NU COACHING JOB OPENING RATED C+

[fcmchi]

The Athletic today rated the six college football coaching openings. They rated the NU coaching job the last of the six with a grade of C+, they ranked Michigan State’s as the second best job with a B+ grade. OUCH.

6. Northwestern, C+: Northwestern is a Big Ten job, and Pat Fitzgerald showed that some winning is possible. But it’s one of the toughest jobs in the league, and USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are all coming in to make it even tougher as the Big Ten West dissolves.

 

[phatcat]

C+.

P.S. you'll shoot your eye out

 

[zeek55]

I feel like these articles always miss the fact that expectations are reasonable around here compared to most Power 5 programs.

We can pay $6-8 million per year for somebody that takes us to bowl games often and then challenges for more every once in a while.

Those are extremely moderate demands compared to most of the Power 5 where a lot of programs want records that are typically above the historical stature of the program.

Do we have differences that make this a tough place to recruit? Sure, the academic requirements for our scholarship athletes is much higher than most if not all other Power 5 programs, that pool is small; we don't do big transfer numbers and have very stable rosters and actually honor scholarships better than most places (where underperforming athletes are much more likely to find themselves out and replaced).

 

[techtim72]

Usual bias. Make it a letter grade higher because winning is not stressed as much meaning a coach has a better chance keeping his job. Compare the stability of NUs coaches to other programs. Plus NU will have plenty of other company when the PAC-12 teams join.

 

[Hungry Jack]

I would be curious as to how the writers which stack up the Northwestern job versus the jobs at Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, and Michigan State. I think you could make an argument that the northwestern job is more desirable than any of those.

Nebraska fans are devoted, but they have not caught up with the fact that the ground has shifted under that program, and their days of being in elite national program are behind them. Iowa and Wisconsin are fine programs, but I think their ceiling is a lot like that of Northwestern: challenging for a big 10 championship and going to a January 1 bowl game.

It is certainly easier to recruit at all of the other Big Ten schools due to our academics. But we have the advantage of being in a major metro area that kids tend to prefer. Our Fanbase does not have crazy expectations, and the administration has shown itself to be very supportive of the program, at least, when measured by capital investment.

 

[zeek55]

I would be curious as to how the writers which stack up the Northwestern job versus the jobs at Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, and Michigan State. I think you could make an argument that the northwestern job is more desirable than any of those.

Nebraska fans are devoted, but they have not caught up with the fact that the ground has shifted under that program, and their days of being in elite national program are behind them. Iowa and Wisconsin are fine programs, but I think their ceiling is a lot like that of Northwestern: challenging for a big 10 championship and going to a January 1 bowl game.

It is certainly easier to recruit at all of the other Big Ten schools due to our academics. But we have the advantage of being in a major metro area that kids tend to prefer. Our Fanbase does not have crazy expectations, and the administration has shown itself to be very supportive of the program, at least, when measured by Capital investment.

Agreed, I think comparing us to the rest of the current Big Ten minus the Big 3 is where it starts to become clear that this should be a better job in several important respects.

Job stability, long leash to try and turn around the program if it slumps, the academic brand that is attractive to some of the brightest high talent players, and a very financially supportive set of boosters among the tops in the sport and generally friendly admin over the past 30 years.

Nobody here wants to cycle through coaches on a 3-5 year basis. We just want to find a guy who can take us bowling regularly, can challenge for more on a reasonable basis, and represents the school well/doesn't embarrass us.

Yes we have the smallest fanbase in the conference and our graduates are most likely to leave the footprint, and recruiting is difficult, and we have the fewest players in a 4-5 year cycle so coaches have to hit.
But everything else makes it reasonable for a coach to come in here and have a tenure like our last 3 coaches which would keep fans generally happy.

 

[fcmchi]

They rank the NU position below Michigan State’s. Based on that, they’d probably rank us below most of the other schools in the Big Ten. Maybe they’d put Purdue and Indiana below us.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Everyone talks about the modest expectations. That is now, after the horrendous seasons we have recently experienced. I will bet if NU met those modest expectations those expectations would shift quite quickly to more wins, conference titles, better recruits, and more prestigious bowl games!

 

[hdhntr1]

I feel like these articles always miss the fact that expectations are reasonable around here compared to most Power 5 programs.

We can pay $6-8 million per year for somebody that takes us to bowl games often and then challenges for more every once in a while.

Those are extremely moderate demands compared to most of the Power 5 where a lot of programs want records that are typically above the historical stature of the program.

Do we have differences that make this a tough place to recruit? Sure, the academic requirements for our scholarship athletes is much higher than most if not all other Power 5 programs, that pool is small; we don't do big transfer numbers and have very stable rosters and actually honor scholarships better than most places (where underperforming athletes are much more likely to find themselves out and replaced).

For a HC to have a future, he has to win and the barriers to winning at NU are higher than anywhere else. That is what makes it a C+ even with the lower expectations and potentially good salary. Because even with lower expectations, if they don't win, NU decides to try again and they have no place to go. Surprised they rate it that high

 

[hdhntr1]

I would be curious as to how the writers which stack up the Northwestern job versus the jobs at Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, and Michigan State. I think you could make an argument that the northwestern job is more desirable than any of those.

Nebraska fans are devoted, but they have not caught up with the fact that the ground has shifted under that program, and their days of being in elite national program are behind them. Iowa and Wisconsin are fine programs, but I think their ceiling is a lot like that of Northwestern: challenging for a big 10 championship and going to a January 1 bowl game.

It is certainly easier to recruit at all of the other Big Ten schools due to our academics. But we have the advantage of being in a major metro area that kids tend to prefer. Our Fanbase does not have crazy expectations, and the administration has shown itself to be very supportive of the program, at least, when measured by capital investment.

You are dreaming. For a HC to have a future they have to win, Our current administration is a disaster has not shown itself to be any kind of freind of the program., Then the mass exodous leaves cupboard not in best shape and not very easy to backfill with recruiting limitations we have that other programs don't And then we are competing in one of if not the toughest conference (with the new additions) The combination makes winning with any consistency a lot more difficult. And a huge issue is the scorched earth way that the hazing incident was handled could set us back as much as 5 years in having a truley competitive roster because of limitations for us with portal, uncertainty with NIL and difficulty in dealing with our admissions, And that is probably longer than the average HCs tenure.

I am not saying it is impossible but I am trying to say that the position is not as desirable as you suggest. Because if the new HC is not successful (and it is harder to be successful here), they set their career back 5-10 years. C+ seems like a high grade

 

[Hungry Jack]

For a HC to have a future, he has to win and the barriers to winning at NU are higher than anywhere else. That is what makes it a C+ even with the lower expectations and potentially good salary. Because even with lower expectations, if they don't win, NU decides to try again and they have no place to go. Surprised they rate it that high

The biggest barrier to winning is losing, and coaches have won at Northwestern.

 

[cattul]

I would be curious as to how the writers which stack up the Northwestern job versus the jobs at Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, and Michigan State. I think you could make an argument that the northwestern job is more desirable than any of those.

Nebraska fans are devoted, but they have not caught up with the fact that the ground has shifted under that program, and their days of being in elite national program are behind them. Iowa and Wisconsin are fine programs, but I think their ceiling is a lot like that of Northwestern: challenging for a big 10 championship and going to a January 1 bowl game.

It is certainly easier to recruit at all of the other Big Ten schools due to our academics. But we have the advantage of being in a major metro area that kids tend to prefer. Our Fanbase does not have crazy expectations, and the administration has shown itself to be very supportive of the program, at least, when measured by Capital investment.

I’ve always thought that the NU job has some nice advantages to go with the challenges.

At the end of the day, schools struggle to differentiate themselves in the eyes of potential recruits. And NU is fairly unique (along with a scant few other schools like Stanford, Duke, etc.)

I think that the job of differentiation is a lot more difficult at larger schools which aren’t traditional powers. What truly distinguishes the Illinois/Indiana/Mich States of the world from one another, if you didn’t grow up in the Midwest?

How much any of that matters, I don’t know. I would imagine that positive relationships built up with the various coaching staffs account for many student athletes’ decisions. But there are some pros to go with the cons at Northwestern.

Edit: By the way, I don’t mean this post as a knock on any of the schools mentioned. The Big Ten has a lot of fine universities. This is simply addressing the challenges of ‘out of region’ recruiting.

 

[curdog]

For a HC to have a future, he has to win and the barriers to winning at NU are higher than anywhere else. That is what makes it a C+ even with the lower expectations and potentially good salary. Because even with lower expectations, if they don't win, NU decides to try again and they have no place to go. Surprised they rate it that high

Of course a coach has to win. The whole point of this thread is that you don’t have to win nearly as much at NU as you would at probably every other power 5 job. Averaging 6 wins a year will keep you at NU forever. It will get you fired anlmost everywhere else.

 

[Vassar69]

I would be curious as to how the writers which stack up the Northwestern job versus the jobs at Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, and Michigan State. I think you could make an argument that the northwestern job is more desirable than any of those.

Nebraska fans are devoted, but they have not caught up with the fact that the ground has shifted under that program, and their days of being in elite national program are behind them. Iowa and Wisconsin are fine programs, but I think their ceiling is a lot like that of Northwestern: challenging for a big 10 championship and going to a January 1 bowl game.

It is certainly easier to recruit at all of the other Big Ten schools due to our academics. But we have the advantage of being in a major metro area that kids tend to prefer. Our Fanbase does not have crazy expectations, and the administration has shown itself to be very supportive of the program, at least, when measured by capital investment.

You’ve missed NIL, which I’d argue is a massive, massive part of today’s game. It outweighs almost everything these days

 

[gocatsgo2003]

You’ve missed NIL, which I’d argue is a massive, massive part of today’s game. It outweighs almost everything these days

Fortunately am hearing positive momentum for NU with respect to NIL.

 

[NUCat320]

I’ve always thought that the NU job has some nice advantages to go with the challenges.

At the end of the day, schools struggle to differentiate themselves in the eyes of potential recruits. And NU is fairly unique (along with a scant few other schools like Stanford, Duke, etc.)

I think that the job of differentiation is a lot more difficult at larger schools which aren’t traditional powers. What truly distinguishes the Illinois/Indiana/Mich States of the world from one another, if you didn’t grow up in the Midwest?

How much any of that matters, I don’t know. I would imagine that positive relationships built up with the various coaching staffs account for many student athletes’ decisions. But there are some pros to go with the cons at Northwestern.

Edit: By the way, I don’t mean this post as a knock on any of the schools mentioned. The Big Ten has a lot of fine universities. This is simply addressing the challenges of ‘out of region’ recruiting.

In this era of easy transfers and NIL enticements, I do think NU is in a position to have more player stability. A kid who joined NU likely places, or was told to place, more stock in getting that degree. This makes it tougher to leave after even one year, let alone two or three.

 

[zeek55]

You’ve missed NIL, which I’d argue is a massive, massive part of today’s game. It outweighs almost everything these days

Once the stadium is finished, NU billionaires/multi-millionaires will have nothing left to spend money on athletically except NIL.

We'll have seen $1.3 billion spent on NU athletic facilities and won't need any big spend there for at least a generation or two.

So yeah, NIL will get taken care of here, I have 0 doubt of that.

 

[TerraCat]

Agreed, I think comparing us to the rest of the current Big Ten minus the Big 3 is where it starts to become clear that this should be a better job in several important respects.

Job stability, long leash to try and turn around the program if it slumps, the academic brand that is attractive to some of the brightest high talent players, and a very financially supportive set of boosters among the tops in the sport and generally friendly admin over the past 30 years.

Nobody here wants to cycle through coaches on a 3-5 year basis. We just want to find a guy who can take us bowling regularly, can challenge for more on a reasonable basis, and represents the school well/doesn't embarrass us.

Yes we have the smallest fanbase in the conference and our graduates are most likely to leave the footprint, and recruiting is difficult, and we have the fewest players in a 4-5 year cycle so coaches have to hit.
But everything else makes it reasonable for a coach to come in here and have a tenure like our last 3 coaches which would keep fans generally happy.

I agree, and I think what we need is someone like a Fitz, who coaches like Braun. Fitz loved the place, but he got complacent with hiring, and was way too loyal to players and coaches. He was not a good "football guy". He wanted to pound the ball, and play defense. You got the sense he was happy being "The Football Coach". But a truly great human being!

We have won a lot of games over the past 28 years with a DC like Colby and at time weak OC's too! Over the past few years, Fitz failed to really recognize his need for a competent quarterback, and a decent scheme, basic accountability. If the coaches put in the time and develop the players here, there are quality kids who want to come here.

I think Braun is an NU guy, he fits the place. High character, knows football. Can he hire? That is the huge question? Can he recruit to win here? And can he hire guys as well? We will see, but I really love this hire!! And I am very excited for the future!