It will be interesting to see what the football roster looks like for this fall...
- Thread starter stpaulcat
- Start date
Yup. Nobody wants to talk football. Most simply find it depressing and the koolaiders are struggling to find anything positive. Football has joined basketball in they cannot find athletes to take scholarships and have to simply hand them out to walk ons.
There will be no responses to this from the koolaiders unless they are derisive.
I wonder if PF remains golden boy if NU truly if dark ages level again. I was there when marshmellows rained upon the field. I can’t imagine an idolized HC that leaks in the bottom of the League consistently.
I have said before, will say again, leave a stubborn, unchanging PF at the helm at the risk of losing every element of his legacy.
If indeed we fall back into Dark Ages, wont be Fitz's fault....but NIL and the mechanics or lack thereof of system that continues to follow the money....The State schools and those with crazy boosters seem to be building the road in their direction and away from the Little Engine that Could.
And when NU football players graduating 100% is not a big deal....I am not sure why with the new NIL they just dont go the last step and have a minor league concept except that educational institutions are still willing to pay the money to field the product but the more the curtain exposes the Wiz......However I would rather root for NU trying to keep alive the concept of the student/athlete even though I think it will always put them at a competitive disadvantage than be a fan of one of the football factories.
And when NU football players graduating 100% is not a big deal....I am not sure why with the new NIL they just dont go the last step and have a minor league concept except that educational institutions are still willing to pay the money to field the product but the more the curtain exposes the Wiz......However I would rather root for NU trying to keep alive the concept of the student/athlete even though I think it will always put them at a competitive disadvantage than be a fan of one of the football factories.
Nice deflection. NIL was approved for D1 athletes in June 2021. So NIL was not a factor in the 2019 and 2021 debacles. Maybe it was a factor for 2022 but a small one at best. The biggest factor in NU returning to the bottom of college football is the HC who made bad hires and is stuck in the past as far as style of play.
I agree with Ignore that Fitz is on the path to undoing everything he has built. I truly don’t think he can fix the situation. I hope I am wrong.
So join the Ivy League, which is jam packed with student athletes. It's still football, there's still a stadium and fans. They're not going away. Let the NFL have the big state schools as their minor league. Someday, maybe the Northwestern-Yale game will be legendary.
Disagree. Fitz has been the face of a program that will have raised a billion dollars for athletics. I cannot fathom that one bit of legal encouragement couldn't have funneled, say, $50M for NIL payments to keep the program competitive. And the fall of has been so swift and drastic that it has to be more than just NIL and Portal. Our recruiting classes remain in the top 60, and the portal is a net negative but not a sieve. We would have had a losing record in the MAC, against teams with zero resources.
Until proven otherwise, he is a poor man's Gary Patterson
Nonsense, like someone else noted above, NIL was passed after 2019. Fitz is being exposed as being an offensive neaderthal, which is a quick death in terms of competitiveness in the B1G or any other major conference during this century. Three yards and a cloud of dust went the way of the dodo back when I was in HS in the 80's. Fitz was able to string out a few really good recruiting classes, had a great DC with great athletes, and competent QBs to get the job done in 2015-2018. It didn't hurt that the West totally sucked then. Bottom line is that it was a host of things that came together perfectly, and not a trend of a program being built up. The odds of Fitz rebuilding it before his contract is up are very low at this point. Three star recruits across the board isn't going to get the job done with an archaic offense. The powers that be put too much $$$$ into the program to say move to the Ivy League. All they need is an innovative new HC. If Fitz can't get the job done before his contract is up, he should be a goner.
Do you know when his contract is up? I would vote to give him this year to see how the offense performs and whether his new defensive coaches can turn the JON defense around. And the following year if he needs to replace Bajakian after this year. and if the defense improves. We can wait this out, dramatic improvement is not right around the corner. Unless, Fitz pulls some great playmakers out of his a**....I mean portal.
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It is all about outside perception concerning the recruits. The CFB world is money driven, as is top high school talent. Three star kids will not get the job done against the better known state schools. The longer you wait for a new regime, the longer the rebuild. A really good coach will get a program to turn around in 3 seasons from scratch. Fitz is already entrenched, so 2 seasons should be enough to at least see improvement. Our 2023 class is pure 3 star recruits, and let's face it our coaching staff hasn't really shown us the can coach these kids up have they? Being a sober realist can really be a bummer, but it is what it is. Fitz has been around for 17 seasons and has seen the program come full circle. His buddy hires and the way he carries himself during press conferences makes it look like he has created a Club Med atmosphere of sorts, like he lost the fire and just is there for the outrageous paycheck. The guy should have taken a cue from Harbaugh and restructured his contract, to at least give the perception that he was embarrassed and had some pride. I mean alot of people put up a lot of $$$$$$ to help the program, and he has dropped the ball big-time. People need to get used to the idea of a post Fitz future, it just may happen.
Gee, I am neither sober nor a realist. However you make some excellent points here.
You are both sober and a realist, but with more touch of optimism as yours truly. If Fitz can get the program over .500 in two seasons there definitely is a good chance he can do it(rebuild). It all hinges on if Fitz can change. We landed two tight ends in this cycle. Maybe Fitz will let Bajakian run his BC offense for a change, with two TE sets, and spice it up. Fitz will never draw in top talent with a garbage offense. And no offense to the NU alumni that make up probably over 90% of the posters in here, but the 4 and 5 star elite don't really care about high quality academics if they have a shot at their NFL dream. Where they go to school is just a means to an end. Sad to say, but it is all about the benjamins
Even though NIL was passed in 2019 it really has not gathered enough steam until last year to make a difference. I guess you can add the transfer portal and of course our academic standards to the list of things working against NU. If you really think scheme makes a difference you are daffy,,,,players make the difference. A new scheme works for a while then teams adapt. Some coaches may be better at developing game plans, but ultimately it is players against players and the type and quality of the players probably determines the scheme you can run. Also if you change schemes like we attempted to do defensively and dont have the players to run it you are in trouble...I will give Fitz that one.
I love tight ends. we have done well when we have used them well. NU can attract playmakers regardless of NIL, but need to prove they can win, first. Chicken or the egg, which comes first?
