Coaches Lose Another One

[catfans5]

Read the Tribune and Daily Herald this morning. Without naming a specific player, he threw them under the bus. I would love it for once for him to take the blame. If the players played with no emotion or energy, who is at fault? If my employees are not ready, is it not my fault? We are a group of 12 non alums with season tix who have concluded that with Fitz, B10 Championships will not occur. Yesterday never should occurred if we have the superior talent. Yesterday's loss was exhibit number one on why 25k is the season ticket base.

Some items show the coaxing flaws:

1) Fitz called a timeout at the end of the 1st half when they had 3rd and 6 to save the clock. We had played a terrible first half. Why help their clock management. Many near our seats screamed, "Why?" If they missed, more than happy with 7-3 lead;

2) it was obvious by the middle of 2nd quarter that our soft zone was getting picked apart and our right defensive line could not stop them. I only saw once we did press coverage with a single safey. We stopped them; and,

3) Where was the kitchen sink on defense? The purpose is to win. Throw everything at them. Our offensive was decent. The purpose is to get off the field. No blitzes or anything. If we have the smartest student athletes, should we not be able to make adjustments.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

Well said! Blitz em!

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Read the Tribune and Daily Herald this morning. Without naming a specific player, he threw them under the bus. I would love it for once for him to take the blame. If the players played with no emotion or energy, who is at fault? If my employees are not ready, is it not my fault? We are a group of 12 non alums with season tix who have concluded that with Fitz, B10 Championships will not occur. Yesterday never should occurred if we have the superior talent. Yesterday's loss was exhibit number one on why 25k is the season ticket base.

Some items show the coaxing flaws:

1) Fitz called a timeout at the end of the 1st half when they had 3rd and 6 to save the clock. We had played a terrible first half. Why help their clock management. Many near our seats screamed, "Why?" If they missed, more than happy with 7-3 lead;

2) it was obvious by the middle of 2nd quarter that our soft zone was getting picked apart and our right defensive line could not stop them. I only saw once we did press coverage with a single safey. We stopped them; and,

3) Where was the kitchen sink on defense? The purpose is to win. Throw everything at them. Our offensive was decent. The purpose is to get off the field. No blitzes or anything. If we have the smartest student athletes, should we not be able to make adjustments.

I agree with your 3 points, but can't on your assessment of Fitz. Every coach has questionable calls, Saban, Meyer, all of them. You just don't get to see as many of them make any difference because they smoke teams.

I am a non-alum season ticket holder too and I support the program because of the way it is run. End of story. Tell me who on this planet bleeds purple more than Fitz? Who are you suggesting comes in to make the program a B1G winner? A stepping stone up and comer? A retread on a last hurrah? Do you really think a Saban or a Meyer comes here with all of the comparative obstacles NU has? Fitz is the right guy in the right spot. Sure he can make maddening decisions like you point out, but the good outweighs this. I also believe he should make a couple of changes on his staff, but I suggest almost every fan base in the country would say the same about there staff. This is a competitive sport in a competitive league and they earn bucco bucks to field winners, develop men, and represent the university. I can think of two HC's in the B1G that you might be able to make a strong argument that you would rather have leading our team rather than Fitz.

 

[Sheffielder]

"Some people point fingers, others point thumbs. We need to have a bunch of guys be thumb pointers and look inward and look at how we can coach better and how we can play better." - Fitz

...sounds like finger pointing to me. Fitz is a guy who knows he has job security for life and extends it to coaches who haven't coached at a B1G level in their entire Northwestern careers, but...whatever.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

I agree with your 3 points, but can't on your assessment of Fitz. Every coach has questionable calls, Saban, Meyer, all of them. You just don't get to see as many of them make any difference because they smoke teams.

I am a non-alum season ticket holder too and I support the program because of the way it is run. End of story. Tell me who on this planet bleeds purple more than Fitz? Who are you suggesting comes in to make the program a B1G winner? A stepping stone up and comer? A retread on a last hurrah? Do you really think a Saban or a Meyer comes here with all of the comparative obstacles NU has? Fitz is the right guy in the right spot. Sure he can make maddening decisions like you point out, but the good outweighs this. I also believe he should make a couple of changes on his staff, but I suggest almost every fan base in the country would say the same about there staff. This is a competitive sport in a competitive league and they earn bucco bucks to field winners, develop men, and represent the university. I can think of two HC's in the B1G that you might be able to make a strong argument that you would rather have leading our team rather than Fitz.

Why does it matter that our coach 'bleeds purple?' Who cares? It's a heartwarming story but as far as I know he is compensated in the millions.

Barnett, Green, Ara, they were pretty good coaches. Walker too. Don't act like we are so fortunate for Fitz to give us his charity! Lol

 

[YesterdaysCat]

"Some people point fingers, others point thumbs. We need to have a bunch of guys be thumb pointers and look inward and look at how we can coach better and how we can play better." - Fitz

...sounds like finger pointing to me. Fitz is a guy who knows he has job security for life and extends it to coaches who haven't coached at a B1G level in their entire Northwestern careers, but...whatever.

By giving football the best remaining real estate on our entire campus, NU will definitely not remain satisfied with mediocrity. He will have to win or changes will be dictated. If he wants to quit rather than be disloyal to his buddies, then he can coach at Rutgers or UConn or some ACC school and we will see how good of a coach he really is....

 

[hoosboot]

"Some people point fingers, others point thumbs. We need to have a bunch of guys be thumb pointers and look inward and look at how we can coach better and how we can play better." - Fitz

...sounds like finger pointing to me. Fitz is a guy who knows he has job security for life and extends it to coaches who haven't coached at a B1G level in their entire Northwestern careers, but...whatever.

Of course it sounds that way to you because that's what you want it to mean. That's not what it sounds like to me. "We" doesn't sound like finger-pointing from where I sit.

 

[NorthNJCatsfan]

The H/C is accountable for everything that goes on in the program. If a H/C really wants to make a change -- and not just a statement--then he takes action.

The season is clearly in danger of getting away from Fitz and following the "high expectations, poor performance" pattern of the last decade. Rapid, effective action needed. Let's see what Fitz does.

 

[Walker Fan]

The reason why we don't win Big 10 championships is that we don't have enough quality offensive linemen who can open holes for RBs and hold the opponent's defensive line so that we can throw an occasional deep ball. Also, yesterday our defensive linemen who many hyped up were beaten all day and got no push from the inside or outside. The loss of 4-year starting DE Dean Lowry, who in my opinion was the team's defensive MVP, was nowhere close to being replaced by Odenigbo and I saw no production from DE Washington who was a huge step down from Deonte Gibson. I thought Jerry Brown's soft coverage by the CBs was exploited and Walker was either game planned well by WMU to not get involved and he did not make his typical explosive plays or make his typical tackles for losses (TFLs). On a positive note, I thought Harris and Hartrage played well. Prater's 17 tackles were solid. But too many missed tackles at the initial point of contact.

As for winning the Big 10 title. We need more talent. OSU has almost all of their players being high school 4 or 5 star players which is 80 plus players. NU has around 5-7 4 star players (Jackson, Dickerson, Thorson, JThompson, Iguibekwe and I am probably missing 1 or 2 others). That is a big difference between NU and the elite Big 10 teams where they can simply plug in a 4 star backup if there is an injury or when a players uses up their eligibility.

E.g. Ezekiel Ellliot leaves OSU early and is a top 5 NFL pick and they replace him with Curtis Samuel who gets 275 total yards in game 1.

 

[NorthNJCatsfan]

The reason why we don't win Big 10 championships is that we don't have enough quality offensive linemen who can open holes for RBs and hold the opponent's defensive line so that we can throw an occasional deep ball. Also, yesterday our defensive linemen who many hyped up were beaten all day and got no push from the inside or outside. The loss of 4-year starting DE Dean Lowry, who in my opinion was the team's defensive MVP, was nowhere close to being replaced by Odenigbo and I saw no production from DE Washington who was a huge step down from Deonte Gibson. I thought Jerry Brown's soft coverage by the CBs was exploited and Walker was either game planned well by WMU to not get involved and he did not make his typical explosive plays or make his typical tackles for losses (TFLs). On a positive note, I thought Harris and Hartrage played well. Prater's 17 tackles were solid. But too many missed tackles at the initial point of contact.

As for winning the Big 10 title. We need more talent. OSU has almost all of their players being high school 4 or 5 star players which is 80 plus players. NU has around 5-7 4 star players (Jackson, Dickerson, Thorson, JThompson, Iguibekwe and I am probably missing 1 or 2 others). That is a big difference between NU and the elite Big 10 teams where they can simply plug in a 4 star backup if there is an injury or when a players uses up their eligibility.

E.g. Ezekiel Ellliot leaves OSU early and is a top 5 NFL pick and they replace him with Curtis Samuel who gets 275 total yards in game 1.

These are all symptoms. Root cause : coaching.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Why does it matter that our coach 'bleeds purple?' Who cares? It's a heartwarming story but as far as I know he is compensated in the millions.

Barnett, Green, Ara, they were pretty good coaches. Walker too. Don't act like we are so fortunate for Fitz to give us his charity! Lol

Look I don't want to rehash this old comparison of our previous head coaches to Fitz. It's not fair to any of them because it it completely different set of circumstances. BTW, pretty much every P5 coach gets paid millions unless they are a first time coach or have an interim tag. Welcome to college football.

You must be a youngster, or was under a different handle previously if you can't remember all the critics of the coaches you mention above. Yes, this includes the beloved Barnett. So I'll ask you who exactly you would prefer to run this program.

It's so predictable that a horrendous game brings the people out of the wood work that were nowhere to be found when we won games we had no business winning last year. We played last year the way we needed to and that won games. That is the coaches job and Fitz and staff did that last year. Nice job. Yesterday, they did not play to our strengths and it cost us. Happens and has to get better.

Now once again, who do you want leading the program? Give us some specifics.

 

[DaCat]

I want a Big 10 championship in Evanston, and I'm sure Fitz, Phillips, etc. all do too.

 

[catfans5]

The reason why we don't win Big 10 championships is that we don't have enough quality offensive linemen who can open holes for RBs and hold the opponent's defensive line so that we can throw an occasional deep ball. Also, yesterday our defensive linemen who many hyped up were beaten all day and got no push from the inside or outside. The loss of 4-year starting DE Dean Lowry, who in my opinion was the team's defensive MVP, was nowhere close to being replaced by Odenigbo and I saw no production from DE Washington who was a huge step down from Deonte Gibson. I thought Jerry Brown's soft coverage by the CBs was exploited and Walker was either game planned well by WMU to not get involved and he did not make his typical explosive plays or make his typical tackles for losses (TFLs). On a positive note, I thought Harris and Hartrage played well. Prater's 17 tackles were solid. But too many missed tackles at the initial point of contact.

As for winning the Big 10 title. We need more talent. OSU has almost all of their players being high school 4 or 5 star players which is 80 plus players. NU has around 5-7 4 star players (Jackson, Dickerson, Thorson, JThompson, Iguibekwe and I am probably missing 1 or 2 others). That is a big difference between NU and the elite Big 10 teams where they can simply plug in a 4 star backup if there is an injury or when a players uses up their eligibility.

E.g. Ezekiel Ellliot leaves OSU early and is a top 5 NFL pick and they replace him with Curtis Samuel who gets 275 total yards in game 1.

This was not Jerry Brown's soft defense. This was Mike's soft cover 4. When we played man, we covered them. Our dbs could run with them. If you were at the game, it was readily apparent. Our dbs looked very good.

Our right defensive side was soft/weak. How do you adjust? You roll a linebacker up outside of him. You play press and send the house. You change things up. If your personnel is not working with your scheme, you change. What the heck have you been doing for 9 months with the some of the smartest players in college football and you have no plan B, no bring the house or any change. I am sure this is a core course at Kellog, the law school and the medical school--"Stay the Course, Even Though It Isn't Working." I see better adjustments every Friday night. We had the single safety look since we played it.

The purpose is to use every device to win, but Fitz has never done so. Look at special teams. When was the last time we blocked a punt or pressure a punter?

I have been critical of Pat. Yesterday puts him in double digits of losses that I would place on the staff. Let's put this in perspective: he has become wealthier beyond 99% of the population. It has been 10 years. After 10 years, you do not call that timeout in the 1st half under 2 minutes. You get off the field as fast as you can after that crap half. You would think he would have learned something. I do not see how such intelligent, demanding people in their professions put up with it in athletics.

He threw his players under the bus when he said we need to look at ourselves, suggestive of prima donnas. It is his job to get them ready. I will grant that WMU was a good team. Fleck had the schemes and his team ready to play. We did not? Whose fault is that?

 

[Walker Fan]

When you lose it is combination of factors both coaching and players. Do you think they have not worked with Ifeadi hundreds of times not to crash down and lose his lane so that he can not defend the outside run? Yes, NU could have played tighter coverage, but Jerry Brown believes in providing cushion to opposing WRs. Yes that is Hank's fault, but also the 20 plus year assistant coach Jerry Brown. But our defensive linemen failed in shedding blocks.

 

[ColumbusCatFan1]

Of course it sounds that way to you because that's what you want it to mean. That's not what it sounds like to me. "We" doesn't sound like finger-pointing from where I sit.

Exactly.

A 1 point loss to a team pegged to win MAC (and perhaps be in the discussion for the Group of 5 bid) and people are yet again back to slamming Fitz. I was hoping we could make it at least through September before that started up again.

 

[WoodersonCat]

Let's let the season play out before we adorn WMU as the next Boise State. I can't believe you just tried to rationalize a loss to a MAC team by predicting G5 bowl game for them when they almost lost to US!!

 

[NorthNJCatsfan]

Exactly.

A 1 point loss to a team pegged to win MAC (and perhaps be in the discussion for the Group of 5 bid) and people are yet again back to slamming Fitz. I was hoping we could make it through September before that started up again.

Sorry, this was a must win game in a year that has a very tough cross over schedule. Criticism of both preparation and in game coaching is not out of bounds, especially for someone who has been a B1G H/C for a decade. It's still early. Let's see what adjustments Fitz and his staff can make.

 

[ColumbusCatFan1]

Let's let the season play out before we adorn WMU as the next Boise State. I can't believe you just tried to rationalize a loss to a MAC team by predicting G5 bowl game for them when they almost lost to US!!

This ain't just some MAC team.

I've watched a lot of MAC football over the years and Fleck's team has athletes (he's killing it in recruiting), experience, and solid coaching. There's a reason the Broncos are the favorite to win the MAC (I would think many here would respect that conference by now) and why Herbstreit picked the upset. Look at WMU's schedule. The 'Cats were their toughest test. Fleck's crew will be very tough to beat and if they run the table (which is possible now), will be in the mix. Just how the system works.

"Almost lost to US!!"

I still think NU has the potential to be a very good team despite of yesterday's defeat, so...sure? I would love to let the season play out before rushing to make judgments.

 

[ColumbusCatFan1]

Sorry, this was a must win game in a year that has a very tough cross over schedule. Criticism of both preparation and in game coaching is not out of bounds, especially for someone who has been a B1G H/C for a decade. It's still early. Let's see what adjustments Fitz and his staff can make.

Criticism is fine. "Fitz will never take us to BIG championship Game" seems a bit much from one performance in 2016, no?

 

[NorthNJCatsfan]

Criticism is fine. "Fitz will never take us to BIG championship Game" seems a bit much from one performance, no?

Yes, that is over the top, but emotions understandably running high after this very disappointing loss.

 

[soybean]

Just a suggestion from an outsider: Maybe you guys should try to take a look at how the rest of the Big10 looks at Fitz. With him at the helm you guys will always be the next Brazil of college football.

 

[WoodersonCat]

This ain't just some MAC team.

I've watched a lot of MAC football over the years and Fleck's team has athletes (he's killing it in recruiting), experience, and solid coaching. There's a reason the Broncos are the favorite to win the MAC (I would think many here would respect that conference by now) and why Herbstreit picked the upset. Look at WMU's schedule. The 'Cats were their toughest test. Fleck's crew will be very tough to beat and if they run the table (which is possible now), will be in the mix. Just how the system works.

"Almost lost to US!!"

I still think NU has the potential to be a very good team despite of yesterday's defeat, so...sure? I would love to let the season play out before rushing to make judgments.

Yes. It is just some MAC team. Could you gush any harder over a team that OSU or Alabama would beat by 50?

We lost to a nothing team. And you need 11 more wins for them just for them to earn the privilege of enough mediocrity to get that beat-down.

 

[catfans5]

Criticism is fine. "Fitz will never take us to BIG championship Game" seems a bit much from one performance in 2016, no?

You have 10 years of prior performance/execution. Please explain to me how that is not a sufficient basis to state what I did and 5 people at my tailgate after the game said. This is not a new opinion or thought.

 

[NJCat]

Yes. It is just some MAC team. Could you gush any harder over a team that OSU or Alabama would beat by 50?

Bama or OSU would beat NU by 50. OSU will get their chance soon enough........

 

[WoodersonCat]

The gushing was over WMU.

 

[TejasCat]

We played terrible and still almost beat WMU. There are 6 better teams than WMU left on our schedule. We need to play alot better to win any of those games, or we won't go bowling.

 

[mikewebb68]

Just a suggestion from an outsider: Maybe you guys should try to take a look at how the rest of the Big10 looks at Fitz. With him at the helm you guys will always be the next Brazil of college football.

#getsit

 

[WoodersonCat]

What rationalization are folks going to come up with when Illinois beats WMU in 2 weeks?

 

[mikewebb68]

What rationalization are folks going to come up with when Illinois beats WMU in 2 weeks?

Unless Illinois improves and WMU regresses, that's not happening. Nice trolling this week though-- are 75% of your posts since you joined last week critical of the team/players/coaches, or is it closer to 100%?

 

[TejasCat]

Unless Illinois improves and WMU regresses, that's not happening. Nice trolling this week though-- are 75% of your posts since you joined last week critical of the team/players/coaches, or is it closer to 100%?

FWIW, Massey and S&P+ both have Illinois as 1 point favorite in that game. I'm guessing it'll be pretty close to a pick-em. I guess its time to load your account up with the lock of the year.

 

[willycat]

This ain't just some MAC team.

I've watched a lot of MAC football over the years and Fleck's team has athletes (he's killing it in recruiting), experience, and solid coaching. There's a reason the Broncos are the favorite to win the MAC (I would think many here would respect that conference by now) and why Herbstreit picked the upset. Look at WMU's schedule. The 'Cats were their toughest test. Fleck's crew will be very tough to beat and if they run the table (which is possible now), will be in the mix. Just how the system works.

"Almost lost to US!!"

I still think NU has the potential to be a very good team despite of yesterday's defeat, so...sure? I would love to let the season play out before rushing to make judgments.

The final score showed that Fleck had his team ready to play and Fitzgerald did not. Also if Fleck is killing NU in recruiting then that's on Fitz also. OK, maybe this was a good Mac team but not a good Power 5 conference team. But NU will now have a tough time getting to 6 & 6 and a bowl invitation, especially with Duke coming in in a couple of weeks, followed by Nebraska. From the Chicago front pages of their sport sections, it looks like Illinois might go undefeated as well.

 

[mikewebb68]

FWIW, Massey and S&P+ both have Illinois as 1 point favorite in that game. I'm guessing it'll be pretty close to a pick-em. I guess its time to load your account up with the lock of the year.

Have Massey and S&P+ already factored in first week performances?

 

[mikewebb68]

The final score showed that Fleck had his team ready to play and Fitzgerald did not. Also if Fleck is killing NU in recruiting then that's on Fitz also. OK, maybe this was a good Mac team but not a good Power 5 conference team. But NU will now have a tough time getting to 6 & 6 and a bowl invitation, especially with Duke coming in in a couple of weeks, followed by Nebraska. From the Chicago front pages of their sport sections, it looks like Illinois might go undefeated as well.

Same guy that was all over the armed robbery arrests of two of those WMU recruits now posts on WMU's recruiting advantage. Hmm....

 

[NUCat320]

We played terrible and still almost beat WMU. There are 6 better teams than WMU left on our schedule. We need to play alot better to win any of those games, or we won't go bowling.

I think a lot of folks were happy with the play of the offense. I would say the defense played terribly, but the offense exceeded expectations.

 

[WoodersonCat]

I thought the offense looked just a slight tad better than last year's lousy offense. That ain't saying much - considering we had one of the worst offenses of all of football last year.

And this was against what by most accounts is a pretty bad WMU defense.

I see improvement in Thorson. The line looks worse. Hopefully that improves with a week of game tape. The receivers can't stretch the field or separate still. I see a season full of 5 yard crossing routes in our future.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

What rationalization are folks going to come up with when Illinois beats WMU in 2 weeks?

What kind of argument is this? So what if they do. We beat Stanford easily to open 2015 and got throttled by Iowa the next month. What happened when they met? Oh yeah a beat down and the opposite way it went down with us.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Just a suggestion from an outsider: Maybe you guys should try to take a look at how the rest of the Big10 looks at Fitz. With him at the helm you guys will always be the next Brazil of college football.

LMAO.

 

[WoodersonCat]

What kind of argument is this? So what if they do. We beat Stanford easily to open 2015 and got throttled by Iowa the next month. What happened when they met? Oh yeah a beat down and the opposite way it went down with us.

The argument (which by the way was a retort to somebody else's point) is this: people are saying that WMU is good and that they will get into a G5 bowl and all sorts of nonsense to justify us losing to a rather mediocre football team.

Illinois is terrible hasn't been able to beat ANYBODY, let alone good teams. G5 caliber teams don't lose to Illinois.

Please stop justifying this loss. It was brutal. We had some good things going on. But the same old problems far outweigh the improvement in other areas.

And who here honestly believes that we have the kind of staff that will make all the right adjustments and fixes we need In our problem areas? And based on what?

 

[cidsports]

Does anyone remember last year's game in Columbus against a MAC team not named Bowling Green?

NIU gave OSU 60 minutes.

Northwestern-Western Michigan were basically the #42 and #43 teams in College Football, when you take a look at Stassen.com's preseason polls and rankings.

Ugly loss, but WMU is likely one of the better Group of 5 schools in 2016.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

The argument (which by the way was a retort to somebody else's point) is this: people are saying that WMU is good and that they will get into a G5 bowl and all sorts of nonsense to justify us losing to a rather mediocre football team.

Illinois is terrible hasn't been able to beat ANYBODY, let alone good teams. G5 caliber teams don't lose to Illinois.

Please stop justifying this loss. It was brutal. We had some good things going on. But the same old problems far outweigh the improvement in other areas.

And who here honestly believes that we have the kind of staff that will make all the right adjustments and fixes we need In our problem areas? And based on what?

Who is justifying the loss? Not me. I think it is a bad loss. There are all kinds of blame to pass around. I believe if you want to be considered the top tier in the B1G you handle even the best of the MAC.

Illinois has been brutal. I don't see them suddenly being great with Lovie Lombardi. However, they certainly have a chance to beat WMU. Upsets happen every week and eventually to every team.