Cushing did a fantastic job

[shakes3858]

If you don't think Cushing did a fantastic job this year, you know nothing about football.

1. You have to judge Cushing and the lines performance on rushing not passing. Passing was reliant on a freshman QB who needs to speed up his reads and a WR corp that couldn't get open. This lead to the Oline being out numbered time and time again. As such, it's not on the Oline. The rushing game is.

2. We played 4 of the top 20 rushing defenses in the country and 7 of the top 50. We still averaged 188 rushing YPG.

3. Everyone in the stadium often knew we were going to run. We still averaged 4 YPC.

4. We had inferior talent to many opponents (See Penn State Nassib, Zettle, Johnson) and straight up out coached them. Against Penn State's all world line, we averaged 4.8 ypc. Take out Oliver's -20 yards due to sacks it's over 6 YPC.

5. The bowl disaster... our Running backs still averaged 4 YPC. The running game isn't what lost us that game. If Mitchell didn't miss 2 kicks and Henry caught the would be pick 6 at the end of the 2nd qtr, we're up 17-10 at the half and can milk the clock on the ground. Instead we went into a hurry up passing attack that was never gonna work.

6. Injuries plagued the oline. Shane Mertz hasn't been healthy in his career. Geoff Mogus was out for a period and playing hurt at other times. Matt Frazier came back from a staph infection, played well, but was far from 100%. Ian Park was playing through a plantar fasciitis. Brad North had injury issues from early in the year. Eric Olson sat out of games with injuries. Key back up Adam DePietro got knocked out for the year. That's 7 of our top 8 lineman (the 8th being a RS Freshman). Cushing kept it together.

7. The emergence of Blake Hance. I think we're going to have a really good line next year. Hance, North, Park, and Olson are 4 good pieces to start with. Mahoney did some nice things despite playing the previous 2 years at DT. Tommy Doles could be another nice piece. I think Oxley could be our 2nd guard with North next year. Coverdale is another intriguing prospect as well as the young guys in the 2015 and 2016 classes.

So for everyone trashing Cushing. I don't know what the f you are talking about. To Coach Cushing, great job this year. I look forward to seeing our line continue to develop in the future.

 

[loyolacat]

Nice to get a different perspective.Several very valid points. injuries to the line,,,,,,ypc even though they knew we were going to run.....changing the point of attack depending on the game........making PS look silly. So do you think this all comes down to RS freshman qb? saw a lot of true freshman qbs do very well? and below average wide receivers who could not get open against 8 in the box? So now that I am a fan of the line who do I blame a 10-3 season with wins over Stanford, Duke and Wisconsin on?

 

[Hungry Jack]

Has Cushing gotten that much grief around here? I think it's more about developing guys into NFL caliber linemen, which really is not consistent with our offensive strategy. We don't recruit road-grader types (though maybe we should, and are starting to).

 

[Aging Booster]

If you don't think Cushing did a fantastic job this year, you know nothing about football.

1. You have to judge Cushing and the lines performance on rushing not passing. Passing was reliant on a freshman QB who needs to speed up his reads and a WR corp that couldn't get open. This lead to the Oline being out numbered time and time again. As such, it's not on the Oline. The rushing game is.

2. We played 4 of the top 20 rushing defenses in the country and 7 of the top 50. We still averaged 188 rushing YPG.

3. Everyone in the stadium often knew we were going to run. We still averaged 4 YPC.

4. We had inferior talent to many opponents (See Penn State Nassib, Zettle, Johnson) and straight up out coached them. Against Penn State's all world line, we averaged 4.8 ypc. Take out Oliver's -20 yards due to sacks it's over 6 YPC.

5. The bowl disaster... our Running backs still averaged 4 YPC. The running game isn't what lost us that game. If Mitchell didn't miss 2 kicks and Henry caught the would be pick 6 at the end of the 2nd qtr, we're up 17-10 at the half and can milk the clock on the ground. Instead we went into a hurry up passing attack that was never gonna work.

6. Injuries plagued the oline. Shane Mertz hasn't been healthy in his career. Geoff Mogus was out for a period and playing hurt at other times. Matt Frazier came back from a staph infection, played well, but was far from 100%. Ian Park was playing through a plantar fasciitis. Brad North had injury issues from early in the year. Eric Olson sat out of games with injuries. Key back up Adam DePietro got knocked out for the year. That's 7 of our top 8 lineman (the 8th being a RS Freshman). Cushing kept it together.

7. The emergence of Blake Hance. I think we're going to have a really good line next year. Hance, North, Park, and Olson are 4 good pieces to start with. Mahoney did some nice things despite playing the previous 2 years at DT. Tommy Doles could be another nice piece. I think Oxley could be our 2nd guard with North next year. Coverdale is another intriguing prospect as well as the young guys in the 2015 and 2016 classes.

So for everyone trashing Cushing. I don't know what the f you are talking about. To Coach Cushing, great job this year. I look forward to seeing our line continue to develop in the future.

Well done Shakes - a valuable perspective for those of us who are actually fans of the program and hungry for info on "our" team. Thanks.

 

[shakes3858]

Nice to get a different perspective.Several very valid points. injuries to the line,,,,,,ypc even though they knew we were going to run.....changing the point of attack depending on the game........making PS look silly. So do you think this all comes down to RS freshman qb? saw a lot of true freshman qbs do very well? and below average wide receivers who could not get open against 8 in the box? So now that I am a fan of the line who do I blame a 10-3 season with wins over Stanford, Duke and Wisconsin on?

So do you think this all comes down to RS freshman qb? saw a lot of true freshman qbs do very well?
I like Thorson, but I think there's room for improvement. Quicker decision making and better decision making on option plays are key. I thought a lot of passes were thrown to not be intercepted rather than thrown to make a completion. Don't know if that's a self confidence thing a lack of confidence in the WR or if he's being coached to not make a turnover and let the defense win it for us. Manziel and Winston were great as RS freshman. They also had absolute studs at WR (Mike Evans/Kelvin Benjamin). There's others that were less known/less good that performed well, but I maintain Thorson would look a lot better with better athletes on the outside. He still was a Freshman QB that won 10 games. The losses were disasters, but I will take 10-3.

and below average wide receivers who could not get open against 8 in the box?
Yes, I think this is problems #1 through problem #10. I think the primary issue is recruiting and missing on guys like Jehu Chesson. Darien Watkins is a stud athlete too, but he has other things going on and I think he's better closer to home. Would the Dowell twins do anything at WR for us? I don't know. I think the other issue is that we could have had Matt Harris, Godwin Igwebuike, and Solomon Vault as our top 3 WRs this year. We chose to play them at other positions. I think 2 out of the 3 were good moves giving us a dominant secondary and defense. It got us to 10 wins... I'll take it, but we had a lack of talent at WR. Vault could be a good RB in our system, but he had a QB that struggled with option plays which he would've made a great pitch man and Justin Jackson got lots and lots of carries.

So now that I am a fan of the line who do I blame a 10-3 season with wins over Stanford, Duke and Wisconsin on?
You need someone to blame a 10-3 season on? I'll take it, be happy, and renew my season tickets early.

 

[purple11]

If you don't think Cushing did a fantastic job this year, you know nothing about football.

1. You have to judge Cushing and the lines performance on rushing not passing. Passing was reliant on a freshman QB who needs to speed up his reads and a WR corp that couldn't get open. This lead to the Oline being out numbered time and time again. As such, it's not on the Oline. The rushing game is.

2. We played 4 of the top 20 rushing defenses in the country and 7 of the top 50. We still averaged 188 rushing YPG.

3. Everyone in the stadium often knew we were going to run. We still averaged 4 YPC.

4. We had inferior talent to many opponents (See Penn State Nassib, Zettle, Johnson) and straight up out coached them. Against Penn State's all world line, we averaged 4.8 ypc. Take out Oliver's -20 yards due to sacks it's over 6 YPC.

5. The bowl disaster... our Running backs still averaged 4 YPC. The running game isn't what lost us that game. If Mitchell didn't miss 2 kicks and Henry caught the would be pick 6 at the end of the 2nd qtr, we're up 17-10 at the half and can milk the clock on the ground. Instead we went into a hurry up passing attack that was never gonna work.

6. Injuries plagued the oline. Shane Mertz hasn't been healthy in his career. Geoff Mogus was out for a period and playing hurt at other times. Matt Frazier came back from a staph infection, played well, but was far from 100%. Ian Park was playing through a plantar fasciitis. Brad North had injury issues from early in the year. Eric Olson sat out of games with injuries. Key back up Adam DePietro got knocked out for the year. That's 7 of our top 8 lineman (the 8th being a RS Freshman). Cushing kept it together.

7. The emergence of Blake Hance. I think we're going to have a really good line next year. Hance, North, Park, and Olson are 4 good pieces to start with. Mahoney did some nice things despite playing the previous 2 years at DT. Tommy Doles could be another nice piece. I think Oxley could be our 2nd guard with North next year. Coverdale is another intriguing prospect as well as the young guys in the 2015 and 2016 classes.

So for everyone trashing Cushing. I don't know what the f you are talking about. To Coach Cushing, great job this year. I look forward to seeing our line continue to develop in the future.

Totally agree. With the help of Cushing and the Senior leadership this year the Oline did well. I think Coach Cush is to be commended. The future is bright for the O line.

Go Cats !

 

[hdhntr1]

If you don't think Cushing did a fantastic job this year, you know nothing about football.

1. You have to judge Cushing and the lines performance on rushing not passing. Passing was reliant on a freshman QB who needs to speed up his reads and a WR corp that couldn't get open. This lead to the Oline being out numbered time and time again. As such, it's not on the Oline. The rushing game is.

2. We played 4 of the top 20 rushing defenses in the country and 7 of the top 50. We still averaged 188 rushing YPG.

3. Everyone in the stadium often knew we were going to run. We still averaged 4 YPC.

4. We had inferior talent to many opponents (See Penn State Nassib, Zettle, Johnson) and straight up out coached them. Against Penn State's all world line, we averaged 4.8 ypc. Take out Oliver's -20 yards due to sacks it's over 6 YPC.

5. The bowl disaster... our Running backs still averaged 4 YPC. The running game isn't what lost us that game. If Mitchell didn't miss 2 kicks and Henry caught the would be pick 6 at the end of the 2nd qtr, we're up 17-10 at the half and can milk the clock on the ground. Instead we went into a hurry up passing attack that was never gonna work.

6. Injuries plagued the oline. Shane Mertz hasn't been healthy in his career. Geoff Mogus was out for a period and playing hurt at other times. Matt Frazier came back from a staph infection, played well, but was far from 100%. Ian Park was playing through a plantar fasciitis. Brad North had injury issues from early in the year. Eric Olson sat out of games with injuries. Key back up Adam DePietro got knocked out for the year. That's 7 of our top 8 lineman (the 8th being a RS Freshman). Cushing kept it together.

7. The emergence of Blake Hance. I think we're going to have a really good line next year. Hance, North, Park, and Olson are 4 good pieces to start with. Mahoney did some nice things despite playing the previous 2 years at DT. Tommy Doles could be another nice piece. I think Oxley could be our 2nd guard with North next year. Coverdale is another intriguing prospect as well as the young guys in the 2015 and 2016 classes.

So for everyone trashing Cushing. I don't know what the f you are talking about. To Coach Cushing, great job this year. I look forward to seeing our line continue to develop in the future.

While I have felt Cushing has under performed in the past, this year, I felt he did well enough because of all the injuries we faced on the OL. That is why I give him a pass until next year.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

If you don't think Cushing did a fantastic job this year, you know nothing about football.

1. You have to judge Cushing and the lines performance on rushing not passing. Passing was reliant on a freshman QB who needs to speed up his reads and a WR corp that couldn't get open. This lead to the Oline being out numbered time and time again. As such, it's not on the Oline. The rushing game is.

That's not entirely true. Pass protection can be better and it probably will. I mean, look at Olson. He has improved so much. Makes you have confidence in Hance, Doles and others.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

If you don't think Cushing did a fantastic job this year, you know nothing about football.

1. You have to judge Cushing and the lines performance on rushing not passing. Passing was reliant on a freshman QB who needs to speed up his reads and a WR corp that couldn't get open. This lead to the Oline being out numbered time and time again. As such, it's not on the Oline. The rushing game is.

2. We played 4 of the top 20 rushing defenses in the country and 7 of the top 50. We still averaged 188 rushing YPG.

3. Everyone in the stadium often knew we were going to run. We still averaged 4 YPC.

4. We had inferior talent to many opponents (See Penn State Nassib, Zettle, Johnson) and straight up out coached them. Against Penn State's all world line, we averaged 4.8 ypc. Take out Oliver's -20 yards due to sacks it's over 6 YPC.

5. The bowl disaster... our Running backs still averaged 4 YPC. The running game isn't what lost us that game. If Mitchell didn't miss 2 kicks and Henry caught the would be pick 6 at the end of the 2nd qtr, we're up 17-10 at the half and can milk the clock on the ground. Instead we went into a hurry up passing attack that was never gonna work.

6. Injuries plagued the oline. Shane Mertz hasn't been healthy in his career. Geoff Mogus was out for a period and playing hurt at other times. Matt Frazier came back from a staph infection, played well, but was far from 100%. Ian Park was playing through a plantar fasciitis. Brad North had injury issues from early in the year. Eric Olson sat out of games with injuries. Key back up Adam DePietro got knocked out for the year. That's 7 of our top 8 lineman (the 8th being a RS Freshman). Cushing kept it together.

7. The emergence of Blake Hance. I think we're going to have a really good line next year. Hance, North, Park, and Olson are 4 good pieces to start with. Mahoney did some nice things despite playing the previous 2 years at DT. Tommy Doles could be another nice piece. I think Oxley could be our 2nd guard with North next year. Coverdale is another intriguing prospect as well as the young guys in the 2015 and 2016 classes.

So for everyone trashing Cushing. I don't know what the f you are talking about. To Coach Cushing, great job this year. I look forward to seeing our line continue to develop in the future.

North will be back at Center, Park at Guard.

 

[mybrotha]

If you don't think Cushing did a fantastic job this year, you know nothing about football.

1. You have to judge Cushing and the lines performance on rushing not passing. Passing was reliant on a freshman QB who needs to speed up his reads and a WR corp that couldn't get open. This lead to the Oline being out numbered time and time again. As such, it's not on the Oline. The rushing game is.

2. We played 4 of the top 20 rushing defenses in the country and 7 of the top 50. We still averaged 188 rushing YPG.

3. Everyone in the stadium often knew we were going to run. We still averaged 4 YPC.

4. We had inferior talent to many opponents (See Penn State Nassib, Zettle, Johnson) and straight up out coached them. Against Penn State's all world line, we averaged 4.8 ypc. Take out Oliver's -20 yards due to sacks it's over 6 YPC.

5. The bowl disaster... our Running backs still averaged 4 YPC. The running game isn't what lost us that game. If Mitchell didn't miss 2 kicks and Henry caught the would be pick 6 at the end of the 2nd qtr, we're up 17-10 at the half and can milk the clock on the ground. Instead we went into a hurry up passing attack that was never gonna work.

6. Injuries plagued the oline. Shane Mertz hasn't been healthy in his career. Geoff Mogus was out for a period and playing hurt at other times. Matt Frazier came back from a staph infection, played well, but was far from 100%. Ian Park was playing through a plantar fasciitis. Brad North had injury issues from early in the year. Eric Olson sat out of games with injuries. Key back up Adam DePietro got knocked out for the year. That's 7 of our top 8 lineman (the 8th being a RS Freshman). Cushing kept it together.

7. The emergence of Blake Hance. I think we're going to have a really good line next year. Hance, North, Park, and Olson are 4 good pieces to start with. Mahoney did some nice things despite playing the previous 2 years at DT. Tommy Doles could be another nice piece. I think Oxley could be our 2nd guard with North next year. Coverdale is another intriguing prospect as well as the young guys in the 2015 and 2016 classes.

So for everyone trashing Cushing. I don't know what the f you are talking about. To Coach Cushing, great job this year. I look forward to seeing our line continue to develop in the future.

Well said Shakes! Your research is always solid and I would concur 100 percent with what you said. I'll also add that McCall needs to use our best element more creatively. Our best talent is at RB, thus we need to use a variety of those guys beyond JJ and WML. Anderson and the other kid are fast which clear our receivers are not, so why not get them more involved in the passing game as well.

 

[DaCat]

If the line stays healthy, we will have a solid group next season. Due to injuries this year, a lot of young guys got quality reps against good defenses. Should be nothing but positive for next year.

 

[mikewebb68]

Has Cushing gotten that much grief around here? I think it's more about developing guys into NFL caliber linemen, which really is not consistent with our offensive strategy. We don't recruit road-grader types (though maybe we should, and are starting to).

The search engine is your friend. These are the highlights from January alone. Usual suspects save for Corbi (who might be joining the list of usual suspects in the future), tho.

https://northwestern.forums.rivals.com/threads/northwestern-is-better-than-this.18339/#post-211086
https://northwestern.forums.rivals....icism-and-so-is-fitz.18231/page-2#post-210804
https://northwestern.forums.rivals.com/threads/official-second-half-thread.17837/page-2#post-205214
https://northwestern.forums.rivals.com/threads/official-second-half-thread.17837/#post-205088
https://northwestern.forums.rivals....ats-wrong-with-nus-offense.18642/#post-217623

 

[corbi296]

The search engine is your friend. These are the highlights from January alone. Usual suspects save for Corbi (who might be joining the list of usual suspects in the future), tho.

https://northwestern.forums.rivals.com/threads/northwestern-is-better-than-this.18339/#post-211086
https://northwestern.forums.rivals....icism-and-so-is-fitz.18231/page-2#post-210804
https://northwestern.forums.rivals.com/threads/official-second-half-thread.17837/page-2#post-205214
https://northwestern.forums.rivals.com/threads/official-second-half-thread.17837/#post-205088
https://northwestern.forums.rivals....ats-wrong-with-nus-offense.18642/#post-217623

I wasn't going to chime in but since my name was mentioned I will. I agree that the OL coach did a much better job this year than in the past given the circumstances. I don't believe the bar was very high. I still think the track record of player development and overall production at this position since the current coach took over is sub par relative to his peers in the Big Ten. I don't think the case is as compelling as it is with the WR position but in my mind there is no doubt we have underachieved on the OL since Brett Ingalls left.

 

[mikewebb68]

I wasn't going to chime in but since my name was mentioned I will. I agree that the OL coach did a much better job this year than in the past given the circumstances. I don't believe the bar was very high. I still think the track record of player development and overall production at this position since the current coach took over is sub par relative to his peers in the Big Ten. I don't think the case is as compelling as it is with the WR position but in my mind there is no doubt we have underachieved on the OL since Brett Ingalls left.

Sorry for calling you out, wrote this before you I understood your position as you stated in the other thread. You're an excellent poster and should not ever be mentioned in the same thread as Stupor, et. al. My apologies, was not my intent but you were the anomaly in the group.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

Sorry for calling you out, wrote this before you I understood your position as you stated in the other thread. You're an excellent poster and should not ever be mentioned in the same thread as Stupor, et. al. My apologies, was not my intent but you were the anomaly in the group.

My, my, this love fest is quite touching with you, Corbi, and DaCat. Your knitting circle will be really on to something special if you can come up with something original or constructive.

Saying you want better assistants is not constructive because we can't do it--even if Coach Fitzgerald wanted to do it. Setting aside the fact that we just stay "Pat" every year because these fellas are our head coach's friends, you have suggested that if our OL and WR coaches were former NFL players or god forbid former NFL assistants or even just experienced, capable NCAA assistant coaches, then recruits would be throwing themselves at us.

It takes no intelligence to affirm that argument. Better coaches would mean better results even with the same recruits, and in actuality, we would likely improve ourlevel of recruiting.

However, we as a school can't offer fair market money to assistant coaches, and whenever the topic of institutional poverty has come up, people question if it's true. Remind yourselves of two facts.

One, when Pat signed his last extension, he demanded more money for his assistants--all the while taking a below market salary for himself. If Coach Fitz is paid less than HALF as much as Urban Meyer and about a THIRD as much as Jimmy Harbaugh, how likely is it that we're paying our assistants in the top 10% of FBS, let alone the top quarter of the Big Ten?

Two, the athletic department WOULD LIKE to spend more money on assistants, but they can't get alumni and friends to donate enough money to endow those assistant coaching positions. That's clearly the mechanism that NU would like to use, since the income generated by the endowment can help pay for the position on an ongoing basis.

If you're begging for coaching changes, you're really asking for coaches of the same ilk that we already have, if not lesser names than we already have.

 

[IGNORE2]

Well done Shakes - a valuable perspective for those of us who are actually fans of the program and hungry for info on "our" team. Thanks.

Eye roll...maybe it's time for you to pen another condescending manifest on the true definition of an NU fan.

 

[EvanstonCat]

If you don't think Cushing did a fantastic job this year, you know nothing about football.

1. You have to judge Cushing and the lines performance on rushing not passing. Passing was reliant on a freshman QB who needs to speed up his reads and a WR corp that couldn't get open. This lead to the Oline being out numbered time and time again. As such, it's not on the Oline. The rushing game is.

2. We played 4 of the top 20 rushing defenses in the country and 7 of the top 50. We still averaged 188 rushing YPG.

3. Everyone in the stadium often knew we were going to run. We still averaged 4 YPC.

4. We had inferior talent to many opponents (See Penn State Nassib, Zettle, Johnson) and straight up out coached them. Against Penn State's all world line, we averaged 4.8 ypc. Take out Oliver's -20 yards due to sacks it's over 6 YPC.

5. The bowl disaster... our Running backs still averaged 4 YPC. The running game isn't what lost us that game. If Mitchell didn't miss 2 kicks and Henry caught the would be pick 6 at the end of the 2nd qtr, we're up 17-10 at the half and can milk the clock on the ground. Instead we went into a hurry up passing attack that was never gonna work.

6. Injuries plagued the oline. Shane Mertz hasn't been healthy in his career. Geoff Mogus was out for a period and playing hurt at other times. Matt Frazier came back from a staph infection, played well, but was far from 100%. Ian Park was playing through a plantar fasciitis. Brad North had injury issues from early in the year. Eric Olson sat out of games with injuries. Key back up Adam DePietro got knocked out for the year. That's 7 of our top 8 lineman (the 8th being a RS Freshman). Cushing kept it together.

7. The emergence of Blake Hance. I think we're going to have a really good line next year. Hance, North, Park, and Olson are 4 good pieces to start with. Mahoney did some nice things despite playing the previous 2 years at DT. Tommy Doles could be another nice piece. I think Oxley could be our 2nd guard with North next year. Coverdale is another intriguing prospect as well as the young guys in the 2015 and 2016 classes.

So for everyone trashing Cushing. I don't know what the f you are talking about. To Coach Cushing, great job this year. I look forward to seeing our line continue to develop in the future.

My issue with Cushing is less to do with this year's performance more with the fact that OL is not a top unit in the B1G and hasn't been for years, we don't spit out All-B1G OL like we used to under different OL coaches in the past. I think he is a contributor to the program (especially on the recruiting front) I'm just not sure coaching the OL is his forte, or that we can't do better.

He's not the disaster that Springer has been, but there's a reason Swenson isn't looking at NU, and it ain't just because of the WR corp.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

My issue with Cushing is less to do with this year's performance more with the fact that OL is not a top unit in the B1G and hasn't been for years, we don't spit out All-B1G OL like we used to under different OL coaches in the past. I think he is a contributor to the program (especially on the recruiting front) I'm just not sure coaching the OL is his forte, or that we can't do better.

He's not the disaster that Springer has been, but there's a reason Swenson isn't looking at NU, and it ain't just because of the WR corp.

Maybe he wants to go to college farther from his hometown. Call him up and ask instead of speculating.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Maybe he wants to go to college farther from his hometown. Call him up and ask instead of speculating.

I'm taking the comments from multiple people who have claimed to be in the know on this board at face value. They seemed pretty adamant and frankly compelling. What I'm not going to do is call him up and ask.

 

[hdhntr1]

My, my, this love fest is quite touching with you, Corbi, and DaCat. Your knitting circle will be really on to something special if you can come up with something original or constructive.

Saying you want better assistants is not constructive because we can't do it--even if Coach Fitzgerald wanted to do it. Setting aside the fact that we just stay "Pat" every year because these fellas are our head coach's friends, you have suggested that if our OL and WR coaches were former NFL players or god forbid former NFL assistants or even just experienced, capable NCAA assistant coaches, then recruits would be throwing themselves at us.

It takes no intelligence to affirm that argument. Better coaches would mean better results even with the same recruits, and in actuality, we would likely improve ourlevel of recruiting.

However, we as a school can't offer fair market money to assistant coaches, and whenever the topic of institutional poverty has come up, people question if it's true. Remind yourselves of two facts.

One, when Pat signed his last extension, he demanded more money for his assistants--all the while taking a below market salary for himself. If Coach Fitz is paid less than HALF as much as Urban Meyer and about a THIRD as much as Jimmy Harbaugh, how likely is it that we're paying our assistants in the top 10% of FBS, let alone the top quarter of the Big Ten?

Two, the athletic department WOULD LIKE to spend more money on assistants, but they can't get alumni and friends to donate enough money to endow those assistant coaching positions. That's clearly the mechanism that NU would like to use, since the income generated by the endowment can help pay for the position on an ongoing basis.

If you're begging for coaching changes, you're really asking for coaches of the same ilk that we already have, if not lesser names than we already have.

Sorry but that doesn't quite jibe. While we are not able to offer top 10% salaries, we are probably not bottom 10% either. Numerous other BIG teams have salary issues for assistant coaches and can still get reasonable guys at these positions. Got to think our salaries are on par with Indiana, for example and they have very solid OL development as well as pretty good WR development. It isn't just about spending money but more about spending it wisely. Like so many other things, while the absolute best can cost a fortune, pretty darn good is often only a fraction of that cost.

While I will agree that the best is likely unobtainable, that does not mean that better than we have is as well. We had solid OL and WR development in the past and I guarantee that we were not paying top dollar then. In fact, we are probably doing a better job pay wise now. Just saying that reasonable alternatives are out there and we should be able to upgrade within our salary limitations.

 

[hdhntr1]

I wasn't going to chime in but since my name was mentioned I will. I agree that the OL coach did a much better job this year than in the past given the circumstances. I don't believe the bar was very high. I still think the track record of player development and overall production at this position since the current coach took over is sub par relative to his peers in the Big Ten. I don't think the case is as compelling as it is with the WR position but in my mind there is no doubt we have underachieved on the OL since Brett Ingalls left.

You said it well and along the lines I was thinking. I give Cushing credit for this year as he had so many injuries and lineup changes to deal with and he handled that reasonably well so he sort of gets a passing grade for this year. But his overall performance while in the position has been so so at best. He may get a pass for this year but he should still be on a short leash. OL is supposed to be a cerebral group and with the caliber of students we have, one would think that even with the same level of athlete, development should be better.

WR coach, however, should have no leash based on the last three years. Have not seen anything for him to hang his hat on.

 

[Turk]

If you don't think Cushing did a fantastic job this year, you know nothing about football.

1. You have to judge Cushing and the lines performance on rushing not passing. Passing was reliant on a freshman QB who needs to speed up his reads and a WR corp that couldn't get open. This lead to the Oline being out numbered time and time again. As such, it's not on the Oline. The rushing game is.

2. We played 4 of the top 20 rushing defenses in the country and 7 of the top 50. We still averaged 188 rushing YPG.

3. Everyone in the stadium often knew we were going to run. We still averaged 4 YPC.

4. We had inferior talent to many opponents (See Penn State Nassib, Zettle, Johnson) and straight up out coached them. Against Penn State's all world line, we averaged 4.8 ypc. Take out Oliver's -20 yards due to sacks it's over 6 YPC.

5. The bowl disaster... our Running backs still averaged 4 YPC. The running game isn't what lost us that game. If Mitchell didn't miss 2 kicks and Henry caught the would be pick 6 at the end of the 2nd qtr, we're up 17-10 at the half and can milk the clock on the ground. Instead we went into a hurry up passing attack that was never gonna work.

6. Injuries plagued the oline. Shane Mertz hasn't been healthy in his career. Geoff Mogus was out for a period and playing hurt at other times. Matt Frazier came back from a staph infection, played well, but was far from 100%. Ian Park was playing through a plantar fasciitis. Brad North had injury issues from early in the year. Eric Olson sat out of games with injuries. Key back up Adam DePietro got knocked out for the year. That's 7 of our top 8 lineman (the 8th being a RS Freshman). Cushing kept it together.

7. The emergence of Blake Hance. I think we're going to have a really good line next year. Hance, North, Park, and Olson are 4 good pieces to start with. Mahoney did some nice things despite playing the previous 2 years at DT. Tommy Doles could be another nice piece. I think Oxley could be our 2nd guard with North next year. Coverdale is another intriguing prospect as well as the young guys in the 2015 and 2016 classes.

So for everyone trashing Cushing. I don't know what the f you are talking about. To Coach Cushing, great job this year. I look forward to seeing our line continue to develop in the future.

Although you seemed to mention Mahoney in passing, he certainly played well in transition. Hence and North played good. Tough that we are losing Frazier. Id like to see Olson improve alot. Park struggled early i felt but played very good at center until he got hurt again.
Recruiting is in sore need of improvement regarding OL. These guys didnt have a decent year run blocking cuz of their talent alone, they had to work really really hard in the offseason to win the battle against PSU and UW.
We cant have it all. For that reason, our recruiting needs to improve so we can become a two dimensional threat on O.
Cant argue with Fitz moving the best players to D (Lancaster, Watkins, Godwin, Harris) but with a little bit more recruiting luck we can field some solid wr and solid ol depth. I think we are getting there.

edit: At any rate, I dont think Cushing did a fantastic job and it doesnt take a knowledgeable football fan to come to that reasonable conclusion. And you are wrong, sir, pass protection can be much better.

 

[Catreporter]

Sorry but that doesn't quite jibe. While we are not able to offer top 10% salaries, we are probably not bottom 10% either. Numerous other BIG teams have salary issues for assistant coaches and can still get reasonable guys at these positions. Got to think our salaries are on par with Indiana, for example and they have very solid OL development as well as pretty good WR development. It isn't just about spending money but more about spending it wisely. Like so many other things, while the absolute best can cost a fortune, pretty darn good is often only a fraction of that cost.

While I will agree that the best is likely unobtainable, that does not mean that better than we have is as well. We had solid OL and WR development in the past and I guarantee that we were not paying top dollar then. In fact, we are probably doing a better job pay wise now. Just saying that reasonable alternatives are out there and we should be able to upgrade within our salary limitations.

You need to figure in the cost of living in the Chicago area. Much higher than most of the other college towns.

 

[shakes3858]

You need to figure in the cost of living in the Chicago area. Much higher than most of the other college towns.

But Chicago is a whole lot better place to live too. Would you rather live in Chicago or Champagne? How about Chicago or South Bend. You have kids? Where are the better schools? The North Suburbs. Are you interested in going to a nice dinner with your wife? Where are there world class restaurants? Chicago. Wanna go to a sporting event, concert, museum, opera, play... Where's that gonna be? Chicago. Wanna live in hickville college town...? Now you got some options, Knoxville for instance.

 

[hdhntr1]

You need to figure in the cost of living in the Chicago area. Much higher than most of the other college towns.

I thought that we gave housing adjustments. Again, we had very good performance in these groups in the past and we had even more severe salary restrictions. We also seem to have done OK on D. In the end, you will have either results or excuses. You seem to be looking for the excuses. I want the results.

Look, some up and comer MAC coach making his first move into Power 5 FB should be obtainable. It is a solid promotion for them and a substantial salary increase. Some guy who is in limbo because of coaching changes. Just saying we should be able to get someone descent in our price range. We may only keep the really good ones for 5 years but we would still likely be a lot better off.

 

[shakes3858]

Look, some up and comer MAC coach making his first move into Power 5 FB should be obtainable.

Like Dennis Springer? When you hire an up and coming MAC coach, you take a crap shoot. Option A: He'll do great for 2-3 years and then leave for a "bigger job." Option B: He'll be another version of what we have. Option C: He'll be worse.

Unless Fitz has some up in comer, that he thinks will be a complete stud, I'd rather just leave things be and see what happens when Springer has athletes like we have in the last 2 recruiting classes. We've had downright bad recruiting at WR. Continuity is important.

If we do make a change, I'd rather see us go with a guy who's been in the NFL and has some type of NFL experience coaching (yes, that means a failed NFL guy). I don't think we have anyone on our staff with NFL experience. That could bring a new way of looking at things to our staff.

 

[hdhntr1]

Like Dennis Springer? When you hire an up and coming MAC coach, you take a crap shoot. Option A: He'll do great for 2-3 years and then leave for a "bigger job." Option B: He'll be another version of what we have. Option C: He'll be worse.

Unless Fitz has some up in comer, that he thinks will be a complete stud, I'd rather just leave things be and see what happens when Springer has athletes like we have in the last 2 recruiting classes. We've had downright bad recruiting at WR. Continuity is important.

If we do make a change, I'd rather see us go with a guy who's been in the NFL and has some type of NFL experience coaching (yes, that means a failed NFL guy). I don't think we have anyone on our staff with NFL experience. That could bring a new way of looking at things to our staff.

Springer had not coached WRs in how long? I think it was 1999 with Ball State. Also he came here from IU. Not sure that Springer is a bad coach, just may be that WR is not his best area as he has shown success in other areas. . And if you do not like that, look for someone off a staff that is in limbo because of coaching changes.

And by the way. Which is worse? Having a guy that is good enough that other staffs covet them and so you have a chance of losing them or one that no one else wants? If they are successful, I would guess it still might take 4-5 years for them to move on.

 

[shakes3858]

Still, what can he be looking at that shows Springer has done a good enough job to be retained?

The way Springer actually coaches the WRs in game, at practices, and in the film room.

 

[IGNORE2]

Like Dennis Springer? When you hire an up and coming MAC coach, you take a crap shoot. Option A: He'll do great for 2-3 years and then leave for a "bigger job." Option B: He'll be another version of what we have. Option C: He'll be worse.

Unless Fitz has some up in comer, that he thinks will be a complete stud, I'd rather just leave things be and see what happens when Springer has athletes like we have in the last 2 recruiting classes. We've had downright bad recruiting at WR. Continuity is important.

If we do make a change, I'd rather see us go with a guy who's been in the NFL and has some type of NFL experience coaching (yes, that means a failed NFL guy). I don't think we have anyone on our staff with NFL experience. That could bring a new way of looking at things to our staff.

I'd be happy with A. Or D - works his way up for promotions from within. Someday, the OC will change...

 

[Turk]

Springer had not coached WRs in how long? I think it was 1999 with Ball State. Also he came here from IU. Not sure that Springer is a bad coach, just may be that WR is not his best area as he has shown success in other areas. . And if you do not like that, look for someone off a staff that is in limbo because of coaching changes.

And by the way. Which is worse? Having a guy that is good enough that other staffs covet them and so you have a chance of losing them or one that no one else wants? If they are successful, I would guess it still might take 4-5 years for them to move on.

Springer came from the unemployment line as he was without a job until McCall vouched for him to Fitz. Springer had some previous connection to McCall who got him a job.

 

[FloridAlum]

Springer came from the unemployment line as he was without a job until McCall vouched for him to Fitz. Springer had some previous connection to McCall who got him a job.

He worked with McCall at Bowling Green more than 10 years ago.

 

[mikewebb68]

My, my, this love fest is quite touching with you, Corbi, and DaCat. Your knitting circle will be really on to something special if you can come up with something original or constructive.

Saying you want better assistants is not constructive because we can't do it--even if Coach Fitzgerald wanted to do it. Setting aside the fact that we just stay "Pat" every year because these fellas are our head coach's friends, you have suggested that if our OL and WR coaches were former NFL players or god forbid former NFL assistants or even just experienced, capable NCAA assistant coaches, then recruits would be throwing themselves at us.

It takes no intelligence to affirm that argument. Better coaches would mean better results even with the same recruits, and in actuality, we would likely improve ourlevel of recruiting.

However, we as a school can't offer fair market money to assistant coaches, and whenever the topic of institutional poverty has come up, people question if it's true. Remind yourselves of two facts.

One, when Pat signed his last extension, he demanded more money for his assistants--all the while taking a below market salary for himself. If Coach Fitz is paid less than HALF as much as Urban Meyer and about a THIRD as much as Jimmy Harbaugh, how likely is it that we're paying our assistants in the top 10% of FBS, let alone the top quarter of the Big Ten?

Two, the athletic department WOULD LIKE to spend more money on assistants, but they can't get alumni and friends to donate enough money to endow those assistant coaching positions. That's clearly the mechanism that NU would like to use, since the income generated by the endowment can help pay for the position on an ongoing basis.

If you're begging for coaching changes, you're really asking for coaches of the same ilk that we already have, if not lesser names than we already have.

You really need to work on your reading comprehension if you believe that I am begging for coaching changes. And I do not know Corbi and DaCat outside of their posts on this board But feel free to carry on with your random negativity, Purp. It served you well on the basketball board during the Carmody-Collins wars.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

Sorry but that doesn't quite jibe. While we are not able to offer top 10% salaries, we are probably not bottom 10% either. Numerous other BIG teams have salary issues for assistant coaches and can still get reasonable guys at these positions. Got to think our salaries are on par with Indiana, for example and they have very solid OL development as well as pretty good WR development.

Yes but they have a really, really bad defense. I don't know if it's a chicken or the egg thing with good coaches. Do you need them to attract good recruits, or do good recruits always make the coaches look good when the coaches are quite ordinary?

But, I agree with you that our salaries are in line with Indiana, and that's a disgrace. Indiana hasn't been relevant since the Mallory years and hasn't won much of anything since 1967. Indiana football isn't even the school's most important men's sports. For NU to be that cheap, it's disturbing.

 

[Gladeskat]

Maybe Indiana has greatly increased their funding for football. Big Ten schools are inclined to with the increase in income from the BTN. New south end to the stadium with a huge weight room. Increased salaries for the coaching staff. About the only thing that hinders Indiana football is that IU is perceived (properly) as a basketball school and there is little buzz for the football program.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

Maybe Indiana has greatly increased their funding for football. Big Ten schools are inclined to with the increase in income from the BTN. New south end to the stadium with a huge weight room. Increased salaries for the coaching staff. About the only thing that hinders Indiana football is that IU is perceived (properly) as a basketball school and there is little buzz for the football program.

Until recently, IU was paying Coach Wilson less than half of what NU pays Fitzgerald. Now, Wilson is paid about the same. I'm not sure that Fitzgerald should be paid the same as Wilson, but it implies the coaching staff funds at the two schools are roughly the same, based on industry standards. Maybe Indiana pays its staff more because when Wilson made $1.3 Million, his staff was paid $2.3 Million.

 

[Gladeskat]

We now try to be at or near the top of the Little Five (NU, UI, IU, PU, and Minnesota).

Guess I should add Rutgers and Maryland to the Little Five now.

 

[hdhntr1]

Yes but they have a really, really bad defense. I don't know if it's a chicken or the egg thing with good coaches. Do you need them to attract good recruits, or do good recruits always make the coaches look good when the coaches are quite ordinary?

But, I agree with you that our salaries are in line with Indiana, and that's a disgrace. Indiana hasn't been relevant since the Mallory years and hasn't won much of anything since 1967. Indiana football isn't even the school's most important men's sports. For NU to be that cheap, it's disturbing.

I Would think that they were higher than IN. And if IN can get good OL and WR development with their budget, so should we. That they are not getting good D performance is on them. As far as good recruits making a difference, absolutely but as I recall, the IN recruiting classes have been nothing special.

 

[shakes3858]

But, I agree with you that our salaries are in line with Indiana, and that's a disgrace. Indiana hasn't been relevant since the Mallory years and hasn't won much of anything since 1967. Indiana football isn't even the school's most important men's sports. For NU to be that cheap, it's disturbing.

Indiana averaged over 41,000 in attendance in 2014. Northwestern averaged 38,000. Indiana averaged 44,000 in 2013. Northwestern averaged 39,000. 2012 Indiana averaged 41,000. Northwestern averaged 33,000. We get the same amount of money from TV. The same amount of money from bowls. They get more ticket revenue. Their basketball programs makes a crap ton more money than NU basketball which can be used to fund other programs ie NU football has a fund a greater % of other sports than IU football.

For NU to be on par with Indiana in spending makes a crap-ton of sense.

 

[honestrules]

I have a free night. Email me if you want resolution. Otherwise, grab one of those free drinks and plan to stay up awhile. I'll keep you busy for the next few days. For a couple hundred bucks, I can have an staffer just sit and create accounts...

 

[Gladeskat]

I have a free night. Email me if you want resolution. Otherwise, grab one of those free drinks and plan to stay up awhile. I'll keep you busy for the next few days. For a couple hundred bucks, I can have an staffer just sit and create accounts...

Why not send a couple of hundred dollars to me. It'll be more effective.