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Brandon Joseph enters the portal…

Things where we agree: a) I trust Fitz to (eventually) do the right thing. b) we don't truly know how accountable he is and c) He has a stock of trust or "goodwill" upon which he can draw.

Where we disagree: i) He is too slow to react, and often reacts poorly, to adverse situations. We were so thrilled to get rid of McCall, and so outraged with JON this year, that nobody notices that the offense is basically as bad as 2019. Ryan Day stuck Kerry Coombs in the doghouse after one bad game and hired a top DC as soon as the season was over. Bert exceeded all expectations and STILL fired his OC. We are stuck with tweedle-dum and tweedle-dumber as coordinators. Stubborn or slow to react, I don't care, but he's not taking the necessary steps ii) I hope we can agree that he is often an insolent, arrogant pr1ck in interviews, often to people less than half his age who tentatively try to ask tough questions about his moribund team. This shows a lack of accountability and respect, at least to fans and the press. Perhaps Gragg has him by the bal1s, but in public, Fitz does and says what he wants. c) his accumulated trust, as you say, is accurate. We are not like other programs in that respect, but for Duke and TCU to get rid of, arguably their best coaches ever (TCU) or in my long lifetime (Duke) is indicative that other schools are willing to cash-out of their positions if the coach breaks the trust.

Further to i) above, I am concerned that, even if he rights the ship, it may not be sustainable in the portal/NIL era.
Anything else you don’t like?
 
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You're right. I removed "easily". Thanks!

Yes, I think he does. The difference is he's got a lot of accumulated trust as a model D1 football coach and is far from depleting it over a poor season. By the way, I'm not defending JON here at all. Nobody can defend that performance last year. I put trust in Fitz that he'll work this out.
I mean, see, this post I totally agree with almost entirely. I'm also extremely pro Fitz. I like him as a football coach and love him as OUR coach. My Freshman year at NU was his first as our coach and, like a lot of students from that era, I have my little share of personal Fitz stories because he was around campus a lot during the spring of each of those years. I just acknowledge that he has a totally different setup than basically any other coach in the country does, but I hope he's here for at least two more decades and also believe we'll continue to have lot's of good results.
 
Compared to what? That's like saying its the nicest car in a junkyard. He also presided over some of the most humiliating losses in the modern era.
1. Michigan State this year in yards allowed
2. Nebraska 2021
3. Akron in 2018
4. WMU and ILSU in 2016
5. NIU in '14

Let's not forget Army, UNH and some really bad Dook teams.


Yeah Fitz is terrible. He's the only coach to win a bowl game in school history since the Dark Ages. Actually he won 5 out of the last 6 bowls. Just awful. He also won 2 division championships. Horrible. All time winningest coach in school history. So incompetent. But let's just focus on his failures only. Carry on!


Not exactly a good example since coaches like Ara didn't get a chance to go to the plethora of bowl games that are played today.

It took 4 losses before Fitz got the monkey off the back, and in a 6 year period, Rutgers, under Schiano, won 5 bowls; and since 2006, Wake has gone to 10 bowls, winning 6 of them.

Credit to Fitz for making bowls on a pretty regular basis, but as we can see, that's not exactly saying much in this day and age when any team with a pulse makes it to a bowl game.
 
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Brandon Joseph is an OR in Norte Dame. Anyone know if he's in a true 50-50 split, he won or lost the starter position?

 
He wanted to make sure he would have a big stage his final year before the draft, good coaching and the defensive system he wanted I guess (didn’t like his role in the JON defense?). We had no sign of a bowl game and not much sign of replacing the supporting cast from 2020 that allowed him to shine. No idea if he would do better in this year’s JON defense or what.
 
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He wanted to make sure he would have a big stage his final year before the draft, good coaching and the defensive system he wanted I guess (didn’t like his role in the JON defense?). We had no sign of a bowl game and not much sign of replacing the supporting cast from 2020 that allowed him to shine. No idea if he would do better in this year’s JON defense or what.
Let’s see how Lewis pans out. He had a Solid first game especially considering he hasn’t played safety since high school. He appears to be a willing tackler and given he’s a former CB we can expect him to be above average in coverage. BJo was really good 2 years ago but that was 2 years ago. I believe JON is happy with the secondary as it is for now.
 
Is it true that Bjo will be a second stringer for nd this season??
Usually 50/50 means they won’t announce until game time. This is similar to what Fitz has done. Imo, I expect him to start. Remember OSU knows him and Cam well. They did damage in 2020

This also is possibly the reason for the “OR” on Depth Chart. He might not be 💯. We’ll find out.

 
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New Ashton Martin’s start around 150K. For a kid who had an average ‘21 season, doesn’t sound right.
 
Usually 50/50 means they won’t announce until game time. This is similar to what Fitz has done. Imo, I expect him to start. Remember OSU knows him and Cam well. They did damage in 2020

This also is possibly the reason for the “OR” on Depth Chart. He might not be 💯. We’ll find out.

He may start at ND, but not NU!
 
Nah look at that touchdown pass by OSU, Joseph exposed in space.
He was elected captain and he quit on his team. He is the problem.
Right, he was THE reason the defense went from a top 10 unit to a vintage Colby-Swiss.

Nothing to do with the coordinator change….

Forgot that Joseph was responsible for giving 400+ yards of offense in multiple 1st halves in 2021. My bad.
 
Right, he was THE reason the defense went from a top 10 unit to a vintage Colby-Swiss.

Nothing to do with the coordinator change….
Leaders don’t let teammates quit like he did against Illinois.
The defense looked a lot better against Nebraska without him playing safety.
 
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Leaders don’t let teammates quit like he did against Illinois.
The defense looked a lot better against Nebraska without him playing safety.
Doubling down, I see.

Nebraska gained more yards on Northwestern’s defense than they did on FCS North Dakota…let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

While I’m encouraged by the team as a whole, it was the NU offense looked much improved. The defense was opportunistic, which is great, but turnovers are unpredictable and I’d much rather see a schematically sound unit out there than one that needs three picks each Saturday to be successful.

There are quite a few board members that clearly have sour grapes when it comes to transfers. I personally don’t get it that at all.
 
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Joseph knocked Smith Njigba out of the game it seems.
 
What don't you get? A team captain deciding to transfer out and go to another school?
I don’t get the malice toward a college student. I think it is uncalled for.

These aren’t professional athletes and in Joseph’s case, he was a great player at NU and an important part of the 2020 division title squad. If he felt leaving a potentially poor situation (O’Neil’s 2021 defense should give anyone pause) was best for him, it’s more than understandable. I will value what he gave the program in 2020 and all the challenges that were presented by that incredibly unique and difficult situation.

I understand not being interested in his future, but the bitterness seems unnecessary.
 
I don’t get the malice toward a college student. I think it is uncalled for.

These aren’t professional athletes and in Joseph’s case, he was a great player at NU and an important part of the 2020 division title squad. If he felt leaving a potentially poor situation (O’Neil’s 2021 defense should give anyone pause) was best for him, it’s more than understandable. I will value what he gave the program in 2020 and all the challenges that were presented by that incredibly unique and difficult situation.

I understand not being interested in his future, but the bitterness seems unnecessary.
Recognizing objective reality doesn’t require bitterness. Joseph accepted the responsibility of being a team captain leader and then said eff you to all of his teammates when the going got tough and he didn’t like his draft evaluation.

That’s a character observation, and character still means a lot in the NU program. The right to do what he did doesn’t cleanse him of having quit on his teammates.

Regardless, there is also the objective reality of his draft evaluation. Which is why he’s still in college today. That evaluation had nothing to do with JON’s shortcomings. And future evaluations will have nothing to do with playing for ND. He would have been drafted after the 2021 season if he had demonstrated the physical tools and mental toughness to play in the NFL. But he didn’t. So he finds himself where he belongs. Back in college, competing for playing time and a long way from ever seeing the field on Sundays.

Again. Just the objective reality of a kid we have no reason to either dislike or root for. GOUNUII
 
Although I do not have much to say about Brandon Joseph, but I do have a change of mind about college athletes. With NIL and the sitting out of bowl games, I think college athletes now open themselves up to more criticism. The way this is going, most starting football players will become paid athletes but paid by the community of the school, whether it is local businesses or school alums. That is where we are headed so with that can come the criticism.

I liked NU sports because most of the kids do come to NU for the education or the atmosphere. I do wish the best for those who finish out their 4 years at NU with a degree and decide to use their last year of eligibility at another school or after 2-3 years decide to enter the draft. I even feel good about a kid who is lost in the depth charts and decide to leave so that they can have more playing time. But those starters who transfer out before getting a degree because someone whispered in their ear that they can do better for themselves in another program are just like the pro free agents. They can be criticized or praised depending on whether they left your program or joined your program. So, if people want to fairly criticize a player like that, I think that is fair.

I was afraid that we would lose out because of NIL and the portal, but we have received some great players from it and I think we will be net beneficiaries of the system. But yes, criticism is now part of that process.
 
Recognizing objective reality doesn’t require bitterness. Joseph accepted the responsibility of being a team captain leader and then said eff you to all of his teammates when the going got tough and he didn’t like his draft evaluation.

That’s a character observation, and character still means a lot in the NU program. The right to do what he did doesn’t cleanse him of having quit on his teammates.

Regardless, there is also the objective reality of his draft evaluation. Which is why he’s still in college today. That evaluation had nothing to do with JON’s shortcomings. And future evaluations will have nothing to do with playing for ND. He would have been drafted after the 2021 season if he had demonstrated the physical tools and mental toughness to play in the NFL. But he didn’t. So he finds himself where he belongs. Back in college, competing for playing time and a long way from ever seeing the field on Sundays.

Again. Just the objective reality of a kid we have no reason to either dislike or root for. GOUNUII
Not to mention the interview he gave a few months after leaving NU in which he effectively said his NU teammates were not “dogs” enough for him to play with. Just a terrible look for him.
 
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