Utah will now be without both their leading WR (Vele, who declared for the NFL draft) and third-leading WR for our bowl game:

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The model is clunky and probably a brief phase prior to employment.
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Craig Bohl announced today that he is retiring from Wyoming after the team’s upcoming bowl game:

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Why does that matter to NU? Bohl was the longtime head coach at North Dakota State, building the team up to what it is today as head coach from 2003-2013. He was then replaced by Chris Kleiman (2014-2018, now HC at Kansas State) and subsequently Matt Entz (2019-present).

Braun was at NDSU exclusively under Entz from 2019-2022, but nonetheless I would anticipate that there’s a significant connection between Braun and the Bohl/Kleiman staffs. This means a lot of guys with NDSU ties might be on the market who wouldn’t be otherwise.

I would be thrilled if Bohl would help Braun in an Assistant to the Head Coach capacity, something akin to Skip Holtz (especially if Holtz’s isn’t a long-term arrangement).

Given our upcoming anticipated staff openings, would also be particularly interested in:

• OL Joe Tripodi — former NU player, previously on staff at NIU and Temple
• OC/QB Tim Polasek — longtime NDSU staffer who was Iowa’s OL coach from 2017-2020

Either of those guys could make sense as OL coach, not convinced as OC.

There’s a thread about Paul Chryst, but JOD’s original column names all the names, none of which are surprising.


Mike Elko, Duke
Lance Leipold, Kansas
Clawson, Wake
Mike Kafka
Tommy Rees
Troy Calhoun, Air Force
Paul Chryst, meagerly employed
Willie Fritz, Tulane

Bronco Mendenhall, currently unemployed, did *not* say no, but NU chose Braun over him.

JOD is a bit of a whack job, and Gragg previously said his reporting was false, but this list is a) what we would’ve expected and b) mostly guys who are currently in a better situation than a two-years-on-the-road nomadic team.

There’s also a bit at the end about Fitz getting a $50 invoice for an unreturned key fob.

It’s possible Fitz is the source for much of this, but that’s a guess. The other papers no longer prioritize covering NU, even a little. And Teddy G is no longer available as Phillips’ toadie-in-chief.

I'm very glad that Braun's trial run went so well and that he is now officially the head coach. He deserves the shot and he makes a great Cinderella story to boot.

What might have been if it didn't go well? Probably not pretty.

Per The Daily Herald, Pat Ryan Jr along with Gragg and DHR Global Executive Search had 9 names on a short list, 8 of whom turned the offer down. Reasons given include student lawsuits, Fitz's lawsuit, nebulous (at the time) status of the stadium and probability of playing at temporary venues, and clumsy administrator handling.

The Daily Herald link

Names included Mike Kafka, Paul Chryst, and a mix of young and old talent. Only Bronco Mendenhall (former BYU and Virginia coach) was all-in.

Some good coaches there... Kafka would have excited me, some of the others not so much.

Oh, and NU sent Fitzgerald a form letter asking for $50 for not returning a security key fob.

Congratulations Coach. Great Job.

Some positives great stadium etc.

But a hard matchup. Dec. 23 so hard to do pre Christmas. And we were definitely "junped" by MD. Rutgers and Wisconsin. Trash Wisky to Reliaquest (Outback) is ridiculous. Yes I live two hours from Tampa so I'm being selfish but really frustrating.

Gragg did NOTHING to advocate for his team. Probably the only downside to our impressive success in Football and hoops is that incompetent will take credit... when it's clear the teams had these accomplishments DESPITE administration and certainly not because of it.

Will make it harder to fire this guy sadly.

Will be interesting to see how this approach works out for them. 🤔

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Congratulations to Boo. Outstanding performance against Number 1 ranked Purdue.

Quite the victory for the Wildcats last night. Got a couple of court-storming videos from my daughter, one of Buie and one of a roaring Big Matt and somebody rubbing Barnhizer's new buzzcut.
The atmosphere was wild and the students were packed in 75 minutes before tipoff, according to "my source."

With NU playing a really tight rotation and the refs doing as much as they could do to put NU's big guys on the bench, the Wildcats were up against it - on their home floor, no less - but NU still found a way to beat the Boilermakers. Again.


I don't know what the refs are thinking when they allow Edey to initiate contact with the defender, push him down the lane and then call fouls on the defender for trying to hold his ground. There were probably 5 calls like that. The defender is entitled to his position on the floor. Calling a foul on Nicholson away from the ball 15 seconds into the game for brushing up against Edey is inexcusable because it has such an effect on the game. Blatantly pro-Purdue, pro-Edey in the post. Had we not won, I'd be fuming. As it is, it was the only blemish on a great game.

After the Northern Illinois game, I wrote about the success of the Nicholson / Martinelli / Barnhizer frontcourt. The refs messed that up, limiting that trio to 4 minutes together, which NU lost 6-2. Obviously it wasn't really working on the offensive end. I think thats an aberration.

My previously-expressed optimism about Luke Hunger is now obviously justified. He is going to be a good player for us. I've liked him since the Pitt debacle last year - before he broke his foot.
Plays hard, big energy, not afraid. Can shoot the ball - may even light Edey up from outside when the two teams meet again. Collins has to be excited about his potential as a stretch 4 or 5.

Blake Preston played admirably under severe duress. He will probably finish the season as the best 3rd string center in America. Great credit to him for playing the last 9 minutes of the game and getting two big steals.

Can't let the comments end without praising Buie, Berry and Langborg. All 3 were awesome, with Boo putting up one of the best games of his career.

A trio of Fleming, McCord and Cam Martinez (all had NU offers out of HS) would look excellent in Purple and make us instantly competitive next year.

Wishful thinking but one can dream.

Told in ‘oral history’ style to mark the 30th anniversary of the show going on the road.

Two NU mentions: Gary Barnett gets a quote, and, as it turns out, babyface Kirk Herbstreit beat out Mike Adamle for the role.

Whatever your opinion was of coach Painter before the game or during the game last night, everyone should watch his post game presser.

Watched in on BTN. Have never seen a coach say more positive comments, and often in great detail, about an opponent after a loss. You would have thought he was wearing purple clothes underneath.

Player by player he was praising the cats. He never once said his team lost. He said what Purdue could have done better. What we did incredibly well. From stat line to describing what barnhizer brings to the floor every night, it was just a class act.

I was very impressed. Cat fans should take a look. Purdue fans should as well and be thankful he’s your coach.

Here is the WildcatReport official tracker for Northwestern's transfers in and out in the 2023-24 transfer portal windows.

Loved seeing it. Even chuckled at the premature celebration. But…and maybe this is me being a curmudgeon…the band should not be storming the floor, especially to the exclusion of the fight song. When Northwestern pulls off an epic win at Welsh-Ryan, the first thing everyone should hear is Go U Northwestern. That’s not possible with the band in the scrum. I think there’s already too little pep band play at the games these days. Gotta play the fight song when we freaking knock off #1!

I talked Hutto, Tex. WR Alex Green about his official visit to Northwestern, his thoughts on the program and his decision timeline.

Obviously there's a long ways to go before this goes from proposal to passed rule, but this is where the conference distributions will matter a ton in terms of recruiting/keeping talent, and it's where Big Ten/SEC schools can separate from the rest with school made NIL deals.

Also, I don't know that this is the right approach; I'd prefer conference led NIL situations because that's an equal pot of money for the conference schools.

Individual schools have vastly different athletics budgets (different # of athletes, different stadium sizes/revenue, etc.), so conference level always made more sense to me because conference distributions are near equal per school.

Up 21 at the half against Iowa. Out rebounding them 26 to 15, so it ain’t just us.

I hope so. 6-1 and just beat #1 and our only loss isn't too bad.

I doubt the Cats could have competed against Michigan, but I think they’d have a better chance than anyone else. The veteran QB/WR combo would move the ball.

I love what David Braun did this year as coach, and the players have to be celebrated as well. However, much of the credit needs to go to Fitz, who:

(1) Fired JON
(2) Hired Braun, Binns and Smith
(3) Got Ben Bryant, Cam Johnson, AJ Henning in portal

Also, the team got naturally better as the linebacker crew and OL seemed to gain strength and maturity.

Let us know your rationale!

I have really, really enjoyed watching that dude cough up the ball late-game vs NU in the past two years.
I don't have the numbers but it seems that his turnovers increase vs us late in games. We must be in his head.

And what a strange looking head it is.... (sorry, that's mean and undignified but there is something about him that I find annoying)

I'm wondering what will become of mine when they tear Ryan/Dyche down. Not sure who to contact, but suppose should probably start with the athletic department. If they're not going to place it in the new stadium, I want it back.

The Mojo Moose made its appearance the day after Selection Sunday.

Pictured from Yesterday: