Does the entire staff return?
- Thread starter PositiveOutlook
- Start date
There will be changes but maybe not as many as people think. My guess is that Bajakian is gone, Genyk retires and McGarigle goes to the NFL.
I didn't like Genyk when he first came because of first hand reports I had from EMU but he has grown on me and offers a ton of experience to the conversation with a young Head coach. McGarigle is a nice connect to the past and has does well with the LBers but could be disqualified if he knew about the hazing.
Those 2 had plenty of chances. A couple of decent (not great) games won't spare.
Seriously?? Because we scored 45 we need to keep Bajakian? 7 of those were a defensive TD, and 3 drives (2 TDs and a FG) were very short due to turnovers. Still could not control the clock when we needed to and couldn’t close out the game.
And Bryant will be gone next year and Bajakian still hasn’t recruited or developed a QB so well be in trouble.
And Bryant will be gone next year and Bajakian still hasn’t recruited or developed a QB so well be in trouble.
Yes. Braun’s team. Braun’s picks.
I saw Anderson bear hug Braun postgame and Braun move off of him quickly, almost to brush him off. At least that’s what I wanted to see.
Braun: “Can you offer advice on become a good head coach?”
Genyk: “A good head coach?”
Braun: “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to learn how to be a bad head coach.”
Genyk: “Sorry, I can’t help you there.”
If Bajakian was a halfway decent and consistent OC, and managed to ever recruit a halfway decent QB out of high school, NU would have won the Big Ten West today and would be heading to Indy. Instead we lost embarrassing games to Nebraska and Iowa.
So, yes. Still fire Bajakian. As for Anderson, I leave it to Braun.
Not recruiting a starting level QB is probably the kiss of death.
That’s the biggest indictment right there - the inability to identify and develop a young QB to run the offense you get to call is a deal breaker.
Clock management sucked again. End of first half (before the TO) when we have 3 tos and a lot of time on the clock we were snapping the ball with 25 seconds on play clock. We had plenty of time for a drive but danger was giving too much time to IL. One minute drive was impressive but drive before was bad clock management
To be clear, I think both guys need to go. To add a balanced view, transfer QBs are everywhere, we just can't miss 50% of the time. Also we had the highest yards per pass attempt since 2013. They clearly aired it out more (both Bryant and Sully). Lots of long, downfield passes completed, and not just to one guy like Thor did with AC the one year.
You
Who is both? By the way, do you realize that Thor was 6th (I think) all time in yds thrown for in the BIG. Not for one year but for his career. About 10.5K yds
Anderson/Jake.
Yeah, I am not hating on Thor. Just pointing out that we had a downfield pass attack
Don’t forget, Thor had JJTBC! Together they were quite the team!! Two four stars who stayed four years and lived up to their billing!
Anderson gave Braun a huge bear hug after the game. Body language between didn’t seem like one was going to get axed.
I don't know the ins and outs of coaching so is it possible that the play calling didn't play to the way that the O Lineman had been developed. In other words is Anderson just as happy to have a new OC as we are?
Why would you keep anybody? I was looking at the team offensive and defensive stats on the B1G website. Nothing special to hang your hat on offensively. I was surprised that we had the worst rushing defense though, so not sure why we think the defense is great. The defense was ranked 6 for passing D. Braun needs to ramp up recruiting and get the offense turned up with a new direction. Anybody we think should be shown the door, should be given the boot.
These stats may be a little misleading, because we played some weak offenses, but here is a comment. Hanks defenses were often in the 40s (out of 130 ish) in ppg. Jon was in 80s. This year in 50s. Bend dont break means yards not points
The defense was clearly improved from last season. The coaches on that side of the ball at least made a case for their jobs, the offense… not so much.
Also, ya know, the eyeball test. The defense was clearly improved.
Braun talks about the defense in the press conferences. Essentially it’s 1) being in the right place at the right time and 2) knowing teammates are there to support in the event that someone misses. Not as much crazy schemes but being there and playing as a unit. There’s a point 3) - belief and effort.
There were issues with 1) and 2) on Saturday. But 3) remained because there was 11 games’ worth of results.
Last two years there were consistent abject failures on all 3 dimensions beginning with Kenneth Walker III on play 1 of the JON administration.
There were issues with 1) and 2) on Saturday. But 3) remained because there was 11 games’ worth of results.
Last two years there were consistent abject failures on all 3 dimensions beginning with Kenneth Walker III on play 1 of the JON administration.
Last edited:
Yeah I feel the same about the eyeball test. Same for downfield passing, clearly better
Cats sure did some incredible recruiting to bring in players so talented that they could go 7-5 this season despite such awful coaching.
Kind of? Johnson and Henning transferred in with decently long college careers, not sure Binns can take “full credit” for those two guys. Kirtz had a crazy game against Minnesota and a long reception against Nebraska, hasn’t been terribly impactful otherwise.
I think Binns likely has the best case to stay on amongst the offensive coaches, but doesn’t feel like something that Braun absolutely must do.
The answer to your question is inexperience. Braun may only know of a handful of coaches he would actually LIKE to hire and they may not even be available. He could also have a smidge of imposter syndrome and a legit fear of making changes that destabilize the program. This is not a dig at Braun at all - it would be true of any new head coach, especially one on the younger side and especially one who doesn't have an address book full of FBS contacts.
Also, to answer another poster's question about Kurt Anderson and body language - look - football is a game of emotions. These coaches are spending most of their waking hours together in the trenches. A brotherhood inevitably forms. The best coaches know that turnover and regime changes are all just a part of the business, as sad as that is to say (but that's also why the best coaches get paid millions to place the business of a program ahead of personal relationships when there's too much room for improvement).
I freely admit I wouldn't have the nerves to exist in a cutthroat business like this.
Nor I.
Anderson and Braun might be best friends at this point for all we know, and surely no matter what happens to either of them, they can still be excited and emotional at the appropriate times, but that doesn't mean that at the end of the day Anderson will still have a job. And Anderson knows that. A bearhug could just as easily mean, "WE DID IT! I can't believe this is the last time we'll ever experience this together."
I don't want anyone other than the obvious guys gone. I was just making a whack observation checking out the regular season ending stats of the entire B1G. My point is that the coaching staff needs to get to work on both sides of the ball. Some thought that the fight for the Hat victory was "fun", but for me it showed the staff has alot of work to do to really get the program on track. For me fun was under Barnett and freaking everyone in the B1G and the college football world out by going to the Rose Bowl and winning two B1G titles. That is really FUN!!!!!!!!
