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Cutcliffe would be nice...

Could there be a reasonable scenario where a guy like David Cutcliffe would come in as a QB coach?

Was at Duke forever, but before that I seem to recall him being a pretty good QB whisperer. The fact that he was at Duke for so long tells me he probably likes and appreciates the academic vibe. At 68 years old he's obviously nearing the end of his career (currently "special assistant to the SEC commish"), but this turned out to be a pretty good final stop for Hank.
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Do we need a group counseling session?

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Just remember, you are not actually mad at your fellow WR members. We are frustrated because we love the Cats and it is hard to see something we love fail so badly and have no means of affecting it directly.

Hang in there! Despite these lows, I'm still thankful for all the highs NU football has provided beyond any expectations I had when I was a freshman in 1993.

Our Offense Could Get Worse Before It Gets Better

It seems Bajakian will be back again in 2023, unless Fitz has some more changes in store which doesn't seem likely. So there's a high possibility that our offense will actually be WORSE in 2023, which would be no small feat given how bad it was in 2022. We will lose our top three offensive players - OT Skoronski (NFL), RB Hull (NFL), and WR Washington (transfer portal). Our second best lineman, Rowley, is medically retired. Our best QB (biggest midget?) Sullivan is coming back from a season-ending injury. Our best TE Gordon has a chronic shoulder injury that threatens to end his career. Our third best lineman Priebe is returning from a season-ending injury. Not a good outlook for 2023. We'd better hit that transfer portal early and often. Who will step up for us next year?

Shooting

Pitt was 12 for 32 on 2s (38%) and 14 for 22 on 3s (64%). That's not something you see often.

Speaking of shooting, NU is now 326th in the country in 2-pt % (43.2) but 2nd(!) in 2-pt % allowed (37.6). Part of that is the 'Cats are blocking 17.6% of opponents' 2-pt shots, which is 6th-best in the country.

Anyway, it goes without saying that NU is pretty bad on offense and if the other team shoots 64% from 3 on 22 attempts it's going to be a loss.
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  • Poll
Poll: what is Fitz doing today?

What's Fitz doing today?

  • Performing due diligence in preparation for substantial staffing changes

    Votes: 9 25.7%
  • Sitting in his office, crying, clutching a framed picture of young JON and young Fitz shaking hands

    Votes: 12 34.3%
  • Squinting furiously at Jake's playbook while trying to figure out why it didn't work

    Votes: 4 11.4%
  • Reviewing "macros" by looking at the nutrition facts on players' cereal boxes

    Votes: 11 31.4%
  • Getting high and playing Wii golf

    Votes: 13 37.1%

It's Tuesday after concluding a 1-11 season following a 3-9 season.

Firing the coaches was probably reasonable, but won't fix the lack of talent

We needed to do something to shake things up. And I think the OC and DC were probably not very good. But I watched plenty of our games and just don't see any real talent. You can only call plays and scheme so much as a coach. In the end, the guys on the field are the ones who actually play the game, and they just don't have any talent and ability. Firing the coaches won't change that unless whoever we bring in can recruit higher caliber talent....
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Now that the defense is fixed, let's look at the offense

I decided to take a look at the conference champions of the P5 conferences plus the best G5 team over the past decade to see where they landed in relation to NU, and whether Fitz's famed "complementary football" is what will continue to bring us back to relevancy.

YearB1GSECACCB12Pac 12G5NUB1G West #2
2022#7 Mich 39.8#12 UGA 38.3#27 Clemson 34.3#4 TCU 41.3#3 USC 42.5#26 Tulane 34.4#128 NU 13.8#66 Purdue 28.6
2021#16 Michigan 35.8#6 Bama 39.9#3 Pitt 41.4#40 Baylor 31.6#14 Utah 36.1#1 Cinci 36.9#125 NU 16.6#99 Iowa 23.4
2020#11 OSU 41.0#2 Bama 48.5#4 Clemson 43.5#6 Oklahoma 43.0#42 Oregon 31.3#17 Cinci 37.5#93 NU 24.7#40 Iowa 31.8
2019#3 OSU 46.9#1 LSU 48.4#4 Clemson 43.9#6 Oklahoma 42.1#16 Oregon 35.4#8 Memphis 40.4#126 NU 16.3#23 Wisconsin 34.1
2018#8 OSU 42.4#3 Bama 45.6#4 Clemson 44.3#1 Oklahoma 48.4#89 UW 26.4#6 UCF 43.2#101 NU 24.2#62 Wisconsin 29.7
2017#6 OSU 41.1#20 UGA 35.4#32 Clemson 33.3#3 Oklahoma 45.1#35 USC 32.6#1 UCF 48.2#57 NU 29.2#28 Wisconsin 33.8
2016#21 PSU 37.6#15 Bama 38.8#14 Clemson 39.2#3 Oklahoma 43.9#8 UW 41.8#9 W Mich 41.6#87 NU 26.0#67 Wisconsin 28.4
2015#60 MSU 29.8#30 Bama 35.1#16 Clemson 38.5#4 Oklahoma 43.5#18 Stanford 37.8#10 Houston 40.4#114 NU 19.5#54 Iowa 30.9
2014#5 OSU 44.8#15 Bama 36.9#35 FSU 33.7#1 Baylor 48.2/
#2 TCU 46.5
#4 Oregon 45.4#9 Boise St 39.7#101 NU 23.0#29 Wisconsin 34.6
2013#62 MSU 29.4#12 Auburn 39.5#2 FSU 51.6#1 Baylor 52.4#45 Stanford 32.3#30 UCF 34.6#83 NU 26.2#3 OSU 45.5

So we have 61 data points here from champions. Of these 61, there are 33 top-10 finishes, 31 teams that averaged 40 pts/game or higher, only 5 teams that finished outside the top 40, and exactly 3 teams (5%) that averaged less than 30 pts/game (two of which were Dantonio MSU teams).

Fitz's offenses have never finished in the top 40 for scoring, and they have averaged over 30 points per game once (2012). The data shows that if we truly want to win championships, we need to score points. Fitz needs a mentality shift very quickly to turn this thing around.

Culture

Fitz said that he did not think the culture of the program needed to change. I worry that culture extends to his philosophy on transfer players. We are looking a lean year on both sides of the ball with respect to home grown talent. Without significant help from transfers we are looking at another sub par season, in my opinion.

Potential coordinator replacements

Who are some potential offensive and defensive coordinator replacements if Fitz decides to pull the trigger and do the right thing? I know people will throw out Chryst and Frost as options, but I cannot imagine they would come here. Any QB coaches that could take the jump and become an OC?. Are there any innovative high school coaches (like when Gus Malszahn went to Arkansas) or FCS offensive Coaches (like Chip Kelly at New Hampshire) out there? On DC side we needed to find someone that could do as much with as little as Hank did? I still have an overwhelming fear that Fitz is not going to make any substantial changes.
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