Shakes Honorary Coaching Carousel 2022 - Nebraska, Wisconsin, Stanford make big moves
- Thread starter CatManTrue
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If this happens and Ferentz finds a new OC at Iowa… Fitz had better have a hell of a plan to turn things around starting next month.
There will be no more gimmes in the West if UNL becomes decent or even good again.
Not for long. A) every West team will have a good coach if Nebraska hires Rhule and B) it will only exist for another year anyway.
There will be at least one gimmie for everyone else.
so you're saying Fitz is the exception, not the Rhule
It would be pretty tough comparison if we put our current coaching staff against everyone else in the B1G.
You could argue that only Indiana’s is weaker. And you could also argue that ours is the worst.
If the Big Ten goes with the flow and eliminates divisions, I don't think we will see a Big Ten championship again in this lifetime.
Rumor is that Colorado is trying to hire Neon Deion Sanders as their next head coach. Wow. I wonder why he’d even consider the worst P5 program as his next launching pad.
Never say never…but I would say that the odds of a championship are lower than Fitz being compared to Mike Leach or Lane Kiffin.
I've always said divisions favor a program like Northwestern, that maybe needs to catch a lucky break or two in order for us to make it to Pasadena again...but I would agree with anyone who says abolishing divisions makes the most sense...as we look ahead to Purdue/Michigan in a week...but it really puts us in a bad spot from one season to the next.
David Shaw just announced he has coached his last game at Stanford.
Shaw said he came to his decision in the last few days. Said "It's time." "There is no desire for me to coach somewhere else."
I hope (if we have an opening) that we pursue their DC and former recruiting coordinator Lance Anderson.
He might simply get boosted up and given the head coach job there, but let's see, if not we should give it a shot.
Shaw said he came to his decision in the last few days. Said "It's time." "There is no desire for me to coach somewhere else."
I hope (if we have an opening) that we pursue their DC and former recruiting coordinator Lance Anderson.
He might simply get boosted up and given the head coach job there, but let's see, if not we should give it a shot.
This will be interesting to track. It’s a golden opportunity for Fitz if he plays it right.
There also remains the small chance that Stanford hires Fitz away and they work out a deal on the buyout clause. But hopefully we use this to poach their best coaches, recruits, and current players via the portal.
There also remains the small chance that Stanford hires Fitz away and they work out a deal on the buyout clause. But hopefully we use this to poach their best coaches, recruits, and current players via the portal.
You can't be serious........
Was this you can resign or we will fire you type situation? Stanford has been struggling I can’t see much upside in bringing in coaches who failed at Stanford to NU. Let’s bring in people trending on an upward trajectory, we already have a group of coaches that no one else is interested in hiring.
Shaw started at Stanford in 2007 (on Harbaugh's staff) and became HC in 2011.
Fitz became HC before Shaw arrived at Stanford... that's how long Fitz's tenure has been.
If he's out after 12 years there, that says a lot about how the game has changed (especially recently). That would have been unimaginable a few years ago when he was regularly alongside Fitz as the "most untouchable coaches in the sport".
I think there's an odd parallel in the way that Stanford collapsed and NU has collapsed. Obviously, I don't think Fitz is going anywhere, but pretty clear we need to clean house below Fitz. Find a DC/OC that work at this level.
Fitz became HC before Shaw arrived at Stanford... that's how long Fitz's tenure has been.
If he's out after 12 years there, that says a lot about how the game has changed (especially recently). That would have been unimaginable a few years ago when he was regularly alongside Fitz as the "most untouchable coaches in the sport".
I think there's an odd parallel in the way that Stanford collapsed and NU has collapsed. Obviously, I don't think Fitz is going anywhere, but pretty clear we need to clean house below Fitz. Find a DC/OC that work at this level.
From the AP story:
As the program declined, Shaw has remained steadfastly loyal to his assistant coaches. The staff has had few changes lately, with Shaw repeatedly saying he felt firing assistants was pushing the blame for the team's failures from himself to others.
As the program declined, Shaw has remained steadfastly loyal to his assistant coaches. The staff has had few changes lately, with Shaw repeatedly saying he felt firing assistants was pushing the blame for the team's failures from himself to others.
The parallels between our two programs are pretty astonishing.
Shaw and Fitz are similar in a lot of respects.
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Props to Shaw for realizing the game has passed him by- probably be best for NU if Fitz was man enough to admit the same thing.
As Stanford head coach. First reported (to me at least) by the Athletic.
Knock me over with a feather.
Knock me over with a feather.
50 year old thinks ‘maybe this has passed me by’ or ‘maybe my heart isn’t in it’ after consecutive 3-win seasons at his alma mater.
Hmmm.
Hmmm.
He’s only 50. A couple of years older than Fitz… and it sounds like a retirement. Very interesting.
Equally possible that he takes some time off to see if he misses it.
His explanation of the grind and being responsible for every single thing makes perfect sense.
I suspect Fitz's sentiments about his assistants are identical to Shaw's.
His explanation of the grind and being responsible for every single thing makes perfect sense.
I suspect Fitz's sentiments about his assistants are identical to Shaw's.
Shaw resigns after 12 seasons as Stanford coach
Stanford head coach David Shaw has resigned after 12 seasons at his alma mater.
I think this comparison to Stanford/Shaw and Northwestern/Fitz is apt. Both schools have planned/completed significant facilities upgrades apparently to no avail in keeping up with the competition. Are schools with high academic standards at a disadvantage in the new college sports realities of NIL and transfer portals? Is the problem deeper than just coaches not able to keep up with current trends. It will be interesting to see how Stanford responds to this major transition in their football program. Shaw had a great career at Stanford and the decline of his program may be a harbinger of elite academic programs challenges ability to compete in this new college sports environment.
Wow. If this is true, can they really land him? And what does this mean for Leonhard if he doesn’t land a comparable P5 job?
www.espn.com
Wisconsin brings in Cincinnati's Fickell as coach
Wisconsin has hired Luke Fickell as its next football coach. Fickell led Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff last season.
I remember another time NU got a Wisconsin DC who was pushed out in a strange power struggle…Wow. If this is true, can they really land him? And what does this mean for Leonhard if he doesn’t land a comparable P5 job?
Wisconsin brings in Cincinnati's Fickell as coach
Wisconsin has hired Luke Fickell as its next football coach. Fickell led Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff last season.
As much as I’d prefer to see Fickell stay in Cincinnati, Leonhard hitting the market would present Fitz an incredible opportunity to upgrade his coaching staff.
Being a HC is a grind.Whether the game past Shaw by or burn out accumulation of various things he realized it was time to step aside.The last time I checked Stanford had a pretty good recruiting class going with commits from 6-4 star recruits so they were still able to reel in some good talent.
Fitz has always said he wanted to coach his sons in college so we will see if that still holds.The coaching staff analogy is very interesting.That to me is where I want to see what Fitz will do.It is time that some changes be made in the coaching staff and Fitz hires coaches that will bring in a different way of thinking and that he as some people on this board have said that he holds coaches back by his philosophy of how he wants things done.Hire people and step aside and let them do their job.
As has been noted Fitz’s loyalty to his coaches there have been changes in the staff recently.Smith our DB coach his first year,JON his second year Coach Jake in his third year.Now one can argue about JON and Jake were not good hires and that shows Fitz cannot hire competent coaches.All I can say is the next couple of weeks will be very interesting what direction NU football takes as that will determine the direction of the program for several years to come.
Fitz has always said he wanted to coach his sons in college so we will see if that still holds.The coaching staff analogy is very interesting.That to me is where I want to see what Fitz will do.It is time that some changes be made in the coaching staff and Fitz hires coaches that will bring in a different way of thinking and that he as some people on this board have said that he holds coaches back by his philosophy of how he wants things done.Hire people and step aside and let them do their job.
As has been noted Fitz’s loyalty to his coaches there have been changes in the staff recently.Smith our DB coach his first year,JON his second year Coach Jake in his third year.Now one can argue about JON and Jake were not good hires and that shows Fitz cannot hire competent coaches.All I can say is the next couple of weeks will be very interesting what direction NU football takes as that will determine the direction of the program for several years to come.
Maybe our obtuse (obdurate?) head coach knew something was up in Madison and Palo Alto when he said he'd take a macro look at the program after about a week.
I've seen the (near) future and it involves poaching Stanford's recruits and having another shunned Wisconsin DC fall into Fitz's lap.
I've seen the (near) future and it involves poaching Stanford's recruits and having another shunned Wisconsin DC fall into Fitz's lap.
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After losing to USC with its 28 first year transfer players (including a pretty good one from Stanford), Shaw reflected on the difficulty facing a "developmental" program like his (and NU's) in this current environment, so it doesn't surprise me that he stepped down. i have to wonder if Fitz is having some of his own doubts.
Shaw realized that in the new landscape he has no chance to replicate previous success. NIL > the value of a Stanford degree to the current generation of above average college football players. Give him lots of credit for stepping away before degrading his coaching legacy. He should land a job on television and do well with the next chapter of his career.
This is where the game is going. Academics aren't even an afterthought. Deon had been running one of those high school athletic feeder factories that was an academic sham before he took over at Jackson State. I wonder if NU can compete on this playing field. Before this, there was at least a veneer of academic integrity. Now it's just itinerant semi=pros wearing a college jersey.
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