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Scumbaugh Strikes Again!

This is big time football. Yes I like the fact that so far I think NU does it the right way and competes. But to reach the next level consistently, not every now and then, requires a certain level of moral grayness. Happens in all industries, really if you think about it.

If you don't want to compete amongst the sharks and play by their rules, we ought to consider going the U of C route.
 
This is big time football. Yes I like the fact that so far I think NU does it the right way and competes. But to reach the next level consistently, not every now and then, requires a certain level of moral grayness. Happens in all industries, really if you think about it.

If you don't want to compete amongst the sharks and play by their rules, we ought to consider going the U of C route.

I see you don't know much about counter-programming. One doesn't need to go the U of C route if they don't want to act like Harbaugh in this instance.
 
There are always two sides to a story and you are believing the one that is out there. JH cannot comment on this, but enough people behind the scenes have said the kid knew for some time and he was encouraged to take other visits. If he couldn't understand what that meant, then its on him and his family.

That doesn't excuse the contemptible act of pulling the scholarship in the first place.
 
There really ought to be a level playing field. Players can walk away from verbals, so can coaches. Remedy: do away with signing dates and put meat into the scholarship offer. Like any contract, it can be written with clauses that withdraw the offer up until the acceptance. But once accepted, regardless of when in time, bind both parties. Counts against scholarship limits for the team and player loses eligibility to play D1 elsewhere. Players and coaches can agree to dissolve the contract and can enforce the contract.
 
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There really ought to be a level playing field. Players can walk away from verbals, so can coaches. Remedy: do away with signing dates and put meat into the scholarship offer. Like any contract, it can be written with clauses that withdraw the offer up until the acceptance. But once accepted, regardless of when in time, bind both parties. Counts against scholarship limits for the team and player loses eligibility to play D1 elsewhere. Players and coaches can agree to dissolve the contract and can enforce the contract.

The only issue I see, from a pure contract law standpoint, is that many recruits don't turn 18 until well into senior year, so the contract is voidable to the underage recruit (meaning he can agree to enforce it or not) while the football program can't enforce it under any circumstances. Then again, maybe that's the point.
 
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There are always two sides to a story and you are believing the one that is out there. JH cannot comment on this, but enough people behind the scenes have said the kid knew for some time and he was encouraged to take other visits. If he couldn't understand what that meant, then its on him and his family.

Sorry but that is BS. I have contacts directly involved with local HS football, national recruiting and the family that have verified the sequence of events that have been discussed in the media. The first time anyone at Michigan told the Swenson family that he no longer had his scholarship was during the second week in January. You can say whatever you want if it makes you feel better but the facts of this situation are pretty damning. In addition, it's not like this is the first situation of this type that Harbaugh has been involved with. We at NU are very familiar with several similar situations that Harbaugh was involved with at Stanford involving players that we were also recruiting. The only difference is that at Stanford he used Stanford's admissions office to deny admittance to any committed players that he no longer wanted. He can't pull that off at Michigan. The guy has been pulling this BS for years and the media is finally starting to catch on. Mark my words, this is the beginning of the end for Harbaugh at Michigan. Enjoy him while he is there because this act will wear thin soon and Jimbo will take his act back to the NFL when the scrutiny becomes too intense.
 
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Sorry but that is BS. I have contacts directly involved with local HS football, national recruiting and the family that have verified the sequence of events that have been discussed in the media. The first time anyone at Michigan told the Swenson family that he no longer had his scholarship was during the second week in January. You can say whatever you want if it makes you feel better but the facts of this situation and pretty damning. In addition, it's not like this is the first situation of the type that Harbaugh has been involved with. We at NU are very familiar with several similar situations that Harbaugh was involved with at Stanford involving players that we were also recruiting. The only difference is that at Stanford he used Stanford's admissions office to deny admittance to any committed players that he no longer wanted. He can't pull that off at Michigan. The guy has been pulling this BS for years and the media is finally starting to catch on. Mark my words, this is the beginning of the end for Harbaugh at Michigan. Enjoy him while he is there because this act will wear thin soon and Jimbo will take his act back to the NFL when the scrutiny becomes too intense.

Agree-polecat is flat out wrong here. If Michigan had been telling him for months why did the O line coach visit in December? This is exactly what it appears to be, a coach reneging on an offer because he likes others better. Let Hardballs hide behind his cover of we can't speak about recruits. How convenient!
 
That's BS. Swenson's HS season was over long ago yet he was still scheduled to take his official visit and still had a Michigan offer as of a few days ago. If Harbaugh truly was disappointed in Swenson's on field performance and did not feel he was good enough to play at Michigan, then he could have pulled the offer and shut down communications with Swenson in November. He did not. Why? Because Harbaugh was hedging his bets and did not pull the rug out from under Swenson until he was certain he could find a better player. Word is locally that Harbaugh will use Swenson's scholarship to poach Josh King from MSU. Harbaugh flat out used the kid and left him high and dry at the last moment. This behavior is reprehensible and should not be tolerated by Michigan or any self respecting university.
Add that it should not be tolerated by the BIG. Makes the whole conference look bad.
 
Another Michigan "decommit" today. Antwaine Richardson, a CB from Florida. Coincidently, David Long committed today who also plays CB and is more highly rated. Hmmm. Stay tuned.
 
I don't love what he's doing, but if every time he does it someone writes an article and uses the Colter recruiting story as an example, that's not a bad thing for NU. not that we want to be known as a school that takes other school's rejects, but at least it can spotlight - by way of contrast - that NU does things the right way.
 
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The only issue I see, from a pure contract law standpoint, is that many recruits don't turn 18 until well into senior year, so the contract is voidable to the underage recruit (meaning he can agree to enforce it or not) while the football program can't enforce it under any circumstances. Then again, maybe that's the point.

Doesn't need to be enforceable in a Court of Law. NCAA can "redefine" their definition of eligibility including only any student that has not previously agreed in writing to accept an athletic scholarship from another D1 institution. Age of majority no longer in play.
 
This is big time football. Yes I like the fact that so far I think NU does it the right way and competes. But to reach the next level consistently, not every now and then, requires a certain level of moral grayness. Happens in all industries, really if you think about it.

If you don't want to compete amongst the sharks and play by their rules, we ought to consider going the U of C route.

That's BS. I don't think other schools do what Harbaugh did here. In fact, ND and dOSU told Swenson that they wouldn't.

Call me naïve, but I think you can do it the right way and still win championships. Barnett showed us the way. It can be done and I reject the notion that it cannot be.
 
I see you don't know much about counter-programming. One doesn't need to go the U of C route if they don't want to act like Harbaugh in this instance.
That's BS. I don't think other schools do what Harbaugh did here. In fact, ND and dOSU told Swenson that they wouldn't.

Call me naïve, but I think you can do it the right way and still win championships. Barnett showed us the way. It can be done and I reject the notion that it cannot be.
I sure hope so. It's been 15 years since we won any sort of title and 20 yeas since Rose Bowl. As much as we crap on Minnesota and ND for living in the past, titles are becoming memories of yesteryear.
 
I sure hope so. It's been 15 years since we won any sort of title and 20 yeas since Rose Bowl. As much as we crap on Minnesota and ND for living in the past, titles are becoming memories of yesteryear.

All right, let's get real for a second here. The only reason that we haven't been to the Rose Bowl again is because we don't have Gary Barnett here anymore. The guy was a motivational genius on the field, a charismatic recruiter who didn't miss a trick off the field, and a guy who knew how to identify and hire the right people around him to sell his program.

We have "Barnett Lite" here, a disciple of the McCartney/Barnett Church but an apostolic imitator who doesn't bring anything new except that he's an alum with roots here. Our Lite Brew is heavy on motivation gimmicks, too, but they're weak and worn out from overuse ("trust yourself" anybody?--how do you trust yourself when you can't catch the ball?). Fitz admits that he's not too bright but he's always shouting and screaming when a recruit commits. Compare that style with the sparkle in Matinee Idol Gary's eyes. Fitz hires a few guys but mostly keeps the same people he inherited because he was afraid to make his own mark and really move on from Walker, as if it would insult Randy in the grave.

Incendiary thoughts? Sure, but unlike Evanston Cat, who wants to LOSE the right way, I want to WIN and anybody who thinks Gary Barnett didn't know how to bend some rules doesn't know anything. Barney was quite simply an awesome head coach and did what it took, right to the brink. Our guy now is a good MAN but is he a good coach? Maybe a good cheerleader who once was a tremendously heady LB, but he's no Barnett and until we can hire a guy like Gary or Ara again, we will not be going to a Rose Bowl.
 
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There are always two sides to a story and you are believing the one that is out there. JH cannot comment on this, but enough people behind the scenes have said the kid knew for some time and he was encouraged to take other visits. If he couldn't understand what that meant, then its on him and his family.
Harbaugh's track record at Stanford confirms his approach to recruiting. I bet the MIch disinformation campaign sowed what you just posted.
 
All right, let's get real for a second here. The only reason that we haven't been to the Rose Bowl again is because we don't have Gary Barnett here anymore. The guy was a motivational genius on the field, a charismatic recruiter who didn't miss a trick off the field, and a guy who knew how to identify and hire the right people around him to sell his program.

We have "Barnett Lite" here, a disciple of the McCartney/Barnett Church but an apostolic imitator who doesn't bring anything new except that he's an alum with roots here. Our Lite Brew is heavy on motivation gimmicks, too, but they're weak and worn out from overuse ("trust yourself" anybody?--how do you trust yourself when you can't catch the ball?). Fitz admits that he's not too bright but he's always shouting and screaming when a recruit commits. Compare that style with the sparkle in Matinee Idol Gary's eyes. Fitz hires a few guys but mostly keeps the same people he inherited because he was afraid to make his own mark and really move on from Walker, as if it would insult Randy in the grave.

Incendiary thoughts? Sure, but unlike Evanston Cat, who wants to LOSE the right way, I want to WIN and anybody who thinks Gary Barnett didn't know how to bend some rules doesn't know anything. Barney was quite simply an awesome head coach and did what it took, right to the brink. Our guy now is a good MAN but is he a good coach? Maybe a good cheerleader who once was a tremendously heady LB, but he's no Barnett and until we can hire a guy like Gary or Ara again, we will not be going to a Rose Bowl.

Um...I'm a huge fan of Coach Barnett, but by your thinking he apparently didn't know how to bend some rules enough. He only had a winning record in 7 of 16 seasons as a head coach. So, yours wasn't incendiary thinking. You gotta have a spark to catch fire. What you offered was just a lot of hot air.
 
Um...I'm a huge fan of Coach Barnett, but by your thinking he apparently didn't know how to bend some rules enough. He only had a winning record in 7 of 16 seasons as a head coach. So, yours wasn't incendiary thinking. You gotta have a spark to catch fire. What you offered was just a lot of hot air.

Oh, we're counting Ft. Lewis? You're hilarious.

He was a big-boy college HC for 14 and had a winning record in seven of them, including six bowl appearances and three conference titles. Remind me, how many titles has Fitzgerald won?

You think Coach Fitzgerald is better than Coach Barnett in any way? Maybe Fitz doesn't have a wandering eye toward other schools, but otherwise?

Also, it's unfair to saddle Gary with some of those losing seasons. The front end years were Coach Peay's players including guys who threw games. The '97 season was affected by losing a star prep QB way back in '95 and never replacing him, Autry leaving early after '96, and Bates getting hurt. Really, you can blame Barnett for '98 and that's it, in my opinion. Fitzgerald has had a bunch of "dog" years like that.
 
All right, let's get real for a second here. The only reason that we haven't been to the Rose Bowl again is because we don't have Gary Barnett here anymore. The guy was a motivational genius on the field, a charismatic recruiter who didn't miss a trick off the field, and a guy who knew how to identify and hire the right people around him to sell his program.

We have "Barnett Lite" here, a disciple of the McCartney/Barnett Church but an apostolic imitator who doesn't bring anything new except that he's an alum with roots here. Our Lite Brew is heavy on motivation gimmicks, too, but they're weak and worn out from overuse ("trust yourself" anybody?--how do you trust yourself when you can't catch the ball?). Fitz admits that he's not too bright but he's always shouting and screaming when a recruit commits. Compare that style with the sparkle in Matinee Idol Gary's eyes. Fitz hires a few guys but mostly keeps the same people he inherited because he was afraid to make his own mark and really move on from Walker, as if it would insult Randy in the grave.

Incendiary thoughts? Sure, but unlike Evanston Cat, who wants to LOSE the right way, I want to WIN and anybody who thinks Gary Barnett didn't know how to bend some rules doesn't know anything. Barney was quite simply an awesome head coach and did what it took, right to the brink. Our guy now is a good MAN but is he a good coach? Maybe a good cheerleader who once was a tremendously heady LB, but he's no Barnett and until we can hire a guy like Gary or Ara again, we will not be going to a Rose Bowl.

No, I do not want to LOSE the right way. I want to WIN the right way. I don't think Barnett did anything unethical. If you don't have anything to point to, then don't make that assertion. I agree Barnett was the best coach we ever had, and had he stayed, I think we'd be well on our way to dominance in the league. But, instead, we got the Walker years, which unfortunately appear to have had more influence on Fitzgerald than his time with Barnett apparently.

I have given up on Fitz being willing to what's needed to win (staff changes) but I do hope the facilities will help improve our recruiting to another level that should reap dividends. In any case, I do NOT want to see 5 win seasons ever again, and want us to be winning titles. I don't think we need to stoop to dOSU's institutionalized academic cheating or UMich's unethical recruiting behaviors to do it though. Barnett didn't do it, and I don't think it's a prerequisite to win at all. I just hope that the facilities can push us over the top, and together with the coaching on the D side of the ball, will get us the championships that have eluded us for the past 15 years.
 
Oh, we're counting Ft. Lewis? You're hilarious.

He was a big-boy college HC for 14 and had a winning record in seven of them, including six bowl appearances and three conference titles. Remind me, how many titles has Fitzgerald won?

You think Coach Fitzgerald is better than Coach Barnett in any way? Maybe Fitz doesn't have a wandering eye toward other schools, but otherwise?

Also, it's unfair to saddle Gary with some of those losing seasons. The front end years were Coach Peay's players including guys who threw games. The '97 season was affected by losing a star prep QB way back in '95 and never replacing him, Autry leaving early after '96, and Bates getting hurt. Really, you can blame Barnett for '98 and that's it, in my opinion. Fitzgerald has had a bunch of "dog" years like that.

Oh, so Coach Barnett wasn't Head Coach at Fort Lewis or he only became a motivational genius, charismatic recruiter, and "Matinee Idol" who knew how to take it to the brink once he got to NU? I don't want to make this into anything diminishing Coach Barnett and all the amazing things he's accomplished. But, if you throw out two losing seasons at Fort Lewis and throw out the first three years of losing seasons building something at NU and just start with the incredible Rose Bowl year...you know what Coach Barnett's career head coaching winning percentage would be? 56%. After building it up and creating the championship foundation that some people claim Fitz and Walker had easy work building upon...taking only the years that show him at the height of his "Matinee Idol" glory...Coach Barnett won 56% of the time. And that's pretty damn good. He was an amazing coach, is a great person, and did awesome things in his time at NU.

But, wanna know what Fitz's career winning percentage is?

For a guy who claims to be about winning, all you offer is a bunch of excuses. I'm sure Coach Barnett wouldn't embrace your loser talk of running away from his record. He's better than that. Yup...all you offer is just a bunch of hot air.
 
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Oh, so Coach Barnett wasn't Head Coach at Fort Lewis or he only became a motivational genius, charismatic recruiter, and "Matinee Idol" who knew how to take it to the brink once he got to NU? I don't want to make this into anything diminishing Coach Barnett and all the amazing things he's accomplished. But, if you throw out two losing seasons at Fort Lewis and throw out the first three years of losing seasons building something at NU and just start with the incredible Rose Bowl year...you know what Coach Barnett's career head coaching winning percentage would be? 56%. After building it up and creating the championship foundation that some people claim Fitz and Walker had easy work building upon...taking only the years that show him at the height of his "Matinee Idol" glory...Coach Barnett won 56% of the time. And that's pretty damn good. He was an amazing coach, is a great person, and did awesome things in his time at NU.

But, wanna know what Fitz's career winning percentage is?

For a guy who claims to be about winning, all you offer is a bunch of excuses. I'm sure Coach Barnett wouldn't embrace your loser talk of running away from his record. He's better than that. Yup...all you offer is just a bunch of hot air.

So, are you saying that Fitz has accomplished more and is a better coach than Gary Barnett? I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I'm trying to comprehend what it is that you're saying before I explode with disbelief.
 
Harbaugh is the Putin of college football. I'm sure more unsavory stuff will come out I'm sure in the near future.
 
All right, let's get real for a second here. The only reason that we haven't been to the Rose Bowl again is because we don't have Gary Barnett here anymore. The guy was a motivational genius on the field, a charismatic recruiter who didn't miss a trick off the field, and a guy who knew how to identify and hire the right people around him to sell his program.

We have "Barnett Lite" here, a disciple of the McCartney/Barnett Church but an apostolic imitator who doesn't bring anything new except that he's an alum with roots here. Our Lite Brew is heavy on motivation gimmicks, too, but they're weak and worn out from overuse ("trust yourself" anybody?--how do you trust yourself when you can't catch the ball?). Fitz admits that he's not too bright but he's always shouting and screaming when a recruit commits. Compare that style with the sparkle in Matinee Idol Gary's eyes. Fitz hires a few guys but mostly keeps the same people he inherited because he was afraid to make his own mark and really move on from Walker, as if it would insult Randy in the grave.

Incendiary thoughts? Sure, but unlike Evanston Cat, who wants to LOSE the right way, I want to WIN and anybody who thinks Gary Barnett didn't know how to bend some rules doesn't know anything. Barney was quite simply an awesome head coach and did what it took, right to the brink. Our guy now is a good MAN but is he a good coach? Maybe a good cheerleader who once was a tremendously heady LB, but he's no Barnett and until we can hire a guy like Gary or Ara again, we will not be going to a Rose Bowl.

Wrong thread. We have the obligatory love fest for Barney every couple of weeks. Let's get this on back on topic of Hardballs being a scum as that is much more lively as we go into signing day.
 
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Oh, we're counting Ft. Lewis? You're hilarious.

He was a big-boy college HC for 14 and had a winning record in seven of them, including six bowl appearances and three conference titles. Remind me, how many titles has Fitzgerald won?

You think Coach Fitzgerald is better than Coach Barnett in any way? Maybe Fitz doesn't have a wandering eye toward other schools, but otherwise?

Also, it's unfair to saddle Gary with some of those losing seasons. The front end years were Coach Peay's players including guys who threw games. The '97 season was affected by losing a star prep QB way back in '95 and never replacing him, Autry leaving early after '96, and Bates getting hurt. Really, you can blame Barnett for '98 and that's it, in my opinion. Fitzgerald has had a bunch of "dog" years like that.

Ara Parseghian never won a title at Northwestern. I don't think that means the man couldn't coach.
 
Ara Parseghian never won a title at Northwestern. I don't think that means the man couldn't coach.
I think Gary Barnett would be the first to tell you that winning a BIG title today is much more difficult than when he did it 20 years ago. TV and big money has changed the sport, making it into a very big business with lots more players in it.
 
All right, let's get real for a second here. The only reason that we haven't been to the Rose Bowl again is because we don't have Gary Barnett here anymore. The guy was a motivational genius on the field, a charismatic recruiter who didn't miss a trick off the field, and a guy who knew how to identify and hire the right people around him to sell his program.

We have "Barnett Lite" here, a disciple of the McCartney/Barnett Church but an apostolic imitator who doesn't bring anything new except that he's an alum with roots here. Our Lite Brew is heavy on motivation gimmicks, too, but they're weak and worn out from overuse ("trust yourself" anybody?--how do you trust yourself when you can't catch the ball?). Fitz admits that he's not too bright but he's always shouting and screaming when a recruit commits. Compare that style with the sparkle in Matinee Idol Gary's eyes. Fitz hires a few guys but mostly keeps the same people he inherited because he was afraid to make his own mark and really move on from Walker, as if it would insult Randy in the grave.

Incendiary thoughts? Sure, but unlike Evanston Cat, who wants to LOSE the right way, I want to WIN and anybody who thinks Gary Barnett didn't know how to bend some rules doesn't know anything. Barney was quite simply an awesome head coach and did what it took, right to the brink. Our guy now is a good MAN but is he a good coach? Maybe a good cheerleader who once was a tremendously heady LB, but he's no Barnett and until we can hire a guy like Gary or Ara again, we will not be going to a Rose Bowl.
I thought Barnett was great for us but if he is the second coming as you suggest, why did he not find another home after Colorado? I mean, there are a lot of other schools (probably close to 100) looking for the next GB and in20 years, how many have found him? (Maybe Houston last year and a couple others over the 20 year period.)

While I don't have a problem with saying Fitz in not a great coach (how many are there really?), I would say he is a good solid coach and for our situation very good. As far as him keeping coaches that he inherited, how many are left? Brown and who else? You can say he might be too loyal to a couple guys for sure. But the guys that people have questions about were Fitz hires. RW was O minded. Could you ever see him having the D we had last year?
 
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I thought Barnett was great for us but if he is the second coming as you suggest, why did he not find another home after Colorado?

Because of his comment about his kicker "look she's a girl" and the other accusations swirling around the Colorado program.

I remember reading he really wanted the UNLV job a few years back.
 
So, are you saying that Fitz has accomplished more and is a better coach than Gary Barnett? I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I'm trying to comprehend what it is that you're saying before I explode with disbelief.

Nope. I'm saying that Coach Barnett was great...amazing...tremendous...awesome. And despite all of his awesomeness, his career winning percentage AFTER removing his initial five losing seasons is 56% - which is coincidentally the same winning percentage of our current Head Coach. So, if you love you some Barnett (like I do) because you think "The guy was a motivational genius on the field, a charismatic recruiter who didn't miss a trick off the field, and a guy who knew how to identify and hire the right people around him to sell his program" and that Fitz is a good man but not a good coach, you've got some desperate and pathetic excuse-making to do to explain why they are winning at the same clip.
 
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Ara Parseghian never won a title at Northwestern. I don't think that means the man couldn't coach.

Right, except Ara won two national titles in his coaching career. It doesn't matter that he didn't do it here. It is true that Ara did not win any Big Ten titles, but he also took over a train wreck from Lou Saban and Ara himself said that NU never gave him a chance to win. I don't think that NU funded all of the available scholarships that other schools could offer. He had virtually no budget versus the rest of the conference.
 
Nope. I'm saying that Coach Barnett was great...amazing...tremendous...awesome. And despite all of his awesomeness, his career winning percentage AFTER removing his initial five losing seasons is 56% - which is coincidentally the same winning percentage of our current Head Coach. So, if you love you some Barnett (like I do) because you think "The guy was a motivational genius on the field, a charismatic recruiter who didn't miss a trick off the field, and a guy who knew how to identify and hire the right people around him to sell his program" and that Fitz is a good man but not a good coach, you've got some desperate and pathetic excuse-making to do to explain why they are winning at the same clip.

So the competition level doesn't matter, just the win %?

I don't believe that Barnett EVER coached against a single FCS/I-AA team in his years at NU. Fitzgerald does that every year, some years it's been a close game and he's even lost once.

The weakest nonconf opponent that Barnett coached against was probably whatever WAC team was on the schedule, UNLV, Air Force, Rice, Hawaii.

Not juggernauts, but not freaking Maine and Towson!
 
Wrong thread. We have the obligatory love fest for Barney every couple of weeks. Let's get this on back on topic of Hardballs being a scum as that is much more lively as we go into signing day.

Somebody asked why we haven't won a Big Ten title in 15 years and I answered it. My answer was that our coach is too afraid to make his own mark, except to be a watered down version of his mentors.
 
Right, except Ara won two national titles in his coaching career. It doesn't matter that he didn't do it here. It is true that Ara did not win any Big Ten titles, but he also took over a train wreck from Lou Saban and Ara himself said that NU never gave him a chance to win. I don't think that NU funded all of the available scholarships that other schools could offer. He had virtually no budget versus the rest of the conference.
How does it not matter that it was not at NU? Fitz's total career is at NU and you are comparing his performance here vs Ara's at ND? Ara decided he could not succeed here. And at the time, schools had 105 scholarships and Frosh could not play. Fitz has exceeded the best BIG record that Ara had. His best year in the BIG was 4-2.

While in some ways, it is not as bad now, in other ways it is worse. Much harder to win a BIG championship here now than it was in 95, 96 and 2000. FIrst, more teams, second, no ties, and third the disparity between the top teams and others is potentially even greater as they start to take on SEC methods.
 
So the competition level doesn't matter, just the win %?

I don't believe that Barnett EVER coached against a single FCS/I-AA team in his years at NU. Fitzgerald does that every year, some years it's been a close game and he's even lost once.

The weakest nonconf opponent that Barnett coached against was probably whatever WAC team was on the schedule, UNLV, Air Force, Rice, Hawaii.

Not juggernauts, but not freaking Maine and Towson!

You should totally change your name to ExcusesCat.
 
How does it not matter that it was not at NU? Fitz's total career is at NU and you are comparing his performance here vs Ara's at ND? Ara decided he could not succeed here. And at the time, schools had 105 scholarships and Frosh could not play. Fitz has exceeded the best BIG record that Ara had. His best year in the BIG was 4-2.

While in some ways, it is not as bad now, in other ways it is worse. Much harder to win a BIG championship here now than it was in 95, 96 and 2000. FIrst, more teams, second, no ties, and third the disparity between the top teams and others is potentially even greater as they start to take on SEC methods.

Let me just say it. You are not telling the truth. Before Ara's last season, Ara was told that he was FIRED after the season. He didn't "choose" to leave NU. Northwestern told him to take a hike and he went out looking for a new job.

Also, how has Fitz exceeded Ara's best Big Ten record when they didn't play the same number of conference games back then? That's like saying So-and-So is the all-time leading rusher when he played 7 more games than the guy he passed. Get a grip and a context.
 
Right, except Ara won two national titles in his coaching career. It doesn't matter that he didn't do it here. It is true that Ara did not win any Big Ten titles, but he also took over a train wreck from Lou Saban and Ara himself said that NU never gave him a chance to win. I don't think that NU funded all of the available scholarships that other schools could offer. He had virtually no budget versus the rest of the conference.

Actually, it matters quite a bit that he didn't do it at NU. It's much easier to win at Notre Dame than at NU. Always has been and probably always will be. I'm sure Ara was at a disadvantage compared to the other guys, just as fewer financial resources and higher academic standards put Fitz at a disadvantage now. In Ara's day, you could field a decent team with fewer players because a lot of guys played both ways due to the substitution rules then. The problem then, as now, was lack of quality depth.
 
Well, if ExcuseCat says it's "End of story!" then it totally is!

Let the record show that hoosboot thinks Gary Barnett is not as good as St. Pat Fitzgerald. Remember it, boys and girls, because this is the dumbest thing that you will ever hear. Love Fitz, but you don't know anything if you would say something so asinine.
 
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