Here's hoping that Taver Johnson's upcoming visit to Joan C. Edwards Stadium is more peaceful than his last.
Johnson is in his second season as defensive backs coach at Purdue, which brings him to Huntington for the Sunday afternoon opener against Marshall.
The Cincinnati native has a 21-year resume, which includes his current job and stints with Arkansas, Ohio State, Miami (Ohio) twice, the Cleveland Browns, Milliken and Wittenberg.
After serving as a graduate assistant at Notre Dame in 1999, his first full-time Division I-A gig was with Miami from 2000-03. As more than a few of you know, that put him at Marshall on Tuesday night, Nov. 12, 2002.
Marshall's 36-34 win was one of the Thundering Herd's most famous victories, yet probably the most infamous. Miami partisans, however many there may be, remain empurpled over the result.
There was a strangeness before, during and after that one. Ten days before, the Herd lost a game at Akron in which Byron Leftwich was carried by his linemen between downs. Suddenly, the Herd faced elimination from all postseason play, bowls included.
The ESPN-televised game kicked off at 8 p.m., which meant two things: (a) ridiculous deadline pressure for the scribes and (b) a well-lubricated crowd. That players and fans from the schools legitimately detested one another added to the fun. (Head coaches Bob Pruett and Terry Hoeppner weren't exactly pals, either.)
With Leftwich on crutches, the Herd had young Stan Hill trying to match touchdowns against Miami's Ben Roethlisberger. As the clock seemed to go half-speed, Hill did his job and then some.
The Herd faced a moment of truth when it had to drive 57 yards in 1:39 to erase a 34-29 deficit. Eventually, the game came down to fourth-and-3 at the Miami 9-yard line.
Hill threw a short deep "out" route to Josh Davis at about the 2 on the Miami sideline. The ball flew past Davis, but a yellow flag flew (correctly, but perhaps late) for pass interference.
After another pass interference foul, Hill flopped into the end zone from a yard to give Marshall the game. By then, all hell had broken loose on the Miami side.
When the first flag flew, I swear to this day I could feel a faint thump, perhaps from one of the adjacent sky suites on the working-press level. I think I was right about the thump, but wrong on the place of origin.
As we filed our stories late - and witnessed Miami defensive coordinator Jon Wauford leaving the field in handcuffs - we were told to come to the sky deck and check out the damage there.
The countertop in the visitors' coaching box was blasted and the drywall heading back to the elevator had gaping holes. It looked as if every Miami coach upstairs went on a rampage.
According to Miami, one man was responsible, linebackers coach Johnson. Indeed, Johnson took responsibility.
He kept his job, but the school's sanctions were stiff: He paid for the damages and did not receive a pay increase in 2003, he underwent anger management at his own expense, made a written apology to Marshall and apologized to his team and staff in person.
It was a tough lesson for a 20-something coach. The good news is he needs no apology for his career since. He coordinated Miami's defense for two years and helped three cornerbacks reach the NFL while at Ohio State. He even served as interim coach at Arkansas in the spring of 2012.
As Purdue's defensive backs coach, his mission at 3 p.m. Sunday is to take away the targets of MU quarterback Michael Birdsong. He has seen video of Davonte Allen and Deon-Tay McManus, tight end Ryan Yurachek and Hyleck Foster, and has two senior cornerbacks in his arsenal.
By now, he's not a young coach, he's a veteran on the staff of Darrell Hazell, the third-year head coach who is trying to lift the Boilermakers out of their residence in the Big Ten's West Division basement.
Marshall just happens to be the first stop. Coaches tell you that on road trips, they might take a few minutes to look around the stadium, bask in whatever good memories they may have of the place and try to forget the bad memories.
Then it's right back to business. That's the way the profession works.
Johnson might not recognize the trip upstairs at Edwards Stadium. A third elevator has been added to ease congestion, and with four new luxury boxes on the sky deck, that level has air conditioning and a sweet little lobby at the elevator entrance.
But Johnson apparently won't see it. Last year, Purdue game notes say offensive coordinator John Shoop, defensive line coach Rubin Carter and three graduate assistants went upstairs.
That puts Johnson on the sidelines. So Herd fans, give the man a warm welcome to Huntington.
Until kickoff, anyway.