Some similarities I noticed last night, laugh if you want, but

[WaveJumper]

I saw a lot of North Dakota State in NU last night, and I've watched them a whole lot.

What I saw was toughness, relentlessness, confidence, sacrifice, and team unity. Positive attitudes even when things are heading south. Coach Braun CAME to NU with these attributes, he didn't automatically acquire them because he was now a part of the Big 10. He developed them at North Dakota State. His mentors there did a great job, just as he is now doing at NU. Hopefully that attitude and character is being absorbed by every coach and player at NU.

And football is football, the game and the fundamentals are the same. Don't be persuaded to think that a gifted coach from a "lower" division can't succeed at the Big 10 level - that's Big 10 and power 5 hubris!. Coach Braun is proving that to be nonsense, and doing it with possibly less talent than the Big 10 teams he's beaten. Actually, I think North Dakota State and South Dakota State could beat half of the Big 10. Watch them play and tell me that they suffer from being poorly coached

Next time, and that will be soon, when NU needs to hire, don't be so quick to judge the quality of the candidate by what level he's from, but rather what he's done while he's been there. Think about what Braun (North Dakota State), Binns (Youngstown State), Foster (East Carolina), Hicks (Utah State), and Smith (South Dakota State) have done since they've arrived at NU. How many of these guys would you trade away?

 

[HappyNUyear]

I saw a lot of North Dakota State in NU last night, and I've watched them a whole lot.

What I saw was toughness, relentlessness, confidence, sacrifice, and team unity. Positive attitudes even when things are heading south. Coach Braun CAME to NU with these attributes, he didn't automatically acquire them because he was now a part of the Big 10. He developed them at North Dakota State. His mentors there did a great job, just as he is now doing at NU. Hopefully that attitude and character is being absorbed by every coach and player at NU.

And football is football, the game and the fundamentals are the same. Don't be persuaded to think that a gifted coach from a "lower" division can't succeed at the Big 10 level - that's Big 10 and power 5 hubris!. Coach Braun is proving that to be nonsense, and doing it with possibly less talent than the Big 10 teams he's beaten. Actually, I think North Dakota State and South Dakota State could beat half of the Big 10. Watch them play and tell me that they suffer from being poorly coached

Next time, and that will be soon, when NU needs to hire, don't be so quick to judge the quality of the candidate by what level he's from, but rather what he's done while he's been there. Think about what Braun (North Dakota State), Binns (Youngstown State), Foster (East Carolina), Hicks (Utah State), and Smith (South Dakota State) have done since they've arrived at NU. How many of these guys would you trade away?

Agreed

 

[Medill '03]

I saw a lot of North Dakota State in NU last night, and I've watched them a whole lot.

What I saw was toughness, relentlessness, confidence, sacrifice, and team unity. Positive attitudes even when things are heading south. Coach Braun CAME to NU with these attributes, he didn't automatically acquire them because he was now a part of the Big 10. He developed them at North Dakota State. His mentors there did a great job, just as he is now doing at NU. Hopefully that attitude and character is being absorbed by every coach and player at NU.

And football is football, the game and the fundamentals are the same. Don't be persuaded to think that a gifted coach from a "lower" division can't succeed at the Big 10 level - that's Big 10 and power 5 hubris!. Coach Braun is proving that to be nonsense, and doing it with possibly less talent than the Big 10 teams he's beaten. Actually, I think North Dakota State and South Dakota State could beat half of the Big 10. Watch them play and tell me that they suffer from being poorly coached

Next time, and that will be soon, when NU needs to hire, don't be so quick to judge the quality of the candidate by what level he's from, but rather what he's done while he's been there. Think about what Braun (North Dakota State), Binns (Youngstown State), Foster (East Carolina), Hicks (Utah State), and Smith (South Dakota State) have done since they've arrived at NU. How many of these guys would you trade away?

I’m not laughing. For the last 15 years either NDSU or SDSU in any given year (whichever was better) would be a mid-level Big 10 team. Their results against the conference, and the success of inferior programs jumping to FBS, proves the point.

 

[Hungry Jack]

I am very inclined to think that we hit a home run with Coach Braun. Or, more accurately, Fitz did.

 

[NJCat]

I am very inclined to think that we hit a home run with Coach Braun. Or, more accurately, Fitz did.

Exactly. Fitz hit a homer with his 2023 hires.

 

[NUCat320]

I saw a lot of North Dakota State in NU last night, and I've watched them a whole lot.

What I saw was toughness, relentlessness, confidence, sacrifice, and team unity. Positive attitudes even when things are heading south. Coach Braun CAME to NU with these attributes, he didn't automatically acquire them because he was now a part of the Big 10. He developed them at North Dakota State. His mentors there did a great job, just as he is now doing at NU. Hopefully that attitude and character is being absorbed by every coach and player at NU.

And football is football, the game and the fundamentals are the same. Don't be persuaded to think that a gifted coach from a "lower" division can't succeed at the Big 10 level - that's Big 10 and power 5 hubris!. Coach Braun is proving that to be nonsense, and doing it with possibly less talent than the Big 10 teams he's beaten. Actually, I think North Dakota State and South Dakota State could beat half of the Big 10. Watch them play and tell me that they suffer from being poorly coached

Next time, and that will be soon, when NU needs to hire, don't be so quick to judge the quality of the candidate by what level he's from, but rather what he's done while he's been there. Think about what Braun (North Dakota State), Binns (Youngstown State), Foster (East Carolina), Hicks (Utah State), and Smith (South Dakota State) have done since they've arrived at NU. How many of these guys would you trade away?

Coaches can coach, and where you start is almost certainly a function of who you know. The Winona State to Alabama GradAsst path is, sadly, as-yet-untrod, so Braun started in NAIA and D2. Frankly, his career acceleration from there to an FBS DC role in his mid-30s was relatively fast.

Just a great find for the type of coach NU should be looking for. It’ll be interesting to see if Braun is ‘in-network’ or casts a wide net for the OC hire. I hope we find out soon.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

I saw a lot of North Dakota State in NU last night, and I've watched them a whole lot.

What I saw was toughness, relentlessness, confidence, sacrifice, and team unity. Positive attitudes even when things are heading south. Coach Braun CAME to NU with these attributes, he didn't automatically acquire them because he was now a part of the Big 10. He developed them at North Dakota State. His mentors there did a great job, just as he is now doing at NU. Hopefully that attitude and character is being absorbed by every coach and player at NU.

And football is football, the game and the fundamentals are the same. Don't be persuaded to think that a gifted coach from a "lower" division can't succeed at the Big 10 level - that's Big 10 and power 5 hubris!. Coach Braun is proving that to be nonsense, and doing it with possibly less talent than the Big 10 teams he's beaten. Actually, I think North Dakota State and South Dakota State could beat half of the Big 10. Watch them play and tell me that they suffer from being poorly coached

Next time, and that will be soon, when NU needs to hire, don't be so quick to judge the quality of the candidate by what level he's from, but rather what he's done while he's been there. Think about what Braun (North Dakota State), Binns (Youngstown State), Foster (East Carolina), Hicks (Utah State), and Smith (South Dakota State) have done since they've arrived at NU. How many of these guys would you trade away?

1) I would hope that Braun would try to instill a culture similar to the best “culture program” in the country.

2) Agree and noticed the same thing. We were doing a heck of a lot of NDSU-style “pin and pull” stuff, plus I don’t think I’ve seen that much Pistol out of us in a long time. Our opening play was also a carbon copy of NDSU’s from their semi against Montana… maybe Bajakian was tasked with clinicing with his incoming replacement?



3) Guessing we are gonna end up with a lot of NDSU and SDSU on the new staff, which I’m 1000% here for.

 

[EvanstonCat]

I saw a lot of North Dakota State in NU last night, and I've watched them a whole lot.

What I saw was toughness, relentlessness, confidence, sacrifice, and team unity. Positive attitudes even when things are heading south. Coach Braun CAME to NU with these attributes, he didn't automatically acquire them because he was now a part of the Big 10. He developed them at North Dakota State. His mentors there did a great job, just as he is now doing at NU. Hopefully that attitude and character is being absorbed by every coach and player at NU.

And football is football, the game and the fundamentals are the same. Don't be persuaded to think that a gifted coach from a "lower" division can't succeed at the Big 10 level - that's Big 10 and power 5 hubris!. Coach Braun is proving that to be nonsense, and doing it with possibly less talent than the Big 10 teams he's beaten. Actually, I think North Dakota State and South Dakota State could beat half of the Big 10. Watch them play and tell me that they suffer from being poorly coached

Next time, and that will be soon, when NU needs to hire, don't be so quick to judge the quality of the candidate by what level he's from, but rather what he's done while he's been there. Think about what Braun (North Dakota State), Binns (Youngstown State), Foster (East Carolina), Hicks (Utah State), and Smith (South Dakota State) have done since they've arrived at NU. How many of these guys would you trade away?

I can’t remember anyone being negative about Braun’s hire last year. Compared to JON (who succeeded as a coordinator at no level of the game) clearly Braun was a great get for DC and I remember the general consensus was exactly that at the time.

Even now any questions regarding his readiness to be head coach come down to recruiting at a P5 level, but everything you say about this team is spot on and as I mentioned in another post if this is what NDSU football is all about I hope Roehl comes with his Power I formations and we take as many NDSU coaches that we can to solidify the culture and take any hit on recruiting inexperience at the P5 level if need be.

 

[UpsetAlert]

I almost can’t wait for the quick-trigger fire Roehl he’s out of his depth at this level posts after the first stalled drive next season.

 

[zeek55]

I was excited about the Braun hire and other hires before the season because they came from great and successful schools/cultures, but this past year is about as good proof as you will find that hiring the best performing coaches at their respective level is better than just hiring an available coach that has a higher level listed on their resume.

Football is football. Some guys may not pan out at a higher level, but you give yourself the best chance with guys that have been having extremely high levels of success at their respective levels.

 

[stpaulcat]

May the NDSU to NU pipeline exceed the NU to ND pipeline in the future.

 

[hdhntr1]

I saw a lot of North Dakota State in NU last night, and I've watched them a whole lot.

What I saw was toughness, relentlessness, confidence, sacrifice, and team unity. Positive attitudes even when things are heading south. Coach Braun CAME to NU with these attributes, he didn't automatically acquire them because he was now a part of the Big 10. He developed them at North Dakota State. His mentors there did a great job, just as he is now doing at NU. Hopefully that attitude and character is being absorbed by every coach and player at NU.

And football is football, the game and the fundamentals are the same. Don't be persuaded to think that a gifted coach from a "lower" division can't succeed at the Big 10 level - that's Big 10 and power 5 hubris!. Coach Braun is proving that to be nonsense, and doing it with possibly less talent than the Big 10 teams he's beaten. Actually, I think North Dakota State and South Dakota State could beat half of the Big 10. Watch them play and tell me that they suffer from being poorly coached

Next time, and that will be soon, when NU needs to hire, don't be so quick to judge the quality of the candidate by what level he's from, but rather what he's done while he's been there. Think about what Braun (North Dakota State), Binns (Youngstown State), Foster (East Carolina), Hicks (Utah State), and Smith (South Dakota State) have done since they've arrived at NU. How many of these guys would you trade away?

Plenty of top head coaches started at lower divisions. They often get a lot of experience a lot earlier than they would have gotten at a higher level. A current example close to home. McGarigle is finally getting DC job but Braun was brought in from already being a DC at a younger age. He had the overall department responsibility that McGarigle did not yet have. Also reminded of a lot of guys hired for top positions at Fortune 500 companies that come from smaller companies because they have experience with the whole organization that those companies just could not get from their own ranks because the bigger companies are so compartmentalized.

No one commented on Braun's ability to be DC, Only if he was ready to fill the big chair with all the additional responsibilities that he had not yet been exposed to

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

I almost can’t wait for the quick-trigger fire Roehl he’s out of his depth at this level posts after the first stalled drive next season.

2-1 odds it will be @TheC in the Game Thread. 🤣

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

2-1 odds it will be @TheC in the Game Thread. 🤣

More like 1-5.

 

[kaTNap]

I saw a lot of North Dakota State in NU last night, and I've watched them a whole lot.

What I saw was toughness, relentlessness, confidence, sacrifice, and team unity. Positive attitudes even when things are heading south. Coach Braun CAME to NU with these attributes, he didn't automatically acquire them because he was now a part of the Big 10. He developed them at North Dakota State.

I grew up 25 mi west of Vermillion, SD (U of South Dakota). Back in those days, the four big state universities in the Dakotas were Division II, and none of them were anything special in terms of football. Now three of the four are major national players in a higher division. NDSU led that transformation.

Count me as onboard with all the "Bison Magic" we can get, as long as I don't have to trade in my purple clothes for green and gold.

I wonder if anyone is giving Ryan Olson (OL coach, SDSU) a look? SDSU's offensive line is probably the best in FCS. However, Olson is extremely young, has only been on the job 2 years, and inherited a strong unit (his predecessor in the job was Jason Eck). OTOH, just because a new hire assistant coach inherits a strong unit doesn't mean he'll keep it that way (hmm, of whom could I be thinking ...).

 

[gocatsgo2003]

I grew up 25 mi west of Vermillion, SD (U of South Dakota). Back in those days, the four big state universities in the Dakotas were Division II, and none of them were anything special in terms of football. Now three of the four are major national players in a higher division. NDSU led that transformation.

Count me as onboard with all the "Bison Magic" we can get, as long as I don't have to trade in my purple clothes for green and gold.

I wonder if anyone is giving Ryan Olson (OL coach, SDSU) a look? SDSU's offensive line is probably the best in FCS. However, Olson is extremely young, has only been on the job 2 years, and inherited a strong unit (his predecessor in the job was Jason Eck). OTOH, just because a new hire assistant coach inherits a strong unit doesn't mean he'll keep it that way (hmm, of whom could I be thinking ...).

Every day the calendar flips over without an announcement from NU/Braun is another day I get more confident we are looking to hire from both NDSU and SDSU. Braun’s NDSU ties are obvious, plus Christian Smtih came from SDSU so at least we have an ”in” to have conversations with that staff.

I’m also 100% on board with a “FSC All-Star” approach to staff replacements. Something like:

OC/TE: Tyler Roehl/NDSU

QB/Passing Game Coordinator: Zach Lujan/SDSU or Randy Hedberg/NDSU

OL: Dan Larson/NDSU or Ryan Olson/SDSU
* Jason Eck/Idaho would be the dream candidate for OL coach, but not sure NU is in position to have a sitting FCS HC to drop to a position coach level a la USC; maybe toss the Associate Head Coach and/or Run Game Coordinator title at him to get him more salary?
** I’d also be OK with Eck as OC, though Roehl makes a lot more sense given Braun’s direct and longer ties

DB/SAF (assuming MacPherson is canned): TBD, no obvious ties at NDSU

LB (assuming McGarigle is kicked up and we backfill): TBD, as Grant Olson/NDSU was already promoted

 

[WaveJumper]

Also, don't forget Montana and Montana State. They're doin' it right there also. All of these teams arrive on the field with ATTITUDE. All four are tough physical teams. They play 1995 NU style football. You have to kill them to beat them!

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Also, don't forget Montana and Montana State. They're doin' it right there also. All of these teams arrive on the field with ATTITUDE. All four are tough physical teams. They play 1995 NU style football. You have to kill them to beat them!

No surprise that Montana State HC Brent Vigen is an NDSU alum who worked his way up from GA to OC between 1998 and 2013 before following Craig Bohl to Wyoming (2014-2020) then moving to Montana State in 2021.

 

[montana_cat]

I was excited about the Braun hire and other hires before the season because they came from great and successful schools/cultures, but this past year is about as good proof as you will find that hiring the best performing coaches at their respective level is better than just hiring an available coach that has a higher level listed on their resume.

Football is football. Some guys may not pan out at a higher level, but you give yourself the best chance with guys that have been having extremely high levels of success at their respective levels.

And Braun was at NDSU when it regularly beat two other FCS powerhouses, Montana State and Montana. And Montana State’s very successful coach, Brent Vigen, was an NDSU assistant. Don’t know if he and Braun were in Fargo at the same time.

 

[DaCat]

I almost can’t wait for the quick-trigger fire Roehl he’s out of his depth at this level posts after the first stalled drive next season.

He’d better call The Touchdown Play early and often!

 

[gocatsgo2003]

And Braun was at NDSU when it regularly beat two other FCS powerhouses, Montana State and Montana. And Montana State’s very successful coach, Brent Vigen, was an NDSU assistant. Don’t know if he and Braun were in Fargo at the same time.

They were not.

 

[FanatiCat]

Any leads on S&C coaches if Braun is looking for a change there as well?

 

[pawildcat]

I grew up 25 mi west of Vermillion, SD (U of South Dakota). Back in those days, the four big state universities in the Dakotas were Division II, and none of them were anything special in terms of football. Now three of the four are major national players in a higher division. NDSU led that transformation.

Count me as onboard with all the "Bison Magic" we can get, as long as I don't have to trade in my purple clothes for green and gold.

I wonder if anyone is giving Ryan Olson (OL coach, SDSU) a look? SDSU's offensive line is probably the best in FCS. However, Olson is extremely young, has only been on the job 2 years, and inherited a strong unit (his predecessor in the job was Jason Eck). OTOH, just because a new hire assistant coach inherits a strong unit doesn't mean he'll keep it that way (hmm, of whom could I be thinking ...).

In 1981 I was present when my undergraduate alma mater, Shippensburg, played North Dakota State in the second round of that year's small college playoffs. The game was tied 6-6 at halftime, but the Bison wore us down in the second half and won 18-6. I remember them being very big and running a lot of option. During the regular season Shippensburg had beaten James Madison, who had just moved up to FCS. When we stopped playing JMU later in the '80s, the all-time series was tied at 5-5. Obviously, the landscape of college football has undergone some changes.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

Every day the calendar flips over without an announcement from NU/Braun is another day I get more confident we are looking to hire from both NDSU and SDSU. Braun’s NDSU ties are obvious, plus Christian Smtih came from SDSU so at least we have an ”in” to have conversations with that staff.

I’m also 100% on board with a “FSC All-Star” approach to staff replacements. Something like:

OC/TE: Tyler Roehl/NDSU

QB/Passing Game Coordinator: Zach Lujan/SDSU or Randy Hedberg/NDSU

OL: Dan Larson/NDSU or Ryan Olson/SDSU
* Jason Eck/Idaho would be the dream candidate for OL coach, but not sure NU is in position to have a sitting FCS HC to drop to a position coach level a la USC; maybe toss the Associate Head Coach and/or Run Game Coordinator title at him to get him more salary?
** I’d also be OK with Eck as OC, though Roehl makes a lot more sense given Braun’s direct and longer ties

DB/SAF (assuming MacPherson is canned): TBD, no obvious ties at NDSU

LB (assuming McGarigle is kicked up and we backfill): TBD, as Grant Olson/NDSU was already promoted

Keep an eye on Lewis Walker at NDSU. Could see him filling a role in the secondary. He’s got some East Coast ties having coached at Monmouth along with an academic perspective having coached at Columbia.

 

[montana_cat]

They were not.

Thanks.