Hoeppner to have surgery again

Three days after a victory against Ball State, IU head coach Terry Hoeppner announced he will take a temporary leave of absence to undergo surgery to remove a possible recurrent brain tumor. \n"I took (a scan) last Friday morning," Hoeppner said at a press conference Tuesday night. "There's been some change in the area." \nIt is possible that the "change" might be a tumor, but scar tissue on the right side of his brain from a previous surgery is also among the possibilities, he said. Hoeppner experienced headaches while attending a Pittsburgh Steelers game in Cleveland on Dec. 24, 2005 before undergoing neurological tests that revealed a tumor on the right side of his brain. He underwent surgery three days later on Dec. 27.\nDr. Marshall Poor, who will perform the procedure, remains optimistic about the coach's \npotential recovery time. \n"I would anticipate a return to work in two to four weeks," Poor said in a statement.\nPoor will perform the surgery beginning at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. It will be an outpatient procedure at Bloomington Hospital, where the past surgery took place. \nHow he responds to the surgery in the first 24 to 48 hours will determine what kind of role the second-year coach will play during his absence in trying to assist interim head coach Bill Lynch, Hoeppner said. \nLynch will take over the head coaching duties in Hoeppner's absence. He has previous head coaching experience, including stops at Butler (1985-90), Ball State (1995-2002) and DePauw (2004), before joining the IU staff as assistant coach and offensive coordinator in 2005. \nHe will take over the reigns and try to continue IU's two-game season opening win streak, while trying to limit the possible effects of Hoeppner not being around the team. \n"(Hoeppner) didn't want this to be an excuse or distraction," Lynch said. "That's our challenge. From a football standpoint, we're going to follow coach's lead." \nHoeppner had the opportunity to announce his surgery to the media earlier in the day at his weekly press conference but chose to withhold the information until he could address his team. \nHe held a team meeting before practice and announced the new development to his players. Hoeppner attended practice and everything went on as usual. \n"It was a shock to me and a shock to the team," senior defensive end Kenny Kendal said after the press conference. "We went out and had our best practice, our best Tuesday practice."\nPlayers stressed that Hoeppner's absence will not be a distraction to the team as it moves forward with the season. \nThe Hoosiers play Southern Illinois University this weekend and the University of Connecticut on Sept. 23 before opening conference play with Wisconsin at home.\nHoeppner hopes to return for the Wisconsin game and finish the season from there.\n"We don't look at it as anything but he'll be gone two weeks," senior safety Will Meyers said. "We'll carry on without him"