SAUL LOEB/Arizona Daily Wildcat Head coach John Mackovic checks his play card during Arizona's 59-13 loss to LSU.

Arizona head football coach John Mackovic has made 13 stops during his 38 years in football, but few can compare to the single season he spent in West Lafayette, Ind.

It was at Purdue that he jumpstarted his head coaching career.

Mackovic's one-year adventure as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator with Purdue in 1977 was one of the most memorable of his career ÷ thanks to Mark Hermann, a name that makes most Boilermakers fans giddy in their hardhats.

"We were fortunate to recruit (Hermann)," Mackovic remembered. "He was a true freshman who came in the second quarter of (his) first game and never came out for four years."

Hermann is considered by most as one of the best quarterbacks in college football history.

"He was smart, a great athlete with terrific vision and he gave everybody hope," Mackovic said. "He was one of those players that, when he was in there, you just believed he would make a difference, and he did."

What also made the experience fulfilling for Mackovic was coaching under Jim Young, a long-time friend of Mackovic's and former head coach in both Tucson and West Lafayette.

After hiring Mackovic in 1973 to work under him at Arizona, Young brought Mackovic to Purdue, a springboard that helped vault Mackovic to his first head-coaching job at Wake Forest ÷ his alma mater ÷ in 1978.

"I went (to Purdue) with Jim Young from here, so we went with a staff that all knew each other," Mackovic said.

His coaching resumŽ has brought him from as far west as San Jose State, where he served as offensive coordinator from 1969 to 1970, to successful head coaching stints at Illinois (1988-1991) and Big XII power Texas (1992-1997). Mackovic also enjoyed spending significant time coaching at the NFL level, spending four seasons at the helm of the Kansas City Chiefs in the mid-1980s.

He began his football career as the freshman coach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1968, and has traveled all over the country since. He made stops at Arizona twice ÷ as offensive coordinator in 1973 and again in 2000, when he took over his current position as head coach of the Wildcats.

As the Wildcats (1-2) head to Purdue this weekend, Mackovic still believes that the people of West Lafayette were some of the nicest he's ever met.

"I found the people to be genuine and friendly," he said. "I liked them all and we made some great friends."

What did Mackovic like the most about his tenure at Purdue?

"We played golf in the summers," he said. "I liked going to the basketball games and Mackey Arena was one of the great facilities (in college sports)."

Mackovic is 10-16 at Arizona over his three years here, and has a collegiate record of 95-80-3 ÷ a .534 winning percentage.

His team's struggles this year are typical of a young group that continues to make amateur mistakes, but a win at Purdue this weekend could give the UA fans in "the Old Pueblo" hope for the rest of the season.

A trip back to West Lafayette is something that the third-year Arizona coach has been looking forward to.

"We had a lot of fun there," Mackovic said.

All Wildcat players and fans can hope that his current team has as much fun on its first trip this weekend to Purdue ÷ capped by a victory ÷ as he did during his.