The hazing scandal was good for NU football

[NUCat320]

Fitz had become a bad head coach.

This year’s team is last year’s team minus a terrible DC and four NFL players, and it has gotten much, much better.

I only wish the season had opened with UTEP, because a team that had stopped being ‘Against the World’ and had started just being the best they could be could have beaten Rutgers.

A shame that Anderson and Bajakian were allowed to continue stealing paychecks from NU.

 

[CatManTrue]

Fitz had become a bad head coach.

This year’s team is last year’s team minus a terrible DC and four NFL players, and it has gotten much, much better.

I only wish the season had opened with UTEP, because a team that had stopped being ‘Against the World’ and has started just being the best they could be could have beaten Rutgers.

A shame that Anderson and Bajakian were allowed to continue stealing paychecks from NU.

Don’t forget about Genyk! Check out that fake punt. It would have worked with a slightly faster player. No gamesmanship.

 

[SadCat]

While Fitz needed to go for poor performance, this is a bad take. Lots of reputation damage for the university and the program and it will mire us at the bottom of the B1G until a new conference is formed and we are left out.

I appreciate how hard this year’s team is playing for Braun, but we are going to be undermanned for at least the next few years regardless of who coaches us.

 

[NUCat320]

While Fitz needed to go for poor performance, this is a bad take. Lots of reputation damage for the university and the program and it will mire us at the bottom of the B1G until a new conference is formed and we are left out.

I appreciate how hard this year’s team is playing for Braun, but we are going to be undermanned for at least the next few years regardless of who coaches us.

We were undermanned regardless. And there was no pressure for Fitz to get better. We were mired at the bottom of the conference regardless.

It took his own “I didn’t see anything and didn’t know anything and knowing things wasn’t my job” arrogance to get him out of here.

Maybe Jack Fitz will stay and play next year. Fitz wouldn’t get any job that he would want anyway.

 

[DarkSide576]

Totally agree.
Fitz was not a good coach. Amazing recruiter. Amazing motivator. Amazing ambassador for the school. JON was a disaster. Jake is a disaster. Braun will be a good coach, either here or elsewhere.

 

[TheC]

While Fitz needed to go for poor performance, this is a bad take. Lots of reputation damage for the university and the program and it will mire us at the bottom of the B1G until a new conference is formed and we are left out.

I appreciate how hard this year’s team is playing for Braun, but we are going to be undermanned for at least the next few years regardless of who coaches us.

While you are right, I think I agree with NUCat that we would suck regardless and it is very unlikely the university would ever fire Fitz. We would have been stuck with his crap for at least four or five more years.

 

[FLCatEng]

The hazing scandal has solidified this team in ways a Fitz-lead team in 2023 probably may have not. He would need to motivate solely based on the bad performance from the last two years.

Keep in mind, the new coaches and the new players (Bryant, Johnson, Henning) have immensely upgraded the capabilities of this offense and defense. Those were Fitz's hires and his players. I can not definitively say this team is better with Fitz gone, we just don't know that outcome.

Regardless, we have lost great amount of talent that may have paid dividends, if not this year, then the near future. I believe we are down 17 roster spots and the current recruiting class is small. It's likely we will get some more recruits but not of the same caliber as we've had in the last few years. As it's been stated, NU is not an easy school for the Transfer Portal to fix all of our issues next year.

I'm thankful for Braun, new coaches, and high caliber student-players that we have. This season has been special, but I think this hazing scandal will be create great headwinds for the team, University, and the fans if we every dream of the past glory in the near future.

 

[FeralFelidae]

This is a silly thread.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

This is a silly thread.

Might be some of the worst takes I’ve ever seen here! Fitz was the reason NU’s concessions stink too.

 

[NUCat320]

Might be some of the worst takes I’ve ever seen here! Fitz was the reason NU’s concessions stink too.

Untrue. That problem predated him!

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Untrue. That problem predated him!

Good point, it was bad before, now it is embarrassing.

 

[JimStarr777]

A hazing scandal is never good. Period. Stupid.

 

[TheC]

A hazing scandal is never good. Period. Stupid.

Of course you’re right, but I think at least there is a silver lining

 

[hdhntr1]

Fitz had become a bad head coach.

This year’s team is last year’s team minus a terrible DC and four NFL players, and it has gotten much, much better.

I only wish the season had opened with UTEP, because a team that had stopped being ‘Against the World’ and had started just being the best they could be could have beaten Rutgers.

A shame that Anderson and Bajakian were allowed to continue stealing paychecks from NU.

You are dreaming. We are down something like 17 now with small class coming in (cut in half by the handling of thingsP and potentially additional guys leaving after this season. That could have us down 25-30 going into next year. And hard to use the portal to restock like other programs. Next couple years we might even have a hard time even fielding a team

Fact is that he made a move to replace JON and brought in some talent that has been valuable and we would not have lost the 5 guys that decided to go elsewhere before this season. My guess is at least a couple could have helped this year.

Scandal is never good and the handling of this was especially bad

 

[Hkjb]

We were undermanned regardless. And there was no pressure for Fitz to get better. We were mired at the bottom of the conference regardless.

It took his own “I didn’t see anything and didn’t know anything and knowing things wasn’t my job” arrogance to get him out of here.

Maybe Jack Fitz will stay and play next year. Fitz wouldn’t get any job that he would want anyway.

Perfect articulation of how Fitz responded to his final chance to take accountability, rather than just deflect....

 

[phatcat]

So, I think @NUCat320 is saying the hazing scandal is like chemo and radiation therapy. Sucks but you gotta do it to live.

I'm glad it's out in the open and we can get some healing.

If that's what it took to get our Gary Patterson fired, it's a Pyrrhic victory. Anyway, it's behind us except for the lawsuits

 

[DarkSide576]

So, I think @NUCat320 is saying the hazing scandal is like chemo and radiation therapy. Sucks but you gotta do it to live.

I'm glad it's out in the open and we can get some healing.

If that's what it took to get our Gary Patterson fired, it's a Pyrrhic victory. Anyway, it's behind us except for the lawsuits

Not many other message boards see 'Pyrrhic victory' written in posts. Northwestern-it is not just four years. Go Cats!

 

[hdhntr1]

Not many other message boards see 'Pyrrhic victory' written in posts. Northwestern-it is not just four years. Go Cats!

No. It is being humiliated for the schools athletics department for the rest of your life

 

[1060Ivy]

View the assumption that fans are lucky for events that transpired over last 6 months to ‘it was lucky I got hit by that truck when I did as my cholesterol counts were extremely high’

The hazing scandal and administration reactions to it will likely haunt the university and football program for decades

Changes were necessary. Fitz had led a program that was terrible for a couple seasons, was at helm during hazing incidents, hired inept coaches, and seemed locked into my way of highway mentality to suggestions of major changes.

We are unlikely to be able to fully assess the repercussions to events for some time but in no way should this episode be viewed as a positive for NU, the Athletic department, the football program, nor fans

 

[NUCat320]

View the assumption that fans are lucky for events that transpired over last 6 months to ‘it was lucky I got hit by that truck when I did as my cholesterol counts were extremely high’

The hazing scandal and administration reactions to it will likely haunt the university and football program for decades

Changes were necessary. Fitz had led a program that was terrible for a couple seasons, was at helm during hazing incidents, hired inept coaches, and seemed locked into my way of highway mentality to suggestions of major changes.

We are unlikely to be able to fully assess the repercussions to events for some time but in no way should this episode be viewed as a positive for NU, the Athletic department, the football program, nor fans

Yes, the scandal sucked and was embarrassing and remains embarrassing. But also, frankly, it’s hardly been a topic of conversation beyond the ramifications of having a first time head coach/coordinator at this level. This was not three decades of rape.

But also, I see more intensity and effort and give-a-crap in this team than I have in the past two seasons. Last years team was sleepwalking just like the previous years team.

Paddy Fitz had no pressure to change. JON was an unemployed pal when he was hired, and was inexplicably given a second season. Bajakian and Anderson and Genyk were allowed to remain, despite coaching terrible units.

It was a terrible, terrible program. Fitz was in no danger of being fired, and the program would have remained terrible until he was.

As it stands, we’re now seeing the same passion and enthusiasm from our head coach that we loved so much 17 years ago. We’re *hearing* effort and enthusiasm from the tv mics.

The team is trying. Really trying. We didn’t see that for a few seasons.

It’s always a tall order for NU to be competitive. But they have competed, every game except week one.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Yes, the scandal sucked and was embarrassing and remains embarrassing. But also, frankly, it’s hardly been a topic of conversation beyond the ramifications of having a first time head coach/coordinator at this level. This was not three decades of rape.

But also, I see more intensity and effort and give-a-crap in this team than I have in the past two seasons. Last years team was sleepwalking just like the previous years team.

Paddy Fitz had no pressure to change. JON was an unemployed pal when he was hired, and was inexplicably given a second season. Bajakian and Anderson and Genyk were allowed to remain, despite coaching terrible units.

It was a terrible, terrible program. Fitz was in no danger of being fired, and the program would have remained terrible until he was.

As it stands, we’re now seeing the same passion and enthusiasm from our head coach that we loved so much 17 years ago. We’re *hearing* effort and enthusiasm from the tv mics.

The team is trying. Really trying. We didn’t see that for a few seasons.

It’s always a tall order for NU to be competitive. But they have competed, every game except week one.

You do realize that the team is Banding together for each other. Them playing well is a big FU to the university administration, school newspaper, the rush to judgment media, and all the others that portrayed them s out of control deviants. Braun was caught in the same turmoil. Was put in an impossible situation and these guys respect him and want to do well for him. I believe very few care about NU.

 

[stpaulcat]

While Fitz needed to go for poor performance, this is a bad take. Lots of reputation damage for the university and the program and it will mire us at the bottom of the B1G until a new conference is formed and we are left out.

I appreciate how hard this year’s team is playing for Braun, but we are going to be undermanned for at least the next few years regardless of who coaches us.

Could your thinking be being clouded because your are sad?

 

[stpaulcat]

Yes, the scandal sucked and was embarrassing and remains embarrassing. But also, frankly, it’s hardly been a topic of conversation beyond the ramifications of having a first time head coach/coordinator at this level. This was not three decades of rape.

But also, I see more intensity and effort and give-a-crap in this team than I have in the past two seasons. Last years team was sleepwalking just like the previous years team.

Paddy Fitz had no pressure to change. JON was an unemployed pal when he was hired, and was inexplicably given a second season. Bajakian and Anderson and Genyk were allowed to remain, despite coaching terrible units.

It was a terrible, terrible program. Fitz was in no danger of being fired, and the program would have remained terrible until he was.

As it stands, we’re now seeing the same passion and enthusiasm from our head coach that we loved so much 17 years ago. We’re *hearing* effort and enthusiasm from the tv mics.

The team is trying. Really trying. We didn’t see that for a few seasons.

It’s always a tall order for NU to be competitive. But they have competed, every game except week one.

You make excellent points, and this is what could turn the program around. Football was deffinitely in a death spiral--that was on Fitz, and it happened very, very quickly.

 

[NUCat320]

You do realize that the team is Banding together for each other. Them playing well is a big FU to the university administration, school newspaper, the rush to judgment media, and all the others that portrayed them s out of control deviants. Braun was caught in the same turmoil. Was put in an impossible situation and these guys respect him and want to do well for him. I believe very few care about NU.

I disagree. The ‘Cats Against the World’ team in New Jersey, playing for Fitz, played like they were a Fitz ‘21 or ‘22 team. The ‘Cats Against the World’ team wore stupid shirts that put the focus on the past. They were resentful of Braun being in Fitz’s position — which makes a ton of sense.

But I think that Braun, frankly, is pretty darn convincing. He speaks with passion and clarity of focus, he is fully committed to ‘the 103 who stayed’, and (just this week) in this totally unprecedented and uncertain situation, he’s invested enough that he’s talking about the future.

Braun was near tears after the UTEP and Minnesota victories. He has passion that, frankly, Fitz (and therefore, Fitz’s teams) had lost. This team is playing for Braun in a way they were no longer playing for Fitz. A Fitz team is 1-4 today, not 2-3.

On strict performance, Fitz deserved to be fired for a one-win season in his 16th (?) year in charge. His performance was awful, and he was never going to be fired.

Fitz spending Saturday in Iowa City is good for NU football. And I hope he gets a statue…when the Holiday Bowl team is brought back for a 20th anniversary.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I disagree. The ‘Cats Against the World’ team in New Jersey, playing for Fitz, played like they were a Fitz ‘21 or ‘22 team. The ‘Cats Against the World’ team wore stupid shirts that put the focus on the past. They were resentful of Braun being in Fitz’s position — which makes a ton of sense.

But I think that Braun, frankly, is pretty darn convincing. He speaks with passion and clarity of focus, he is fully committed to ‘the 103 who stayed’, and (just this week) in this totally unprecedented and uncertain situation, he’s invested enough that he’s talking about the future.

Braun was near tears after the UTEP and Minnesota victories. He has passion that, frankly, Fitz (and therefore, Fitz’s teams) had lost. This team is playing for Braun in a way they were no longer playing for Fitz. A Fitz team is 1-4 today, not 2-3.

On strict performance, Fitz deserved to be fired for a one-win season in his 16th (?) year in charge. His performance was awful, and he was never going to be fired.

Fitz spending Saturday in Iowa City is good for NU football. And I hope he gets a statue…when the Holiday Bowl team is brought back for a 20th anniversary.

So I have this straight, when they play bad like Rutgers they are Fitz’s team. When they play good like Minnesota they are Brauns team? Got it.

 

[NUCat320]

So I have this straight, when they play bad like Rutgers they are Fitz’s team. When they play good like Minnesota they are Brauns team? Got it.

The better measure is, in fact, yesterday’s game. That team fought yesterday. We didn’t see fight for two seasons.

I hope that you enjoyed the first three quarters yesterday.

 

[Katatonic]

Totally agree.
Fitz was not a good coach. Amazing recruiter. Amazing motivator. Amazing ambassador for the school. JON was a disaster. Jake is a disaster. Braun will be a good coach, either here or elsewhere.

Fitz was the face of the program, and by that extension, benefited recruiting since he was relatively well known, but in terms of overall recruiting and evaluating talent (esp. the last few years), he was subpar.

O-line and WR were 2 areas Fitz long struggled to get the right recruits (and/or develop them), and then that was exacerbated by struggling at the QB and TE positions.

Things really fell apart when the talent level dropped off on the defensive side despite some heralded classes coming off 2 B1GW championships.

Wouldn't say Fitz was necessarily a great motivator - too many losses early in the season when the Cats have the advantage of classes not having yet started and too many losses to non-P5 programs (which was a big reason why the program couldn't take the next step).

The program needed a change, but a hazing scandal which allegedly involved sexual abuse is not the way to go.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

The better measure is, in fact, yesterday’s game. That team fought yesterday. We didn’t see fight for two seasons.

I hope that you enjoyed the first three quarters yesterday.

Yep, I was actually there and besides the horrendous game day presentation put on by the university it was fun.

I believe most people are acknowledging that Fitz had to right the ship this season. The last 2 seasons sucked. However, the two Big Ten Conference title games didn’t. Neither did the bowl wins. Some people on here act like he suddenly became a Neanderthal the last two seasons. He had some major faults, not the least of which was his hiring of JON and retention of underperforming Assistants.

Whether people want to admit or not Braun is one of Fitz’s allies. Just like pretty much every Coach, player, and players family that elected to stay while be painted as sexual perverts by many. I invite you to come out and speak to them this week to get their perspective. They are pulling together to support each other, their Coaches ( who they know won’t be back) and their former HC. Most do give a rat’s ass about the school and feel betrayed. Fitz was going to be blamed as the reason we went 1-10 or be blamed if we went 6-6 as an “I told you so” by the haters.

 

[DarkSide576]

Fitz was the face of the program, and by that extension, benefited recruiting since he was relatively well known, but in terms of overall recruiting and evaluating talent (esp. the last few years), he was subpar.

O-line and WR were 2 areas Fitz long struggled to get the right recruits (and/or develop them), and then that was exacerbated by struggling at the QB and TE positions.

Things really fell apart when the talent level dropped off on the defensive side despite some heralded classes coming off 2 B1GW championships.

Wouldn't say Fitz was necessarily a great motivator - too many losses early in the season when the Cats have the advantage of classes not having yet started and too many losses to non-P5 programs (which was a big reason why the program couldn't take the next step).

The program needed a change, but a hazing scandal which allegedly involved sexual abuse is not the way to go.

You are correct, on all accounts. My post was too terse to give background on all the issues I cited.
To expound on my thoughts a bit further, I will try to add some ‘meat’. Excellent recruiter in my eyes meant he was capable of convincing seemingly promising recruits to come to NU. Identifying and developing talent was not his strong suit. Terrific motivator was getting earlier iterations of the team to win above their station. Additionally, he motivated fans and alumni to devote more attention and resources to the program.
I think we agree with one another in that the program needed a change, likely at the top, but not this way.

 

[Katatonic]

There is some strange correlation btwn Fitz and CC when it comes to recruiting.

Coming off the Tourney appearance, CC fell in love with trying to build the team around a stretch-4 and failed to adequately address other positions.

Despite the highest no of 4* recruits that I can remember, the program sunk to new lows.

Things started to change when CC reversed course and built the team off guard play, and filled the rest of the roster with less heralded, but more willing to do the "dirty work" type of players.

While Fitz did eventually get the program to a level of consisting winning for a good length of time, coaches like Harbaugh, Clawson and Elko managed to turn things around for their respective programs a lot quicker than Fitz (and they didn't have the advantage of 3 recent conference titles).

If Braun gets the interim tag taken off, one of the changes he needs to look at is at the S&C coaching.

Under Elko, Dook's players have seen a marked improvement in that area.

Braun probably knows a couple of talented, young OCs he's faced in the past (or coached alongside); even if he doesn't make a change at OC, would be great to bring in someone in to be the QB coach/passing game coordinator just to bring in some new ideas.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Totally agree.
Fitz was not a good coach. Amazing recruiter. Amazing motivator. Amazing ambassador for the school. JON was a disaster. Jake is a disaster. Braun will be a good coach, either here or elsewhere.

Not really a great recruiter actually.