Joe Tiller has a sense of humor, but he carefully picks the right moments to unveil it.

Saturday's loss to Penn State was not one of those moments. In fact, he barely contained his anger.

On the field, he screamed at referees. He contested the penalty that placed his Boilermakers on their own three-yard line. He barely mustered the patience to do his post-game radio show.

And he was candid about his team's faults. Almost no player was safe from his criticisms.

But don't be surprised if Tiller is all smiles during the week's practices.

"I've never really had a coach who cracks jokes as much as he does," Purdue quarterback Drew Brees said.

"He has a knack for keeping guys relaxed right time for having fun and the right time to be intense."

Tiller can motivate a team, however strange his methods might be. The proof is well documented.

He resuscitated a floundering Wyoming program, taking it from 4-6-1 in his first year to 10-2 in his final season.

Tiller arrived in West Lafayette, Ind., in 1997 and has amassed a 28-14 record thus far. Despite the success, Tiller is hardly arrogant.

He credits his assistant coaches and players for the wins, takes blame for losses and is not afraid to make himself the butt of jokes.

At the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon in July, Tiller even went so far to as to indulge his eager listeners in his ineptitude in meteorological matters.

Tiller said he recruited a punter, Aaron Levin, from Wyoming who could kick the ball eye-popping distances.

When he watched the tape of 20 kicks, he was in awe of the first kicks.

As the tape progressed, Tiller found that other kicks were significantly shorter than others.

That's when something clicked in Tiller's mind.

He realized that all of the punts in one game were going in one direction and in the other, the punts were going in the opposite direction.

In a third game, all the punts were going in the direction of the first game.

"We're not too bright," Tiller said. "I should have known better, because in Wyoming, when the wind don't blow, it sucks.

"And that wind took that ball some very good distances.

"Man, I think he was punting with the wind all the time, so I don't know if this guy can punt or not."

Recruiting mishap aside, other schools noticed Tiller's coaching abilities.

And those other schools actively pursued him.

"He's a great coach, why wouldn't they want him?" Purdue defensive end Akin Ayodele said.

"No matter where he goes, he can do the same thing. Hopefully, no one wants him right now."

But Colorado wanted him last year.

It had been rumored that Tiller was going to take the job, much to the dismay of his team.

Tiller called a meeting and that's when he dropped the bomb.

"He comes in and says, 'I know you guys have heard the news, and yes it's true.' " Ayodele said.

"Everyone was just in awe. My jaw dropped. And he said, 'Well see, that's how it feels to be lied to.'

"That's the kind of guy Coach Tiller is," Ayodele said.

Eccentric, yes.

Successful, definitely.

"He's a players' kind of coach," Ayodele said.

"You know that his door is always open. He always gets us ready to play on Saturdays."

Which is a coaching skill that's appropriate regardless of location.