Fitz: No Staff Changes at Northwestern
- Thread starter corbi296
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I wonder how long Mike Hankwitz sticks around for. He's going to be 70 next year and has had a long successful coaching run.
Would Fitz go out of house to replace him?
Would Fitz go out of house to replace him?
Plenty of other nuggets in this article , as follows:
1) Official confirmation that Warren Long will be back
2) Only TWO offseason surgeries scheduled, a marked decline from recent years (last year there were 10)
3) Looks like Bob Cole will continue to help out
1) Official confirmation that Warren Long will be back
2) Only TWO offseason surgeries scheduled, a marked decline from recent years (last year there were 10)
3) Looks like Bob Cole will continue to help out
I would have replaced Cushing with James Patton. But, I don't think anyone can say they are surprised. At the very least switch Heffner and Cushing's position responsibilities.
As far as Hank is concerned, the man can coach as long as he thinks he can go. When he retires, I bet Randy Bates takes over.
Did WML have surgery after his injury? I assume he did.
Is Westphal healthy enough to play? I know he has practiced and made some game appearances, but it's been a long road back for him.
Is Westphal healthy enough to play? I know he has practiced and made some game appearances, but it's been a long road back for him.
Yes, Long already had surgery, and is not one of the two who are scheduled for surgery I would imagine. I thought I saw Parker play on special teams in the Bowl game, but it was the first game i attended live in many years so I could most certainly be mistaken.
I'm not one for wholesale turnover but I wouldn't mind if Fitz spent a little time every year considering the possibility of upgrading his staff just as he considers the possiblity of recruiting better and better talent. A small amount of turnover would be healthy and inspirational.
If we were 6-7, this thread would look a lot different. Recency bias.
Right. It will be NU's shortfall. Competition drives excellence more than just on the field with players. If you have an opportunity to put in a better player, you do it and if you have the opportunity to get a better coach, you do it. I'm not saying there have been a bunch of opportunities but part of the Head Coaches job would be always scouting for opportunities especially in the areas where we have had constant weakness over the past few years. I don't get any sense that Fitz ever reaches out. I don't think we would hear about much of it but something would leak out.
There's no reason to think it would leak out. The coaching community is very tight and there would be no upside to said leaks for anyone.
I think you accurately assessed the response. After a 10-2 record, I do not understand how anyone can find this acceptable. We were physically manhandled by WMU, ISU, Minny, Nebby, and Wiscy. Screw the close losses. I did not expect 10-2, but excluding the bowl, we should have been 8-4 or 9-3.
The first two losses never should have happened. We were simply outmuscled. Both teams were bigger, not taller, and more physical on both sides of the ball. This should not be acceptable, but at NU it is. I credit the coaches for keeping the players involved. Further, this past season should dispel any thoughts that Jerry Brown can't coach.
I stand by my post earlier this year that with PF and his stay the course mentality, NU will never win a B10 Championship. I have similar, but not quite as strong feelings, on a West Division crown.
Spot on. The team performs well enough toward the end of the season, and wins a low-tier bowl game, and suddenly we're fine with obvious deficiencies not being addressed? We deserve the mediocrity. I mean, I honestly am OK with it (in a sense) if 6-6 and a bowl is more a floor than anything, but some of us are talking out of both sides of our mouths.
This isn't Pop Warner football. Some of you guys act like other schools don't have HC's paid $3M a season, professional Assistant Coaches, 70,000+ in the stands, exceptional facilities et al. It is not easy to consistently win.
I would certainly not squawked if a change was made with a few position coaches. The ISU debacle will haunt me for years. However, none of us have an idea if Fitz kicked the tires on upgrades or not. I think there is only one position that has consistently underperformed the last few years. There might be non coaching reason, I trust Fitz has a handle on those reasons better than any of us. I actually think as a unit we outcoached the opposition in the majority of our B1G games. Our talent is average in comparison to our conference opponents. We all want changes to improve from 7 wins, but there isn't some magic pill that alone gets us to the top of the conference. Let the man do his job.
I would certainly not squawked if a change was made with a few position coaches. The ISU debacle will haunt me for years. However, none of us have an idea if Fitz kicked the tires on upgrades or not. I think there is only one position that has consistently underperformed the last few years. There might be non coaching reason, I trust Fitz has a handle on those reasons better than any of us. I actually think as a unit we outcoached the opposition in the majority of our B1G games. Our talent is average in comparison to our conference opponents. We all want changes to improve from 7 wins, but there isn't some magic pill that alone gets us to the top of the conference. Let the man do his job.
Did you listen to the press conference after the Illinois game? Fitz said the ISU loss was on him. Fitz said that the team needed an alpha male to take over and that the team wasn't going to like it. He then said that he ran the team and both sides of the line were puking throughout practices that week. He did say the loss was on him, but did say that he thinks the strategy paid off in the long run.
How is that a coaching issue? I could try to block Dean Lowery all day and not win a single battle (or even get close to it). I could try to rush Drew Brees all day, but Zac Strief is going to manhandle me because I'm not big enough, strong enough... I don't care who the coach is or what he's teaching me. How much time are kids putting in the weight room, in film study? How much do the player's want it? What's the injury factor? What recruits were we in on that went somewhere else?
Think about this: What would our offensive line have looked like this year if Park, Mertz and DiPietro were playing? That's our top olineman and 2 others that would at least be on the two deep.
I think it says that they like working at Northwestern due to the players, working with Fitz, the administratinon, proximity to Chicago, and belief that they're not going to be fired because their position dealt with injuries, a bad recruiting year, or because fans on the internet want to burn their house down...
In a highly competitive job like football coach, do you want someone who reasons that way? Or do you want someone that believes that wherever they go, they will succeed. Do you want a couch that likes the people he works with, his environment, and does not want to make a move that would risk his getting fired... or a coach that is on fire for his shot to prove what he can do at a higher level and on a bigger stage?
I would question our strength program. Offensive line as noted ad nauseum on this board has not been very good to mediocre at best. Frankly, JJTBC gains a ton in spite of our line with magnificent 2 yard runs. Our o line's pass protection is poor either in strength or scheme. I will not look for it, but I do not think NU has put a lineman in the NFL during PF's tenure, but I could be wrong. This alone warrants a change.
Our special teams are awful. On the formation we use, we are a punt block waiting to happen. I still take issues with how we receive/field punts. I will not even comment on the game management. PF is a wonderful ambassador, but with some regularity, I see better game management and special teams at Friday night football.
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Based on what you just said, coaches don't matter at all. Why have any coaches in the first place? You couldn't be more wrong. Coaching makes a huge difference.
... and the coaches we have are in the B1G, performing at a pretty high level on a really big stage.
Position coaches get fired or moved around all the time for terrible reasons. They may get scapegoated by a coach after a position gets decimated due to injuries. The head coach may take another job and new coach may not want to retain him in favor of "his guys." So I'd like a coach that looks at his situation, does a good job and stays. (Ignore the whole Sandusky thing) Why didn't Larry Johnson Sr, Tom Bradley, Galen Hall, Dick Anderson, Bill Kenney... leave Penn State for better jobs? Even Vanderlinden never went looking for a DC job.
Oh also, the guy that is constantly looking for the better job, isn't going to be at NU for very long if he's good. He'll be out after a few years. And then we'll have to replace him and hope the new guy is good. And then if he is replace him.
I asked a former player about this and he told me position coaches all teach the same things. They've all been around the block and they know how to coach technique. So you work hard in recruiting to get the best athletes and then hope that they have the work ethic and mentality to do it as well as hoping everyone stays healthy.
Why did Nick Saban do better at LSU (75%) than Michigan State (58%) and is doing better at Alabama (86%) than either place? Did he learn to coach along the way? Or did he get better players? How about Urban Meyer at BGSU (73%) vs OSU (91%). Why did Frank Solich do better at Nebraska (75%) than Ohio (56%)? Did Frank Solich forget how to coach along the way? Did he stop caring? Nah, I think Solich got worse players at Ohio than he did at Nebraska. Meyer and Saban on the other hand got better players at each subsequent job.
Does coaching matter? Sure. Just at much as we'd like to believe. Also, a good coach can get a bad result. He could get lazy players and be stuck with them for 4 years. Players could get hurt at the position forcing players who are not physically ready to play to play... and then get hurt too pushing their development back. We might have a great position coach that is taking really bad athletes out of high school and doing an incredible job making them look at least competitive. You don't know. I don't know. Fitz knows. So I'll defer to him.
Well, the 'Cats had clearly grown bigger by the time they played Pitt, seeing how easily and how far they pushed the pile while picking up those fourth downs. Did the 'Cats have a growth spurt over the course of the season? Maybe they just ate their Wheaties.
Interesting stats but you could also compare Saban at Alabama against Shula at Alabama. You can compare Saban against DiNardo at LSU. Same school. Same facilities. Same recruiting territory. Different coaches. Radically different result. And throw in Harbaugh versus Hoke at Michigan while we are at it.
Coaching matters a lot.
"I'm still shocked we haven't had a couple get plucked as head coaches," he said. "I'm hoping that's sooner than later for a couple of guys."
He sounds out of touch with reality here
He sounds out of touch with reality here
Doesn't necessarily have to be at the P5 or even FBS level. McCall got some MAC inquiries a couple years back. Heffner has a lot of coordinator experience at the professional, FBS, and FCS levels (including 7 years as Associate Head Coach at Lafayette). Hank probably could have had a HC gig by now if that's what he wanted. Those are probably the guys he had in mind when making that comment.
First of if all, no one on this board knows if Fitz is or isn't looking at other coaches as possible upgrades. If there were leaks about such activities by Fitz, it would be a major fail on his part. You really can't draw any conclusions from the fact that there aren't any leaks or rumors. I give Fitz more credit than many on this board.
That said, I would not be horribly upset if Fitz upgraded one or two coaching spots on the offensive side of the ball. But I admit I said the same thing about Jerry Browne a few years ago, and now I'm perfectly happy with the job he has done, especially this past season with the depleted secondary.
That said, I would not be horribly upset if Fitz upgraded one or two coaching spots on the offensive side of the ball. But I admit I said the same thing about Jerry Browne a few years ago, and now I'm perfectly happy with the job he has done, especially this past season with the depleted secondary.
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Changes occurred in the o-line with the insertion of a walk on at guard and the play changed. If this person made such an obvious change, why was this not done earlier?
Someone above mentioned the 30 sacks suffered. I was at the first two games. We got pushed around. I did read somewhere that the practices were very tough/different before the bowl game.
Because playing and coaching football is difficult with a lot of variability in results, even if the same procedure/preparation are consistently followed.
Yep, hindsight is 20-20. The coaches were counting on Mahoney to be a leader (voted captain by his teammates) and a starter on the OL, but it turned out that Butler was more effective. Sometimes you only can find out by trial-and-error.
Don't we know have three data points where Fitz "got tough" after failures? 1. Beginning of 2015 season 2. Beginning of this year 3. Prior to this bowl contrasted to last year's bowl.
How is this not coaching?
And what is tough v easy? Every time I hear him talk to the players he sounds like Joe Swanson screaming
How is this not coaching?
And what is tough v easy? Every time I hear him talk to the players he sounds like Joe Swanson screaming
