Shocking Fitz comments on QBs

[freewillie07]

Just going to leave them here... extremely harsh all around. Who coaches the QBs again?

I can’t tell if he’s being critical of the QBs for being too slow to pick up McCall’s offense, or whether he’s calling out McCall for not having that room ready to go, or something in between. Maybe Lou can provide his interpretation.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Just going to leave them here... extremely harsh all around. Who coaches the QBs again?

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This is shocking?

 

[JournCat]

Being an NU fan has taught me never to declare victory or defeat until 0:00 and so I don't want to even say the words, but ... it's hard not to get excited about the staff change Fitz is setting up here.

 

[corbi296]

Being an NU fan has taught me never to declare victory or defeat until 0:00 and so I don't want to even say the words, but ... it's hard not to get excited about the staff change Fitz is setting up here.

What do you think he is setting up here?

 

[freewillie07]

This is shocking?

what an insightful comment

 

[NUCat320]

What do you think he is setting up here?

He said that the Cats went 0 for 4 in quarterback prep this year.

To the optimists among us, ‘fixed’ means ‘change the guy in charge of coaching and developing quarterbacks.’ It could also mean ‘bring in a QBs coach who is not pulling coordinator double duty’ (boorrrrring), or it could mean ‘ask Mick to do better next year.’

 

[DaCat]

Go Fitz! Getting some clarity.

"Right now, none of those guys were ready to play quarterback for us."

Now get a real Offensive Coordinator/QB coach.

 

[Hungry Jack]

That’s definitely pointed at the coaches,IMO.

 

[FeralFelidae]

The coaches wanted a QB battle so bad, but TJ had to go and get himself injured, so the coaches had to go find another QB to have a QB battle with, and they found Aidan.

 

[evanston09]

It’s very possible to blame one qb for not being ready to play. It’s hard to blame ALL of the qbs for not being ready to play.

Just for fun I compared our passing stats to Navy, and the only category that we better them in is passing yards, where we have them beat by 394 yards. Of course, it took us almost 4x as many attempts to get there, but hey a wins a win, right?

 

[freewillie07]

Like, what is his point here? Ultimately he decided to start Hunter, so what is Fitz trying to prove?

On how to fix the QB issues: “It starts with preparation. It’s pretty obvious that some of our guys did not do the things they needed to do to prepare for the season. The production, or lack thereof, is a testament to preparation. In the preseason, we sat here and everyone told me who my starting quarterback was and I told everyone there was a battle. Obviously, I ended up being right...But it comes down to me. The best person has to play, the most consistent person has to play, not the media-anointed one.”

 

[evanston09]

Like, what is his point here? Ultimately he decided to start Hunter, so what is Fitz trying to prove?

On how to fix the QB issues: “It starts with preparation. It’s pretty obvious that some of our guys did not do the things they needed to do to prepare for the season. The production, or lack thereof, is a testament to preparation. In the preseason, we sat here and everyone told me who my starting quarterback was and I told everyone there was a battle. Obviously, I ended up being right...But it comes down to me. The best person has to play, the most consistent person has to play, not the media-anointed one.”

Being correct about the existence of a battle doesn’t (in any way whatsoever) acquit anyone of responsibility. If it’s anything, it’s the opposite.

 

[Fitz51]

These comments are not shocking except in their honesty. No one but Green was ready to start, and their performance showed just that.

 

[julescat]

These comments are not shocking except in their honesty. No one but Green was ready to start, and their performance showed just that.

Then why did Hunter Johnson start against Stanford? Fitz is pretty full of BS these days.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Like, what is his point here? Ultimately he decided to start Hunter, so what is Fitz trying to prove?

On how to fix the QB issues: “It starts with preparation. It’s pretty obvious that some of our guys did not do the things they needed to do to prepare for the season. The production, or lack thereof, is a testament to preparation. In the preseason, we sat here and everyone told me who my starting quarterback was and I told everyone there was a battle. Obviously, I ended up being right...But it comes down to me. The best person has to play, the most consistent person has to play, not the media-anointed one.”

My sense is that there was no clear cut winner in camp. Hunter demonstrated much more physical talent, but TJ could run the offense better. So auditioning both guys in game was the way to go.

 

[corbi296]

Then why did Hunter Johnson start against Stanford? Fitz is pretty full of BS these days.

He started him because the kid needed that to feel good about himself. When your plan is to rotate QBs, who starts is not necessarily an indication of who will play the most.

That being said, I agree it was a mistake on Fitz’s part. It’s obvious he felt TJ Green was his best QB and in retrospect he should have started and played him exclusively.

 

[freewillie07]

He started him because the kid needed that to feel good about himself. When your plan is to rotate QBs, who starts is not necessarily an indication of who will play the most.

That being said, I agree it was a mistake on Fitz’s part. It’s obvious he felt TJ Green was his best QB and in retrospect he should have started and played him exclusively.

Still going with the “Hunter is soft” line, I see. Jeez. Anything but put the blame on the coaches.

 

[Wildcatfootball12]

IS NO ONE ELSE NOT SEEING THAT THESE ARE DIRECT SHOTS AGAINST HJ????

He said TJ was prepared. He says Marty and Whittaker are chomping at the bit. He mocks the media anointed QB (obviously HJ).

This whole thing translated is "You guys thought Hunter was good? See, he's not that good, I was right to think it was a competition with him and TJ"

Has anyone ever seen Fitz publically rip a single player like this before???

If you don't think this has implications in QB recruiting in the future, you're being naive

and HJ needs to get the eff out of this hostile environment where everyone is blaming him for this season

 

[NUCat320]

@Wildcatfootball12 I read those comments the same way.

You want your five star? You got your five star. No hat dances.

 

[DaCat]

IS NO ONE ELSE NOT SEEING THAT THESE ARE DIRECT SHOTS AGAINST HJ????

He said TJ was prepared. He says Marty and Whittaker are chomping at the bit. He mocks the media anointed QB (obviously HJ).

This whole thing translated is "You guys thought Hunter was good? See, he's not that good, I was right to think it was a competition with him and TJ"

Has anyone ever seen Fitz publically rip a single player like this before???

If you don't think this has implications in QB recruiting in the future, you're being naive

and HJ needs to get the eff out of this hostile environment where everyone is blaming him for this season

This is bullsh!t. Fitz was positive about Hunter when he mentioned him by name towards the end of the presser. Watch it again.

Watch from 19:36 or so.

 

[FeralFelidae]

IS NO ONE ELSE NOT SEEING THAT THESE ARE DIRECT SHOTS AGAINST HJ????

He said TJ was prepared. He says Marty and Whittaker are chomping at the bit. He mocks the media anointed QB (obviously HJ).

This whole thing translated is "You guys thought Hunter was good? See, he's not that good, I was right to think it was a competition with him and TJ"

Has anyone ever seen Fitz publically rip a single player like this before???

If you don't think this has implications in QB recruiting in the future, you're being naive

and HJ needs to get the eff out of this hostile environment where everyone is blaming him for this season

I can see how somebody would read it that way. Although I disagree with your last statement; I don't think anybody is actually blaming HJ for this year. How could they? He hardly played.

 

[NJCat]

IS NO ONE ELSE NOT SEEING THAT THESE ARE DIRECT SHOTS AGAINST HJ????

He said TJ was prepared. He says Marty and Whittaker are chomping at the bit. He mocks the media anointed QB (obviously HJ).

This whole thing translated is "You guys thought Hunter was good? See, he's not that good, I was right to think it was a competition with him and TJ"

Has anyone ever seen Fitz publically rip a single player like this before???

If you don't think this has implications in QB recruiting in the future, you're being naive

and HJ needs to get the eff out of this hostile environment where everyone is blaming him for this season

I think you are reaching on this. He did not single out HJ. TJ gets a pass because he was injured. Fitz lumped HJ and AS with the rest.

And in defense of Hunter, his Mom's cancer must have been detected last summer, because she was done with Chemo when the story finally broke this fall. So right when camp was starting Hunter was also going through a family crisis. Which HAD to affect his preparation and concentration.

You guys want Fitz to be open without coach-speak. And when he finally opens up you rip him for being honest. QB play has been horrible and he said the preparation of everyone who has gotten snaps needs to be better. No kid would want to come to a place where the coach doesn't call it like it is.

 

[Fitz51]

Then why did Hunter Johnson start against Stanford? Fitz is pretty full of BS these days.

He showed pretty quickly he wasn’t ready, didn’t he?

 

[Wildcatfootball12]

I think you are reaching on this. He did not single out HJ. TJ gets a pass because he was injured. Fitz lumped HJ and AS with the rest.

And in defense of Hunter, his Mom's cancer must have been detected last summer, because she was done with Chemo when the story finally broke this fall. So right when camp was starting Hunter was also going through a family crisis. Which HAD to affect his preparation and concentration.

You guys want Fitz to be open without coach-speak. And when he finally opens up you rip him for being honest. QB play has been horrible and he said the preparation of everyone who has gotten snaps needs to be better. No kid would want to come to a place where the coach doesn't call it like it is.

To be eminently clear, Hunter needs no defending because no one is going after him. The general concern is that McCall has again suboptimally prepared his Quarterbacks for the season and yet Fitz thinks that his group of young men were uniquely lazy and unprepared this offseason while every other Big Ten QB room (and every other position group on his team for that matter) was taking some special sauce to make them prepared.

I want honesty, not this crap, McCall is the common denominator here, not the QB room talent, not the way they prepared, not media hype

 

[Fitz51]

and HJ needs to get the eff out of this hostile environment where everyone is blaming him for this season

“Everyone”

 

[DaCat]

I think you are reaching on this. He did not single out HJ. TJ gets a pass because he was injured. Fitz lumped HJ and AS with the rest.

And in defense of Hunter, his Mom's cancer must have been detected last summer, because she was done with Chemo when the story finally broke this fall. So right when camp was starting Hunter was also going through a family crisis. Which HAD to affect his preparation and concentration.

You guys want Fitz to be open without coach-speak. And when he finally opens up you rip him for being honest. QB play has been horrible and he said the preparation of everyone who has gotten snaps needs to be better. No kid would want to come to a place where the coach doesn't call it like it is.

Good point. Fitz is being brutally honest but in no way is he ripping Hunter unfairly. Fitz does seem disappointed that the QBs didn't prepare better, and hopefully he'll spread the blame to his coaches too. He said the QBs need to have more confidence, need better fundamentals, and the scheme needs to be a better fit for them. 2 out of 3 are coaching issues. That gives me some hope that he'll make some changes in the off-season to address these.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Maybe it is wishful thinking on my part, but I see this as much of a shot at his OC as the players. Me thinks NU will have a new OC next year.

 

[DaCat]

He showed pretty quickly he wasn’t ready, didn’t he?

I was, and still am, a huge fan of Hunter Johnson. But you're right, it was painfully obvious that he was not ready against Stanford. I was quite shocked, actually, how bad he was. But I haven't given up on him, as I saw some flashes in some games that give me hope.

 

[FeralFelidae]

I was, and still am, a huge fan of Hunter Johnson. But you're right, it was painfully obvious that he was not ready against Stanford. I was quite shocked, actually, how bad he was. But I haven't given up on him, as I saw some flashes in some games that give me hope.

He kind of looked like Aidan Smith against UMass. Except it wasn't UMass.

 

[NUCat320]

He kind of looked like Aidan Smith against UMass. Except it wasn't UMass.

I wonder how HJ would have looked if he had gotten starter’s reps all spring and summer.

 

[DaCat]

I wonder how HJ would have looked if he had gotten starter’s reps all spring and summer.

Who knows? But he had all last year to learn the playbook, although he did play scout team QB during the season. He had much more time to learn McCall's playbook than Justin Fields at dOSU. I think this is as much a failure by McCall as it is by the QBs.

 

[corbi296]

Still going with the “Hunter is soft” line, I see. Jeez. Anything but put the blame on the coaches.

LOL, still making shit up I see. Call it whatever you want, any normal person coming in with such big expectations would take a hit to their confidence if they didn’t end up starting. That’s human nature. Fitz, like the thoughtful coach that he is, decided to implement a rotation in order to keep up the kid’s confidence while still giving the team the best chance to win.

 

[evanston09]

LOL, still making shit up I see. Call it whatever you want, any normal person coming in with such big expectations would take a hit to their confidence if they didn’t end up starting. That’s human nature. Fitz, like the thoughtful coach that he is, decided to implement a rotation in order to keep up the kid’s confidence while still giving the team the best chance to win. In retrospect, it was a mistake on his part to handle it the way he did.

So it’s your theory, that Fitz undercut his team’s probability to win a big road game (when 5 out of the next 6 games were against teams ranked at the time) in order to have a kid feel like, “yeah I got replaced but at least I started so I’m the man?”

Fitz undercut his chances to win to tell kids that you could earn your starting spot in high school no matter what you do in college?

Fitz decided to undercut his chances at winning to preserve the confidence of the quarterback he didn’t intend to play?

SERIOUSLY?

 

[Fitz51]

LOL, still making shit up I see. Call it whatever you want, any normal person coming in with such big expectations would take a hit to their confidence if they didn’t end up starting. That’s human nature. Fitz, like the thoughtful coach that he is, decided to implement a rotation in order to keep up the kid’s confidence while still giving the team the best chance to win. In retrospect, it was a mistake on his part to handle it the way he did.

I agree with a lot of what you have been saying, but you are actually just expressing an opinion here as to what happened. You don't know what actually did.

 

[corbi296]

So it’s your theory, that Fitz undercut his team’s probability to win a big road game (when 5 out of the next 6 games were against teams ranked at the time) in order to have a kid feel like, “yeah I got replaced but at least I started so I’m the man?”

Fitz undercut his chances to win to tell kids that you could earn your starting spot in high school no matter what you do in college?

Fitz decided to undercut his chances at winning to preserve the confidence of the quarterback he didn’t intend to play?

SERIOUSLY?

It's not a theory anymore. Fitz explicitly said that Green was the only QB ready to play this season. Said another way, Green was our best QB, Given this, why else would you start or even play Johnson? He wanted to keep the kid's confidence up while at the same time giving him spot playing time to give him game experience and help accelerate his development. It happens all the time at other positions and you see it occasionally in the NFL with rookie QBs. It was a very logical approach to the situation NU was facing going into this season but unfortunately it didn't work out because Green hurt himself right away. If he hadn't, we may be sitting here feeling quite differently about the season and Johnson's development this year.

 

[corbi296]

I agree with a lot of what you have been saying, but you are actually just expressing an opinion here as to what happened. You don't know what actually did.

It has been my opinion but Fitz just confirmed a big piece of it and that is that he felt that Green was his best QB coming into the season. He explicitly said that. Given this, I don't think it's a big leap to conclude he played Johnson against Stanford to keep his confidence up and to keep developing him. Fitz tried to kill two birds with one stone by playing the QB that gave us the best chance to win now (Green), while also continuing to develop and boost the confidence of the QB with the highest long term potential (Johnson). Good plan, it just didn't work out like many other things this year.

 

[techtim72]

Corbi's comments make a lot of sense to me. A good plan gone to s... because of TJ's injuries. You see the physical talent but not the head talent with HJ. Maybe for good reason because of his Mom's health. I don't buy the year of poor development because of scout play. If anything, that should have been ideal for HJ's development. Great athletes make it work.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

He kind of looked like Aidan Smith against UMass. Except it wasn't UMass.

He still to this moment is the only QB on the team to complete a long pass. No 2 yard bubble screens every pass attempt.

 

[corbi296]

He still to this moment is the only QB on the team to complete a long pass. No 2 yard bubble screens every pass attempt.

You are not seriously suggesting that this is evidence of why he should play over the others?

 

[Rodenthater]

My take: I think he was directing his comments to HJ, thinking he’s a “5” star, he would just roll in and start to fling the ball and all would be well. Maybe Fitz saying early in the year that there was a qb battle was shot across HJ’s bow to get him to put more work in. I think HJ got a rude awakening to D1 football. If he’s got character, he’ll use this debacle as a motivator to be that 5 star player!