Rivals Mike Farrell grades all of the Big Ten coaches in his Three-Point Stance this week. Here's his take on Fitz:
Northwestern–C-:An awful start hurt Pat Fitzgerald and his team and a 6-6 finish isn’t great. They looked better during a mid-season stretch but still didn’t beat any good teams aside from Iowa.
I don't think a C- is too far off. I would've given him a slightly better grade (maybe a C or C+) for rescuing the season after the disastrous start, but he's got to be on the hook for those first two weeks, too. And after a good stretch of football from Iowa to Purdue, they closed badly.
Development-wise, he gets points for developing the secondary after losing both starting corners to start the year and Queiro for a chunk of it, and for the greatly improved wide receiver play this season -- even if it Carr was responsible for most of it.
Northwestern–C-:An awful start hurt Pat Fitzgerald and his team and a 6-6 finish isn’t great. They looked better during a mid-season stretch but still didn’t beat any good teams aside from Iowa.
I don't think a C- is too far off. I would've given him a slightly better grade (maybe a C or C+) for rescuing the season after the disastrous start, but he's got to be on the hook for those first two weeks, too. And after a good stretch of football from Iowa to Purdue, they closed badly.
Development-wise, he gets points for developing the secondary after losing both starting corners to start the year and Queiro for a chunk of it, and for the greatly improved wide receiver play this season -- even if it Carr was responsible for most of it.
