Rivals' national recruiting analyst Mike Farrell throws a bouquet NU's way in his lead story for his weekly Three-point stance column. I'll save you a click and paste his story here:
How about the team in purple? No, I'm not talking about TCU, although the Horned Frogs are obviously an impressive bunch and will be referenced here in a bit. No, I'm talking about Northwestern and the resurgence of the program led by the defense and former defensive star Pat Fitzgerald, one of the most under-publicized great coaches in college football.
Twenty years removed from the 1995 team that made that undefeated run in the Big Ten under Gary Barnett and led by Fitzgerald the player, this team is hitting on all cylinders. The team that boasts arguably the most impressive win so far this season, a 16-6 defensive domination of a Stanford team that has since put up 40 points on USC, Oregon State and Arizona, leads the nation in defensive points-per-game (7.0 per contest) and has made the Big Ten race more than a two-team deal, to the shock of many.
From a recruiting standpoint, Northwestern has obvious academic restrictions and limited winning tradition, but they have been doing an amazing job of targeting and developing players in very small classes. Since 2012 (not including 2016), Northwestern has taken more than 20 players only once. In 2013, the Wildcats took 19, in 2014 it was only 15 and last year they took 20 because Northwestern graduates players, doesn't run them off like other programs and don't send many to the pros early. This requires laser precision when taking a commitment and it requires, by my estimation, 75 percent or more of the players in each class to make a two-deep impact at least for two years. That's a super small margin of error and throw in the fact that Illinois isn't a hotbed of talent and Northwestern is not only competing with Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and others but also with Notre Dame for the high-level academic kids.
Trust me when I tell you, what Fitzgerald is doing merits more consideration so far for National Coach of the Year honors than even Jim McElwain at Florida. And TCU? When TCU, a national title contender, beat Minnesota 23-17 in the opener, the storyline was about what a tough road win that was. When Northwestern blanks them 27-0 at home, everyone talks about how neat it is for the Wildcats to make the Big Ten fun this year. Shaking my head.
Link: Three-point stance
How about the team in purple? No, I'm not talking about TCU, although the Horned Frogs are obviously an impressive bunch and will be referenced here in a bit. No, I'm talking about Northwestern and the resurgence of the program led by the defense and former defensive star Pat Fitzgerald, one of the most under-publicized great coaches in college football.
Twenty years removed from the 1995 team that made that undefeated run in the Big Ten under Gary Barnett and led by Fitzgerald the player, this team is hitting on all cylinders. The team that boasts arguably the most impressive win so far this season, a 16-6 defensive domination of a Stanford team that has since put up 40 points on USC, Oregon State and Arizona, leads the nation in defensive points-per-game (7.0 per contest) and has made the Big Ten race more than a two-team deal, to the shock of many.
From a recruiting standpoint, Northwestern has obvious academic restrictions and limited winning tradition, but they have been doing an amazing job of targeting and developing players in very small classes. Since 2012 (not including 2016), Northwestern has taken more than 20 players only once. In 2013, the Wildcats took 19, in 2014 it was only 15 and last year they took 20 because Northwestern graduates players, doesn't run them off like other programs and don't send many to the pros early. This requires laser precision when taking a commitment and it requires, by my estimation, 75 percent or more of the players in each class to make a two-deep impact at least for two years. That's a super small margin of error and throw in the fact that Illinois isn't a hotbed of talent and Northwestern is not only competing with Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and others but also with Notre Dame for the high-level academic kids.
Trust me when I tell you, what Fitzgerald is doing merits more consideration so far for National Coach of the Year honors than even Jim McElwain at Florida. And TCU? When TCU, a national title contender, beat Minnesota 23-17 in the opener, the storyline was about what a tough road win that was. When Northwestern blanks them 27-0 at home, everyone talks about how neat it is for the Wildcats to make the Big Ten fun this year. Shaking my head.
Link: Three-point stance
