suddenly. Unfortunately for him, the dream job turned into a nightmare and a coaching dead end for him but that doesn't take away from what he accomplished here. As ECat stated, he did not leave the cupboard bare and what's more, he removed the stigma of "losers
Gary Barnett produced a college football miracle in 1995. It was his first college head coaching gig and like any sudden success, it can be hard to process. In addition, he may not have thought he could keep it going at Northwestern, with the facilities disadvantages, not to mention coaching pay scales. Fitz seems to be getting the necessary support to sustain the success he's had so far even with the bar raised to a much higher level in terms of overall competitiveness in the Big Ten.
That 0-and-8 league season may have added to Gary's insecurity, but he still wasn't going to leave until his "dream job" of Colorado opened up suddenly. Unfortunately for him, the dream job turned into a nightmare and a coaching dead end for him but that doesn't take away from what he accomplished here. As ECat stated, he did not leave the cupboard bare and what's more, he removed the stigma of "losers" that had been attached to the program, something Chris Collins is trying to do right now on the basketball side. That, and not the academic restrictions, has been the hardest thing for Northwestern to overcome.
Yes, and what he accomplished at NU still makes him arguably the greatest coach we ever had in any of our lifetimes. Arguable only because we had a guy named Ara Parseghian too, and some of us (though not me) were alive back then.
If recognizing that makes me Barnett's greatest fanboy, then I plead guilty. I doubt it is a very accurate label though.
Some seem to think that the Walker years were somehow more impressive and program contributing. Those same people likely thought Carmody was a great coach and our performance during his reign was acceptable.