel.

Kent State hired Hazell in December 2010 and led the Golden Flashes to a 5-7 mark (4-4 MAC) and a third-place finish in his first season as a head coach. This year, Hazell's squad went 11-2 (8-0) and won the MAC East.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.