Does not bode well for Braun/Lujan or Lausch

[Medill '03]

I'm not saying anything novel here, but the way the season has (predictably) crumbled against OSU and Michigan doesn't bode well for Braun/Lujan (after next year) or Lausch (after this year). I like all of them. But now we know that NU will have to go to the transfer portal for QB yet again. Lausch doesn't have the best line or receivers or OC, but he's also not doing enough to warrant getting handed the job for next year. And Braun isn't likely to field a better team in 2025, barring some kind of shocking IU talent infusion. So that means he's got the most expensive CFB stadium of all time in 2026, and a new AD doesn't want to get stuck with a program in three years of decline and no sign of recovery. If you're gonna fire Braun, it's after 2025, not after year one of Ryan Field in 2026. If you're gonna lose big in the new stadium, it needs to be with a new coach who's plausibly building toward something. And they will need to completely turn the page on the Fitz regime, including all the staff he hired and developed.

Braun/Lujan and Lausch will have a chance to shock the world next year, or even next week. But that's what it will need to be at this point, a shock, and without the talent that Fitz had accumulated before they arrived.

 

[Rodenthater]

Remember there are only so many teams invited to the table , the rest of us are just playing for fun! D1 football is a game of paid mercenaries now! See Indiana!

 

[mesacat]

Why wait until end of 2025 although considering how bare the cupboard is and how tough the BIG 18 is. how do you. convince a quality candidate to take the job. $$ help but will only go so far.

 

[Baz=Heisman]

Why wait until end of 2025 although considering how bare the cupboard is and how tough the BIG 18 is. how do you. convince a quality candidate to take the job. $$ help but will only go so far.

Because he had a great season last year in an impossible circumstance. He’s earned three years. But if they suck next year (likely) he’s gotta go

 

[Medill '03]

Because he had a great season last year in an impossible circumstance. He’s earned three years. But if they suck next year (likely) he’s gotta go

Exactly. He gets another year because of last year. Next season is likely to be rough no matter what.

 

[Jaguar 88]

Why wait until end of 2025 although considering how bare the cupboard is and how tough the BIG 18 is. how do you. convince a quality candidate to take the job. $$ help but will only go so far

Why wait until end of 2025 although considering how bare the cupboard is and how tough the BIG 18 is. how do you. convince a quality candidate to take the job. $$ help but will only go so far.

A quality candidate would only take the job if the University adopted NIL. That is the only way this program is going to be competitive going forward. You are not going to be competitive in the B1G with recruiting mid tier 3 star recruits with the addition of new CFB powerhouses to the fold. With most of our old West division foes, 3-4 losses are already baked in the cake, and they embrace both the NIL and portal. The NCAA ruined CFB with both of these things.

 

[Styre]

Remember there are only so many teams invited to the table , the rest of us are just playing for fun! D1 football is a game of paid mercenaries now! See Indiana!

We are in the Big Ten. We are at the table.

 

[NUChicago]

We are in the Big Ten. We are at the table.

But for how long.....

 

[Vassar69]

We are in the Big Ten. We are at the table.

There are no free rides.

 

[FeralFelidae]

But for how long.....

We'll never be kicked out of the conference, but the top teams might leave us behind and start their own thing.

 

[SmellyCat]

I don't want Deion Sanders, but what NU really needs is a coach so exciting and interesting that everyone wants to play for him, so he can turn things around with one great recruiting/transfer offseason. Doesn't mean an Indiana turnaround necessarily, but as long as there is a bland (but nice...I really like him!) coach at the top, there will be a ceiling on the amount of guys we can attract. And there's already a whole other ceiling that we've all talked about ad naseum.

 

[Styre]

There are no free rides.

Yeah, no kidding. Remember how we're currently building the most expensive stadium in the history of college football?

 

[Eurocat]

We are in the Big Ten. We are at the table.

Thumbs up but we need to act like it with our NIL. Heck Army and Navy have them!

 

[FeralFelidae]

Thumbs up but we need to act like it with our NIL. Heck Army and Navy have them!

TrueNU?

 

[Jaguar 88]

Exactly. He gets another year because of last year. Next season is likely to be rough no matter what.

Don't fool yourself. The next 2-3 seasons will likely be rough, if not beyond that.

 

[Medill '03]

Don't fool yourself. The next 2-3 seasons will likely be rough, if not beyond that.

Agree. If NU fires Braun, 2026-2027 may not be much better.

 

[Vassar69]

Yeah, no kidding. Remember how we're currently building the most expensive stadium in the history of college football?

What is that worth in media negotiations? Because that’s how conferences value their members today.

 

[MD_CatFan]

No one "deserves" anything - it is what you earn. A new AD should bring about a new reset. This might be the time to get your guy(s) in place and own it. You spend 850 million for a new stadium and you get to showcase it with...this? But it'll get better, right? Don't you think you want to give a new group a year before getting into the new Ryan Field? Last year Braun did a fantastic job and he earned it. Is it harsh to say "Thank you and goodnight" after one season? Yes. But them's the facts and this ain't beanbag.

True NU better pony up hard because in this world if you don't have a QB that is in the top half of your conference you aren't going to win a damn thing.

 

[FanatiCat]

No one "deserves" anything - it is what you earn. A new AD should bring about a new reset. This might be the time to get your guy(s) in place and own it. You spend 850 million for a new stadium and you get to showcase it with...this? But it'll get better, right? Don't you think you want to give a new group a year before getting into the new Ryan Field? Last year Braun did a fantastic job and he earned it. Is it harsh to say "Thank you and goodnight" after one season? Yes. But them's the facts and this ain't beanbag.

True NU better pony up hard because in this world if you don't have a QB that is in the top half of your conference you aren't going to win a damn thing.

Yep, pony up is right. We can’t be “woe is me, we’re the always and forever underdog NU.” We will have perhaps the best/most flashy facilities in all of college FB to the tune of over $1 billion total. With revenue sharing we won’t have to rely totally on TrueNU, right? If we can get a QB, a WR and fill in some other holes we can get back on track.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

I'm not saying anything novel here, but the way the season has (predictably) crumbled against OSU and Michigan doesn't bode well for Braun/Lujan (after next year) or Lausch (after this year). I like all of them. But now we know that NU will have to go to the transfer portal for QB yet again. Lausch doesn't have the best line or receivers or OC, but he's also not doing enough to warrant getting handed the job for next year. And Braun isn't likely to field a better team in 2025, barring some kind of shocking IU talent infusion. So that means he's got the most expensive CFB stadium of all time in 2026, and a new AD doesn't want to get stuck with a program in three years of decline and no sign of recovery. If you're gonna fire Braun, it's after 2025, not after year one of Ryan Field in 2026. If you're gonna lose big in the new stadium, it needs to be with a new coach who's plausibly building toward something. And they will need to completely turn the page on the Fitz regime, including all the staff he hired and developed.

Braun/Lujan and Lausch will have a chance to shock the world next year, or even next week. But that's what it will need to be at this point, a shock, and without the talent that Fitz had accumulated before they arrived.

With the Covid year gone, how many grad student QBs are out there that have eligibility?
Would have to be a guy who redshirted or got injured - and has actually graduated.
And then reasonably good grades.
If thats how we plan to get our starting QB, we may need a plan B. Or is Plan B named Jack Lausch?

Otherwise we need to look at smart kids from lesser programs who played and looked capable as underclassmen.
Or younger players that we offered a year or two ago who aren't getting playing time at their current school.

 

[phatcat]

The things that worries me are a) there has been no evidence of improvement. Objectively, the Cats are worse in all phases of the game than earlier this year and b) NU loses a shit-ton of players, some of whom are actually good. That doesn't count the inevitable portal losses that we don't seem to be able to turn into a net gain.

People say "the schedule though!!!" To which I call BS. We've lost to a bunch of middle of the pack teams and looked bad doing it.