It’s still Fitz’s program, and it’s atrocious
- Thread starter NUCat320
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Look at the offenses and their rankings the entirety of Fitz’s tenure since McCall took over. He had maybe one pretty good offense. He had mediocre at best most of the time and atrocious (like nearly dead fuggin last in D1) under more than one OC. And we didn’t win shit the last couple years once Hankwitz left.
Winning matters indeed. We were 4-20 in Fitz’s last two years. That’s not winning. You don’t win if you can’t score more points than your opponent.
And no. I like Chris Collins.
The ebb and flow of this board is comical. It’s clearly Fitz’s malfeasance when we lose. He fades to the background when we win.
The posts have valid comments that when Fitz had capable assistants the team did well and suffered with poor assistant coaches. Braun was a great hire The constant at least has been academic success and APR. A winning season at this point would be huge and the last game at Ryan Field now can lock up a bowl game for a winnable game. A winning team even 7-6 helps the cause for a new stadium. Seeing bunch of excited players having a winning season and graduating is the best way to deal with the adversity.
I hear a capable QB also makes a world of difference.
Anybody who thinks that the attitude of the team that came out in NJ matched the attitude of the team that came out in Madison doesn’t watch the games. This is the weirdest “I told you so” ever.
The Rutgers team was literally paying tribute to Fitz on their t-shirts. The Rutgers team was playing against the world.
As Braun has repeatedly said, his focus has been on helping this team feel the joy in playing for each other. They were angry in August. They’re not pissed off anymore — they play with joy.
(And, again, NU’s offense cost at least the Iowa and Nebraska games. Fitz’s fear of change continues to hold back NU, even after they’ve adjusted their attitude.)
Does anyone doubt that Fitz had lost fire? Even after the rare win over the last few seasons, his attitude was about being angry at the student journalists that ask questions. There was so little joy.
It would have been so easy to pack up the tents — accept that it’s a six-year rebuild — after Rutgers or maybe Duke. But Braun is not down with that.
Frankly, I considered but did not comment in the game thread yesterday, but Braun’s pure joy after a third down stop (maybe the Soares deflection) looks so much like Fitz — in about 2008 or 2012. That Fitz had left.
I hope Braun breaks all of Fitz’s coaching records.
The Rutgers team was literally paying tribute to Fitz on their t-shirts. The Rutgers team was playing against the world.
As Braun has repeatedly said, his focus has been on helping this team feel the joy in playing for each other. They were angry in August. They’re not pissed off anymore — they play with joy.
(And, again, NU’s offense cost at least the Iowa and Nebraska games. Fitz’s fear of change continues to hold back NU, even after they’ve adjusted their attitude.)
Does anyone doubt that Fitz had lost fire? Even after the rare win over the last few seasons, his attitude was about being angry at the student journalists that ask questions. There was so little joy.
It would have been so easy to pack up the tents — accept that it’s a six-year rebuild — after Rutgers or maybe Duke. But Braun is not down with that.
Frankly, I considered but did not comment in the game thread yesterday, but Braun’s pure joy after a third down stop (maybe the Soares deflection) looks so much like Fitz — in about 2008 or 2012. That Fitz had left.
I hope Braun breaks all of Fitz’s coaching records.
Fitz looked pretty joyful in 2020, you know, when they were winning. Hard to be joyful when you are 4-20.
This is really one of the dumbest threads (almost as dumb as the thread saying the PSU QB didn’t fake taking a knee). Fitz ain’t coming back. Let’s hope for the best with Braun. He will almost assuredly be named permanent HC after next weekend
It’s also, to be fair, not an “I told you so” thread, which is how it’s been framed when it’s been, for whatever reason, resurrected.
But @PurpleWhiteBoy and @CoralSpringsCat believe that Fitz never did nothing wrong and, somehow, with NU having now exceeded his win total over the previous two seasons with two (three? four?) games to play, believe that NU playing interesting games in November somehow, …vindicates Fitz’s performance?
I have no idea why they’d bring it up again.
Guess what!? Fitz’s program *was* atrocious. Four wins in two seasons is atrocious.
Would a Fitz program have even been allowed to pass on 8 of 12 plays on the game’s first drive? Ignoring the fact that they never had 12-play drives, no. Gotta establish the run, like 1980.
So, instead of 7-3 lead midway through the first quarter, it’s run-run-run-punt, and Wisconsin’s got the ball and momentum.
Fitz coached like 1980, and he held his team back, and he had a decade of quarterback recruiting failure.
It is so good for NU that Fitz is no longer in charge. Even JackFitz agrees.
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I don’t usually read PWB’s football ramblings, because they’re ramblings, so I had lost this thread.
But “root cause analysis leads to a Shrekmas post in the locker room” is a wonderful sentence, though it was Runsmas, not Shrekmas.
From Runsmas and players skipping media days (and interim coach-for-weeks Braun apologizing for everyone else’s sins) to playing for bowl eligibility (and, realistically, probably having clinched bowl eligibility already) in a matter of four months - what a world!
I appreciate all Fitz did for NU and helping grow the program. But, "I" think it was time for a change as his 90's approach, loyalty to under performing players/coaches, and stubborn nature caused cascading issues. When added up, it was time for change, he has generational wealth, and is young enough to bounce back.
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Well, they should have had a couple on the roster at all times, as competent coaches.
When I read these posts, I think of General George Custer and his band of killers.
You are surrounded. What you believed would happen did not happen.
You thought you were attacking a village of old men, women and children.
When it was obvious you were wrong, you ignored the facts on the ground and plowed forward.
Now you have two hills to die on. The natives are letting you choose. Your infantry has gotten its ass kicked and ran toward both hills.
The Native Americans called Hill #1 "Fits Leavum Cubbord Bear"
The Native Americans called Hill #2 "Ignorem Reccords." On that hill there is a small marker with the name "O'Neil" carved into it.
Now, most of the soldiers who fled to "Fits Leavum Cubbord Bear" are either dead or trying to get to "Ignorem Reccords."
Are you going to die over there or beg for mercy, knowing your fate?
CoralSpringsCat not known for taking prisoners....
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Gimme that shit you’re smoking
Mushrooms on a Sunday morning. More modern.
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You're better than this, 320. That post is just a nonsense driven by your hatred of the guy.
The thing I think that PWB and Coral are saying is "if it was Fitz's program last week, it's Fitz's program this week." So, if you want to dish it out, you should learn how to take it.
All of the silliness about 1980 and the play calls is just unhinged. And the stuff about JackFitz agreeing that it's good for NU that his Dad is no longer in charge is just stupid.
Your opinion that the program is better off without Fitz is cool and all, but don't make up stupid stuff to support it. Just enjoy the incredible heart that this team is showing. When you've got E-Cat jumping in with you, you should pause and think a little more about the waters you're swimming in.
The crap about the players aren’t pissed anymore is what gets me. This is flat out wrong. If 320 wants to show up for a game we’ll stroll by the families and he will get his confirmation. Let’s just say they love my fire Schill fire Gregg shirt and many share their opinions.
I think anger at how Fitz was treated is the sentiment of the majority of current/former players. Went to FitzMahal at reunion and saw an ex-player. Asked him what he thought about the fitz situation. His response “I hope he gets a lot of money.”
Yesterday the no. 1 team in the country played the 1980's ball you are talking about. They threw 8 passes the entire game. Rushed the ball 44 times. They beat a highly ranked team quite easily. If we could do that I am sure you would have no problems with us playing 80's ball. I wouldn't
Do they do that every week? Is that how they achieved top ranked status? They wouldn’t have game planned successfully for each game with a mind to beat the opponents as opposed to dying on a hill of a steadfast O philosposhy? Do they run the single wing or wishbone?
Fitz got a raw deal from all involved.
But the problems in the program were a lack of QB development on offense/slippable in OL development and the total defensive mess under JON.
Fitz as HC wasn't the issue here.
Those problems have been substantially lessened or reversed in some fashion this past offseason.
Can't ever get too high or too low with NU football, following this team has been a humbling experience when trying to guess what'll happen. I've been surprised too many times by the teams we've beat or lost to over the years.
But the problems in the program were a lack of QB development on offense/slippable in OL development and the total defensive mess under JON.
Fitz as HC wasn't the issue here.
Those problems have been substantially lessened or reversed in some fashion this past offseason.
Can't ever get too high or too low with NU football, following this team has been a humbling experience when trying to guess what'll happen. I've been surprised too many times by the teams we've beat or lost to over the years.
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OP has aged like cheese curds left in the back seat of Lou's Dodge Neon on a hot day.
I think we are headed to a 7-5 regular season, which means we can party like it's 2010, where a 7-5 team lost a shootout to Texas Tech, 45-38, in the Ticket City Bowl.
Hopefully, we can have a better outcome that gets to 8-5, which would be our most wins in a season since 2018, when we won that amazing Holiday Bowl game against Utah to finish 9-5.
I think we are headed to a 7-5 regular season, which means we can party like it's 2010, where a 7-5 team lost a shootout to Texas Tech, 45-38, in the Ticket City Bowl.
Hopefully, we can have a better outcome that gets to 8-5, which would be our most wins in a season since 2018, when we won that amazing Holiday Bowl game against Utah to finish 9-5.
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This is just such a bizarre take. Did you follow Fitz’s career at all? Dude bled purple.
I think you are conflating results (which were poor recently, sure) for passion. But, he hired Braun and Binns and would be winning the West this year with a healthy starting QB. Let’s give the guy some credit for even helping us on his way out.
I’m just happy that football has been worth watching this fall. I don’t think this is the gotcha you think it is, @CoralSpringsCat.
A program that looked exactly like a four-wins-in-two-seasons program due to indifferent leadership more focused on protecting coaches’ feelings than playing winning football in their first game of the season decided that playing for each other was more important than playing for someone who was gone. Finally given a chance to succeed defensively, they successfully wrangled out of the clutches of their incompetent OC and his heavy-handed boss, and managed to pull together a shocking early season upset — 21 points in a single quarter — and built belief and momentum that they hadn’t seen in two years. Sadly, that same program, now sitting on 6 wins 2 1/2 months later, would have 8 wins if not for that same afraid-to-change head coach, that same inept coordinator, and that combined inability to recruit anything but a rent-a-Qb for a decade.
Fitz’s teams couldn’t have come back against Minnesota. Fitz’s team would have been two more months of incompetent football.
I am grateful for the stability Fitz brought to the program, and for the highs, and for the bowl wins.
I will be overjoyed when he gets a statue at some point in the next 20 years — wearing a headset and not a neckroll — because he’s perhaps had more impact on any program than an individual ever.
And I am grateful that Fitz nailed the DC hiring (and, it appears, DL and WR).
But also, I am so happy that NU is not held back by the inherent conservatism and the fear of change that led to that one-win season.
I’m excited for your lol!
A program that looked exactly like a four-wins-in-two-seasons program due to indifferent leadership more focused on protecting coaches’ feelings than playing winning football in their first game of the season decided that playing for each other was more important than playing for someone who was gone. Finally given a chance to succeed defensively, they successfully wrangled out of the clutches of their incompetent OC and his heavy-handed boss, and managed to pull together a shocking early season upset — 21 points in a single quarter — and built belief and momentum that they hadn’t seen in two years. Sadly, that same program, now sitting on 6 wins 2 1/2 months later, would have 8 wins if not for that same afraid-to-change head coach, that same inept coordinator, and that combined inability to recruit anything but a rent-a-Qb for a decade.
Fitz’s teams couldn’t have come back against Minnesota. Fitz’s team would have been two more months of incompetent football.
I am grateful for the stability Fitz brought to the program, and for the highs, and for the bowl wins.
I will be overjoyed when he gets a statue at some point in the next 20 years — wearing a headset and not a neckroll — because he’s perhaps had more impact on any program than an individual ever.
And I am grateful that Fitz nailed the DC hiring (and, it appears, DL and WR).
But also, I am so happy that NU is not held back by the inherent conservatism and the fear of change that led to that one-win season.
I’m excited for your lol!
Sometimes it's best to remain quiet and be thought an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Solid ad hominem bro. What do you disagree with?
Do you think this team, under Fitz, would’ve beaten Minnesota? Maryland?
You know, you might have a point and who knows if they would’ve come back against Minny if Fitz was the head coach. However, Braun still would’ve been the DC and the improvement from the defense would’ve still been there and that’s been the main difference with this team.
And let there be no doubt that this team is still playing for Fitz in some fashion. They love Braun but they also loved Fitz and still want to win for him also.
I do not disagree.
What I’ve written is that that team in New Jersey wasn’t playing for each other in the way they are now. They were playing ‘against the world’, and ‘for Fitz’.
Now they’re playing for each other, and against their opponent. There’s no bigger cause except the 100-something dudes and the 5000-something square yards.
They’re focused in a way they weren’t in August, because now they are focused on the most productive things.
So, though it was interpreted as such, and I chose to let it die, I never thought the players ‘weren’t angry’ about Fitz’s firing; I just thought they had, with their new head coach’s guidance, productively switched focus.
I’m sorry for those of you who are being subjected to this thread, again. As you can read, it’s others who seem to be focused on it.
I look forward to another Cats victory next week, and another Sunday morning spent trying to understand how @CoralSpringsCat thinks he’s somehow proving me wrong, as he returns to the archives to chuckle at me, then refuses to engage on what he disagrees with.
Well said. I think we may be doing about the same with Fitz this year. We would’ve had the same assistant coaches, the same transfers in (Bryant, Cam Johnson and Henning) and probably fewer transfers out.
So it’s not that I think Braun is accomplishing more of a turnaround than Fitz would have, it’s just so impressive on its own that he did so with zero preparation to be head coach, with the psyche of the team totally a wreck with risk of majorly divided locker room, a media storm, having to be head coach AND DC, and oh, having a baby born during that time. More experienced coaches have lost their teams in a downward spiral in less severe circumstances than this.
Reality is there's no way to prove anything either way at this point.
I'm just basking in the magnificent effort of the team and the much improved defensive coaching this season.
6 wins in 11 games is an incredible achievement under these circumstances.
Braun would have brought that huge defensive improvement regardless of what happened over the summer. (And it's not just him, there were others brought on as well to shake up the staff and a player like Bryant provides needed veteran leadership).
It's hard to understand what happened the previous 2 seasons when I see the team playing with such effort and passion.
JON was obviously way out of his depth as DC and the team was lifeless for large stretches.
But thankfully that's in the past now and Braun has proved that he deserved this chance as HC by earning the permanent job. I hope he serves in the position for a long time with much success.
I'm just basking in the magnificent effort of the team and the much improved defensive coaching this season.
6 wins in 11 games is an incredible achievement under these circumstances.
Braun would have brought that huge defensive improvement regardless of what happened over the summer. (And it's not just him, there were others brought on as well to shake up the staff and a player like Bryant provides needed veteran leadership).
It's hard to understand what happened the previous 2 seasons when I see the team playing with such effort and passion.
JON was obviously way out of his depth as DC and the team was lifeless for large stretches.
But thankfully that's in the past now and Braun has proved that he deserved this chance as HC by earning the permanent job. I hope he serves in the position for a long time with much success.
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It was Cats Against the World.
And the Cats won.
Terrorists defeated.
Liberty, Equality. Fraternity.
So proud of these players and the coaches.
And the Cats won.
Terrorists defeated.
Liberty, Equality. Fraternity.
So proud of these players and the coaches.
Or give up too many points to opponents, You have to remember that the job of the coaching staff is to win games and they won a lot with the combination that they put together. McCall did some pretty good things here. He has been bad mouthed here a lot but he did what he was supposed to. The job was to win and he put together an O to go with the D and the result was winning, At the end his QB recruiting hurt him but even that would probably have been OK if AA hadn't screwed the pooch(and tried for just about everything else is a skirt). But then Hank went off to retirement JON was brought in. McCall did not chose him, Pretty hard to succeed when D is a sieve.
This thread…for posterity’s sake.
“Watching this club will subject us all only to…”
“Watching this club will subject us all only to…”
This season’s success is a testament to both Fitz and Braun. Fitz batted 1,000 in regards to off season moves (coaching hires and transfer signings). Braun gets COY and Fitz gets GM of the year in my book.
