Rittenberg on Fitz

[phatcat]

He grades the whole team but I'm only past in the coaching part


Coaching: D-minus

Fitzgerald and his staff faced plenty of challenges, including the union debate and Mark's shocking preseason exit, but Northwestern didn't look prepared for its first two games and dropped both. The Wildcats also were smacked 48-7 by a mediocre Iowa team following an open week. Northwestern had three quality wins -- Wisconsin, Penn State and Notre Dame -- but struggled at home for the second straight season. The offensive scheme was wholly unimaginative and Fitzgerald's conservative slant surfaced too often. Northwestern showed some of its trademark resiliency but not nearly enough.

 

[stpaulcat]

I'm glad someone besides this board is saying this. They need to hear it, since I don't think they've heard it.

Couple months ago, I emailed Dr. Phillips mentioning that if the problems on the field continued (which didn't seem to be addressed well enough during the season), there will be in a drop off in revenue from ticket sales, including season tickets (well, that's obvious).

So, what do we get? Videos encouraging season ticket holders to renew their tickets. Nothing on the problems on the field. No insights, no apparent actions, nothing. WE won't know until next September. Gosh, I sound like Turk. I'm not a Fitz basher at all, but next year is critical for Fitz.

 

[Turk]

The Problem of Fitz. Confirmed!

 

[Turk]

virtually no tickets have been purchased over the past week. If you go to nusports.com and try to purchase tickets. Click "Best seats" and the same two seats in section 128, row 77 have come up over the last week.

I thought for sure that they would lower the STH prices, especially with a lame home schedule without one top 20 team.

That said, I think Thorson will save Fitz' butt. If Thorson isn't the real deal, although I believe he is, then I don't see any other option where we win more than a few games again.

 

[pawildcat]

Aren't you one of the guys who claims NU doesn't invest enough in athletics? Now you think they should lower season ticket prices, which already are low compared to many B1G schools? Yeah, that'll get things built.

We need improvement out of many more players than Thorson to save anyone's butt, and that's assuming Thorson, who hasn't played a down for NU yet, is the real deal. We also need to avoid getting a third of our team injured, which I noticed was barely mentioned in Rittenberg's D- assessment.

 

[phatcat]

Originally posted by pawildcat:
We also need to avoid getting a third of our team injured, which I noticed was barely mentioned in Rittenberg's D- assessment.

OK PA, let us know how to do that. Because clearly we didn't learn from 2013 when the same thing happened. It might be bad luck, or it might be bad conditioning.

I don't expect us to ever have the depth that dOSU has, and I accept that there were key injuries that had significant effects; however, if you think there werent any instances of poor coaching - either on gameday or during practices, which led to failure of players to execute, then I think you are in denial. We are supposed to have the best recruits ever, fastest, strongest, yet they cannot consistently block or catch the ball. Other teams recruits block and catch the ball. Why not ours?

 

[shakes3858]

And if you would've asked Rittenberg the same question in January of 2013, Fitz would've gotten an A+++, and would've been commended on the innovation of the 2 QB system and having Colter play multiple positions. Anyway, when I want to know about how good a football coach is, I go to a guy that looks like this (Sarcasm alert):

 

[Styre]

...you do know there's nothing contradictory in giving a coach a good grade for one season and a bad grade for another, right?

 

[shakes3858]

Originally posted by Styre:
...you do know there's nothing contradictory in giving a coach a good grade for one season and a bad grade for another, right?

Sure... if the coach just completely forgot what he's doing or stopped giving a crap. Does that sound like Fitz? Do you know what the real difference was? In 2012, we were insanely healthy. In 2014, we had 34 guys out with injuries and several more playing despite being injured. 2013 was almost as bad. It's amazing to see what 34+ injured players does a coaching grade made up by some ESPN talking head douchebag that has no idea what he's talking about.

 

[IGNORE2]

I am still curious if the strength and conditioning coach plays a role in the number of injuries. I have noticed that half the mens BB team is hobbling around in walking boots. Do they share the same strength and conditioning coach?

 

[Evanstonian]

We also dropped a ton of passes. If we'd caught more, the whole season could have been different.

 

[clarificationcat]

If the BB players on pulling or straining muscles, we might be able to blame the strength and conditioning coach. Stress fractures and sprained ankles are kind of hard to pin on the coaching. I am assuming you were joking.

 

[pawildcat]

I said we needed to avoid it. Obviously, there would be no injuries if there were a surefire way to stop them. If we have an inordinate amount of injuries again this year, I think it will be imperative to review whether there is something in the way we're coaching strength conditioning and exercise that is not preparing our players for the rigor of a 12-game schedule.

Where in my statement did I say there weren't any instances of poor coaching last year? Yes, we do have some of the better recruits we've had, and many of them were sitting on the sidelines watching by the end of last year. To say the injuries caused all of our problems last year is not close to reality. To say they caused none of our problems is silly. It's not a stretch at all to say we beat Illinois if Trevor and even a couple of our other injured players are playing, sending us to a bowl game. Yes, Ohio State has more depth than we do, but you think they beat Alabama if all their fastest ends are out, Bosa and one of their other top linemen don't play, their defensive captain at linebacker is out and they're so thin in the secondary that they're moving linebackers to safety? That's basically where we were by the last game. I will say I've never seen a college team go three-deep with as much talent at QB as Ohio State had this year. Obviously, that saved their butt.

Other teams' recruits block and catch the ball? Depends on the team and the game. I was at the Notre Dame game, and we probably dropped as many balls at that one as we did all year. Yet we still won, because some of those highly touted Notre Dame recruits couldn't tackle worth a damn. Also, their coach made a decision that was dumber than anything I saw Fitz do all year.

I certainly think we had more instances of bad coaching than we should have last year, and some of the players' performances were less than stellar at times as well. But I also noticed it was a big deal when Oregon lost two of their ends for the title game, and that their loss against Arizona and shaky performances early in the year were largely blamed on injury problems in their offensive line. Yet, when Northwestern sustains injuries, the narrative appears to be it's just Northwestern and they suck.

 

[Well cataloged]

Re: "...I go to a guy that looks like this."

If Hollywood ever does a remake of Dr. Strangelove, there are three roles waiting for Adam: Lieutenant Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley and Dr. Strangelove ("I can valk! I can valk!") himself.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Just win baby.

 

[Smokejumper]

The floor at Welsh Ryan has always been the topic of speculation and curses etc - almost like Wrigley and the black cat...

During the past 30 years (as long as i have been following the team), there has been an unusual number of back, foot and knee related injuries. So many that it was not uncommon for people to speculate that the arena was built on an indian burial ground or things much more obscure and ridiculous.

It saddens me to make the list, so i've deleted it...

 

[hdhntr1]

Why would you expect different?

 

[stpaulcat]

Yes, there were a lot of injuries. But, it was more than injuries. Next year will tell the tale, injuries or not.

 

[Fitz51]

Originally posted by shakes3858:

Sure... if the coach just completely forgot what he's doing or stopped giving a crap. Does that sound like Fitz? Do you know what the real difference was? In 2012, we were insanely healthy. In 2014, we had 34 guys out with injuries and several more playing despite being injured. 2013 was almost as bad. It's amazing to see what 34+ injured players does a coaching grade made up by some ESPN talking head douchebag that has no idea what he's talking about.

The last I looked, the national champion had to go 4 deep at QB.

Injuries are indeed difficult to overcome, and I know it is easier for a program that has a 4th stringer who could start for NU, but still.

 

[Gladeskat]

Originally posted by Smokejumper:
The floor at Welsh Ryan has always been the topic of speculation and curses etc - almost like Wrigley and the black cat...

During the past 30 years (as long as i have been following the team), there has been an unusual number of back, foot and knee related injuries. So many that it was not uncommon for people to speculate that the arena was built on an indian burial ground or things much more obscure and ridiculous.

It saddens me to make the list, so i've deleted it...

So why should we believe you when you provide zero evidence?

 

[IGNORE2]

Not joking.

I'm not an MD, but have a little medical background. As I understand, risk of stress fractures can be reduce with proper training and ankle sprains are sometimes a result of weak ankle ligaments that can also be strengthened.

I'm not jumping out here and pointed the finger...yet. I'm just curious. When I attended, my non-revenue sport shared a common strength and conditioning coach from the athletic department. (I was not a weight room guy and never thought about the S&C coach, who he coached or much about S&C.) I wonder now if it is the same coach across all sports.

Obviously, the football team has had many, many injuries over the last few years. The BB team is seemingly joining that trend.

Injuries happen. But mass injuries suggest to me that, in addition to those predestined injuries, something about the program may be contributing to, or failing to protect, these guys.

But I don't know. I would be really interested to hear what somebody in the medical or sports medicine industry might say. Instead, I will sit back and wait for Glades to arrive...

 

[realcatfan]

Originally posted by Fitz51:

Originally posted by shakes3858:

Sure... if the coach just completely forgot what he's doing or stopped giving a crap. Does that sound like Fitz? Do you know what the real difference was? In 2012, we were insanely healthy. In 2014, we had 34 guys out with injuries and several more playing despite being injured. 2013 was almost as bad. It's amazing to see what 34+ injured players does a coaching grade made up by some ESPN talking head douchebag that has no idea what he's talking about.

The last I looked, the national champion had to go 4 deep at QB.

Injuries are indeed difficult to overcome, and I know it is easier for a program that has a 4th stringer who could start for NU, but still.

Last time I looked it was 3 QBs. Additionally, outside of the Quarterback position, Ohio State was incredibly healthy. I think the only other major player that was down was tight end Jeff Haurerman.

Oregon's #2 and #3 wide receivers Devon Allen and Darren Carrington were out for an injury and a suspension respectively. The team had the previous season's second leading wide receiver Bralon Addison out from spring practice. Starting tight end Pharoah Brown also went down with an injury in November. See why Oregon only put up 20 points against an extremely healthy Ohio State defense.

 

[Sheffielder]

We didn't play Ohio State. We played Illinois, and Iowa, and Michigan, so on.

Two out of every three FBS teams make it to a bowl game every year. Going into each season, you are statistically more likely than not to make it to a bowl game if you're an FBS program. So we have managed to beat the odds for two straight seasons, even though our program starts every year with tens of millions of more dollars that half of the rest of the competitive field. But that was then, and a new season is ~200 days away. Same staff, different results. Right?

Six wins. I'm only asking for six. Half. I can't set my expectations any lower.

 

[Seattle_Cat]

We lost the first 2 games due to lack of preparation and poor game planning. That's coaching!! The Fitz lovers can blame later losses on injuries, but not those.

If Fitz doesn't quit the micromanaging and let the assistants run things then I say we need a new coach. You can see his super conservative approach on both O and D. He coaches not to lose in most games.

 

[Turk]

Imo when a coach intentionally makes sure his team is not prepared until the 4th game of the year, injuries happen because our players have to go from 1st gear to 4th gear without hitting gear 2 @ 3.
One idea may be to use kenosha as walker did instead of having players walking around scrathing their nuts and having watermellon eating contest and movie night. Sounds like kenosha turned into a 3 star resort. Injuries happen under such conditions. At least throw up avolleyball net for some physical activity.

Cripes, last year we had players disappearing going partying back home getting in trouble with the law.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Originally posted by Turk:
Imo when a coach intentionally makes sure his team is not prepared until the 4th game of the year, injuries happen because our players have to go from 1st gear to 4th gear without hitting gear 2 @ 3.
One idea may be to use kenosha as walker did instead of having players walking around scrathing their nuts and having watermellon eating contest and movie night. Sounds like kenosha turned into a 3 star resort. Injuries happen under such conditions. At least throw up avolleyball net for some physical activity.

Cripes, last year we had players disappearing going partying back home getting in trouble with the law.

You really have to stop. You're revealing your idiocy with every post like this one.

 

[Turk]

Perhaps a bit hyperbolic but "spot on". Cant go from walk thrus to full go without raising the risk of injury.
Even though fans pointed this out, fitz didnt stop the country club until Teddy G called him out.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Originally posted by Turk:
Perhaps a bit hyperbolic but "spot on". Cant go from walk thrus to full go without raising the risk of injury.
Even though fans pointed this out, fitz didnt stop the country club until Teddy G called him out.

1) You said "a coach intentionally makes sure his team is not prepared until the 4th game of the year..." That's ridiculous.

2) Fitz made a judgement call to scale back the physicality in Kenosha because he had a lot of veteran players coming back. The idea was to keep the guys as healthy as possible and rely on their experience to be able to "turn it on" once the season started. I don't think it was a good idea and the results bore themselves out early in the season, but I can at least see the thought process.

3) If you think input from Teddy G or anyone outside the program led to the change in practice habits, you're kidding yourself.

 

[Turk]

something is wrong

I dont believe in injury bugs, i think most of this is self induced thru backwards methods.

 

[Gladeskat]

Originally posted by Seattle_Cat:
We lost the first 2 games due to lack of preparation and poor game planning. That's coaching!! The Fitz lovers can blame later losses on injuries, but not those.

If Fitz doesn't quit the micromanaging and let the assistants run things then I say we need a new coach. You can see his super conservative approach on both O and D. He coaches not to lose in most games.

Grunge is alive and well in Seattle. Do you blame the coaches for all the dropped TD passes in those first two games, too?

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Re: something is wrong

Originally posted by Turk:
I dont believe in injury bugs, i think most of this is self induced thru backwards methods.

Most/many of our injuries aren't soft tissue injuries, which are preventable by training methods -- there's nothing our strength and conditioning could have done for Trevor's ankle or ACL, CJones' ACL, Shuler's broken wrist, Buckley's broken wrist, Ellis' concussions, DJones' ACL, White's kidney, McEvilly's plantar fasciitis (though that can be alleviated somewhat with the proper lifting regimen), Kuhar's ACL, Fuessel's situation, Anderson's hip, etc.

The only significant guys I can think of with soft tissue injuries last year were Campbell and TJones with hamstrings, but both of those guys had issues with their hammies throughout their careers. On the flipside, our strength and conditioning guys got Prater in to the best health he's ever had.

At the end of the day, you hope that the last two years have been flukey, but you are also paying close attention to your training methods to see if there are things that can be tweaked.








This post was edited on 1/31 3:29 PM by gocatsgo2003

 

[phatcat]

Originally posted by Gladeskat:

Originally posted by Seattle_Cat:
We lost the first 2 games due to lack of preparation and poor game planning. That's coaching!! The Fitz lovers can blame later losses on injuries, but not those.

If Fitz doesn't quit the micromanaging and let the assistants run things then I say we need a new coach. You can see his super conservative approach on both O and D. He coaches not to lose in most games.

Grunge is alive and well in Seattle. Do you blame the coaches for all the dropped TD passes in those first two games, too?

Depends - I didn't go to Kenosha, were there sufficient drills on ball handling? Did guys that caught the ball in practice get playing time over the early droppers? Or did the coaches just recruit guys that can't catch?

In the end, the coaches get the roses when they win and the thorns when they lose. I will be relieved if the downward trend spotted by Feli is reversed, but now it is pretty obvious. We just are not nearly as good a team as 2008 to 2010

 

[mybrotha]

I have been saving a post I wrote until after signing day. I think when you read it you will agree with my assessment of our football program. Suffice it to say, the Zach Allen decision did not surprise me and I fear there will be more.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Originally posted by mybrotha:
I have been saving a post I wrote until after signing day. I think when you read it you will agree with my assessment of our football program. Suffice it to say, the Zach Allen decision did not surprise me and I fear there will be more.

Oh joy! We get to read yet another "fan" deciding to tear down the football program after two subpar seasons! Hooray!

 

[Gladeskat]

Oh boy!

Originally posted by gocatsgo2003:

Originally posted by mybrotha:
I have been saving a post I wrote until after signing day. I think when you read it you will agree with my assessment of our football program. Suffice it to say, the Zach Allen decision did not surprise me and I fear there will be more.

Oh joy! We get to read yet another "fan" deciding to tear down the football program after two subpar seasons! Hooray!

I can't wait to read this seminal post about our two 5-7 seasons! Please give us a sneak preview!

 

[Smokejumper]

Alright Glades, i don't want to get into a pissing match because most of my recollection is from 25 years ago...

Larry Gorman - top 100 player from the chicago area, hernia or herniated discs as a freshman and never recovered fully
Bryan Ross - back injuries that significantly limited his playing time in the late 80s.
Jeff Grose (Mr. BB - Indiana) foot injuries that limited his playing time early in his career.
Don Brotz - Foot or knee injury
Walker Lambiotte - bone spurs in feet
Eschmeyer - nagging back issues
Coble - lisfranc...

Wasn't todd leslie in a walking boot for part of one season?

Any others that anyone can recall?!?

Obviously injuries are always part of the challenge each season, but NU mens BB has always suffered from a disproprortionate number of injury issues.

There are even some unusual situations that aren't even related to playing time at NU.

Nick Knapp and his heart condition that caused him to be unable to play at NU.
Kevin Nixon recovering from a knee injury the summer before his freshman year.
Rob Ross blowing out his knee during a season where we were able to play head to head with an Eric Anderson led IU and a Duke team that visited WR.

Many tragic injury situations that prevented NU from turning the corner in the late 80s and early 90s when a nucleus was there to be very competitive in the Big Ten...

 

[Gladeskat]

Thanks! I wasn't trying to be rude, but could not understand why someone would withhold evidence that supports their position.

 

[epicbret]

Even if some of it is on Fitz, do you think NU would get rid of him? Hell no. This isn't Bill Carmody, it's Walk's hand picked heir and an NU great. No way he'd be fired after either if the next two years.

 

[mybrotha]

Two sub par seasons, however, how many more sub par seasons will there be? Try this on for size. Minnesota-Getting better every year under a seasoned winning coach with a great track record. Ohio State-National champion with improvement every year under Urban Meyer. Michigan State- Top ten this year with Dantanio. Michigan-Yeah they stink, but not for long with Harbaugh. How much you wanna bet they have a winning record next year. Illinois-Even they were better this year and clobbered us the last game of the season. I'll leave all the other teams out for now. But these are all schools going in the right direction, can you truly tell me that we are going in the right direction? Injuries, completely clueless preparation for the beginning of the year, utterly no imagination for anything different on offense etc. Rittenberg grades Fitz a D- I'll give him a C- because his guys hung in there and didn't quit and if Siemian was healthy, we would have beat Illinois. This year we will return all the same coaches, with all the same ideas. So tell me with most of the other teams in our league improving, what are we doing to improve? Lot's of pressure on a red shirt freshman in Thorson. If he isn't as believed to be, how do you think we will fair next year?

 

[gocatsgo2003]

So what original point will you be making that we haven't already turned over multiple times on this board?