Upon reflection

[EvanstonCat]

Have thought about what happened and maybe it’s the optimist in me but maybe there is some good to come out of this. Don’t get me wrong, I am sorry for Pat Fitzgerald. For all he did for this program and for what happened and the likelihood that it was a mean spirited hit job by a spiteful a-hole out to ruin him, he did not deserve this at all. I wish he didn’t have to bear this. However, let’s be real here. We were never going to be a Championship team under Fitz. St. Gary got us there, but Fitz had what 17 years and never got us there. We were 4-20 the past couple years, and our offense and defense stunk. Our recruiting sucked and this year it was as bad as it’s ever been under his watch. If there was ever a time to clean house, this was it.

And so as much as I’m sad that Fitz couldn’t leave on better terms, it is for the best. The program would have been mortally wounded and walking dead had he not been fired. Now we can rip off the scab and extract the toxins and clean it and allow it to heal. Maybe painful, but the only way we can recover.

What the firing enables us to do is to potentially reboot and have a chance to be something better. I have always thought we were selling ourselves short thinking this was the best we could do. A program that once won 3 titles in the span of 6 years won zero under Fitz. Illinois passed us under his watch. Color me underwhelmed.

Absolutely he made his contributions to this program. The 10 win seasons. He got the facilities built. The stadium (hopefully), but with divisions going away did anyone believe Fitz and his bullshit offensive philosophy was ever going to give us a chance to win the B1G? Was he the guy to take us to the next level? I doubted it before and especially after 4-20 but with this hanging over us, clearly he wasn’t. Now at least we can have a fresh start. We might not make the most of it and we might just suck now forever, but at least we have a chance now for some real change.

And I’m not nearly as pessimistic about who we could bring to Evanston. Always take a job when you’re at the nadir. Nowhere to go but up. See Gary Barnett. Never take one at the peak. See JON. Expectations are low, and this is still the B1G, $$$$ is big, no pressure to win, state of the art facilities, won’t even likely have to run kids off to make room for your own. One thing we’ve got to thank Fitz for is that he made this an attractive place to be. And that’s what I’m hearing. Wilbon made the point - people calling him telling him they’d be attracted to the job. We know Ed Orgeron is interested and say what you will but how many candidates have a national championship ring and knows how to recruit at an SEC level? Brian Hartline is intriguing to me. Big time. Who cares if he moves on if he earns that right by making us winners again? And we may actually end up with a modern offense that can actually score points! I’m getting a hard on just thinking about that. Again, perhaps I’m just an unbridled optimist, but I think we can get a major upgrade here. Not saying Schill and Gragg won’t eff this up, but until they do hope springs eternal. Time to move on and hopefully on to better days ahead. Thank you Fitz for what you have done. It’s time for us to bring in someone to take what you have built for us, and who can take us further and enable our full potential and now we can.

 

[RhabdoWildcat]

Have thought about what happened and maybe it’s the optimist in me but maybe there is some good to come out of this. Don’t get me wrong, I am sorry for Pat Fitzgerald. For all he did for this program and for what happened and the likelihood that it was a mean spirited hit job by a spiteful a-hole out to ruin him, he did not deserve this at all. I wish he didn’t have to bear this. However, let’s be real here. We were never going to be a Championship team under Fitz. St. Gary got us there, but Fitz had what 17 years and never got us there. We were 4-20 the past couple years, and our offense and defense stunk. Our recruiting sucked and this year it was as bad as it’s ever been under his watch. If there was ever a time to clean house, this was it.

And so as much as I’m sad that Fitz couldn’t leave on better terms, it is for the best. The program would have been mortally wounded and walking dead had he not been fired. Now we can rip off the scab and extract the toxins and clean it and allow it to heal. Maybe painful, but the only way we can recover.

What the firing enables us to do is to potentially reboot and have a chance to be something better. I have always thought we were selling ourselves short thinking this was the best we could do. A program that once won 3 titles in the span of 6 years won zero under Fitz. Color me underwhelmed.

Absolutely he made his contributions to this program. The 10 win seasons. He got the facilities built. The stadium (hopefully), but with divisions going away did anyone believe Fitz and his bullshit offensive philosophy was ever going to give us a chance to win the B1G? Was he the guy to take us to the next level? I doubted it before and especially after 4-20 but with this hanging over us, clearly he wasn’t. Now at least we can have a fresh start. We might not make the most of it and we might just suck now forever, but at least we have a chance now for some real change.

And I’m not nearly as pessimistic about who we could bring to Evanston. Always take a job when you’re at the nadir. Nowhere to go but up. See Gary Barnett. Never take one at the peak. See JON. Expectations are low, and this is still the B1G, $$$$ is big, no pressure to win, state of the art facilities, won’t even likely have to run kids off to make room for your own. One thing we’ve got to thank Fitz for is that he made this an attractive place to be. And that’s what I’m hearing. Wilbon made the point - people calling him telling him they’d be attracted to the job. We know Ed Orgeron is interested and say what you will but how many candidates have a national championship ring and knows how to recruit at an SEC level? Brian Hartline is intriguing to me. Big time. Who cares if he moves on if he earns that right by making us winners again? And we may actually end up with a modern offense that can actually score points! I’m getting a hard on just thinking about that. Again, perhaps I’m just an unbridled optimist, but I think we can get a major upgrade here. Not saying Schill and Gragg won’t eff this up, but until they do hope springs eternal. Time to move on and hopefully on to better days ahead. Thank you Fitz for what you have done. It’s time for us to bring in someone to take what you have built for us, and who can take us further and enable our full potential and now we can.

Somehow this is the most reasonable, nuanced post and take I’ve read since this shit atorm began.

Are we sure ChatGPT didn’t write this?

In any event, I agree. Time to move on. I’m sorry for Fitz and his family. A great alum and ‘Cat but one man none the less. Plus his on field performance warranted a change most likely anyways.

Whether he was railroaded or wronged is up to the courts now to decide. The court of public opinion is and will always be torn. Hell if people at PENN STATE were torn about Paterno AND CHILD RAPE, I don’t see the hard core Fitz-philes here softening their stance anytime soon.

We are in a world of black and white. We don’t accept greys. That’s why we are where we are but oh well.

As always ‘Go Cats!

 

[TheC]

Somehow this is the most reasonable, nuanced post and take I’ve read since this shit atorm began.

Are we sure ChatGPT didn’t write this?

In any event, I agree. Time to move on. I’m sorry for Fitz and his family. A great alum and ‘Cat but one man none the less. Plus his on field performance warranted a change most likely anyways.

Whether he was railroaded or wronged is up to the courts now to decide. The court of public opinion is and will always be torn. Hell if people at PENN STATE were torn about Paterno AND CHILD RAPE, I don’t see the hard core Fitz-philes here softening their stance anytime soon.

We are in a world of black and white. We don’t accept greys. That’s why we are where we are but oh well.

As always ‘Go Cats!

ChatGPT can do a lot of things, but pass off as an EvanstonCat post? Not a chance. It ain't that sophisticated yet!

 

[ashley0623]

This whole thing spun me 180 degrees. After last year, I was secretly hoping he would be fired as I wasn't confident the program would break out of 4-20 post-Hankwitz.

But this episode had me do a complete 180 and had me rooting for him to keep his job after he was getting railroaded with lies and embellishments. If he was going to lose his job, I wanted it to be for performance as he was already greatly accomplished - not a personal character assassination by vengeful a-holes with agendas who are bragging about lying.

 

[pawildcat]

Have thought about what happened and maybe it’s the optimist in me but maybe there is some good to come out of this. Don’t get me wrong, I am sorry for Pat Fitzgerald. For all he did for this program and for what happened and the likelihood that it was a mean spirited hit job by a spiteful a-hole out to ruin him, he did not deserve this at all. I wish he didn’t have to bear this. However, let’s be real here. We were never going to be a Championship team under Fitz. St. Gary got us there, but Fitz had what 17 years and never got us there. We were 4-20 the past couple years, and our offense and defense stunk. Our recruiting sucked and this year it was as bad as it’s ever been under his watch. If there was ever a time to clean house, this was it.

And so as much as I’m sad that Fitz couldn’t leave on better terms, it is for the best. The program would have been mortally wounded and walking dead had he not been fired. Now we can rip off the scab and extract the toxins and clean it and allow it to heal. Maybe painful, but the only way we can recover.

What the firing enables us to do is to potentially reboot and have a chance to be something better. I have always thought we were selling ourselves short thinking this was the best we could do. A program that once won 3 titles in the span of 6 years won zero under Fitz. Illinois passed us under his watch. Color me underwhelmed.

Absolutely he made his contributions to this program. The 10 win seasons. He got the facilities built. The stadium (hopefully), but with divisions going away did anyone believe Fitz and his bullshit offensive philosophy was ever going to give us a chance to win the B1G? Was he the guy to take us to the next level? I doubted it before and especially after 4-20 but with this hanging over us, clearly he wasn’t. Now at least we can have a fresh start. We might not make the most of it and we might just suck now forever, but at least we have a chance now for some real change.

And I’m not nearly as pessimistic about who we could bring to Evanston. Always take a job when you’re at the nadir. Nowhere to go but up. See Gary Barnett. Never take one at the peak. See JON. Expectations are low, and this is still the B1G, $$$$ is big, no pressure to win, state of the art facilities, won’t even likely have to run kids off to make room for your own. One thing we’ve got to thank Fitz for is that he made this an attractive place to be. And that’s what I’m hearing. Wilbon made the point - people calling him telling him they’d be attracted to the job. We know Ed Orgeron is interested and say what you will but how many candidates have a national championship ring and knows how to recruit at an SEC level? Brian Hartline is intriguing to me. Big time. Who cares if he moves on if he earns that right by making us winners again? And we may actually end up with a modern offense that can actually score points! I’m getting a hard on just thinking about that. Again, perhaps I’m just an unbridled optimist, but I think we can get a major upgrade here. Not saying Schill and Gragg won’t eff this up, but until they do hope springs eternal. Time to move on and hopefully on to better days ahead. Thank you Fitz for what you have done. It’s time for us to bring in someone to take what you have built for us, and who can take us further and enable our full potential and now we can.

Well, I admire the positive outlook and hope you're right, but I think you're living in a fantasy world if you think Northwestern is going to win anything much in a single-division Big 10 featuring NIL and the transfer portal. The conditions are vastly different from the Barnett era, and he didn't have USC to contend with along with the traditional Big 10 powers. I wish the guy who gets the job good luck; he's definitely going to need it.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Well, I admire the positive outlook and hope you're right, but I think you're living in a fantasy world if you think Northwestern is going to win anything much in a single-division Big 10 featuring NIL and the transfer portal. The conditions are vastly different from the Barnett era, and he didn't have USC to contend with along with the traditional Big 10 powers. I wish the guy who gets the job good luck; he's definitely going to need it.

Yeah but weren’t you one of the guys who thought Carmody was as good as it could possibly get?

Sorry I don’t buy the we are destined for mediocrity schtick.

 

[FeralFelidae]

And so as much as I’m sad that Fitz couldn’t leave on better terms, it is for the best. The program would have been mortally wounded and walking dead had he not been fired. Now we can rip off the scab and extract the toxins and clean it and allow it to heal. Maybe painful, but the only way we can recover.

This feels more like going through chemo than ripping off a scab.

 

[Medill '03]

Have thought about what happened and maybe it’s the optimist in me but maybe there is some good to come out of this. Don’t get me wrong, I am sorry for Pat Fitzgerald. For all he did for this program and for what happened and the likelihood that it was a mean spirited hit job by a spiteful a-hole out to ruin him, he did not deserve this at all. I wish he didn’t have to bear this. However, let’s be real here. We were never going to be a Championship team under Fitz. St. Gary got us there, but Fitz had what 17 years and never got us there. We were 4-20 the past couple years, and our offense and defense stunk. Our recruiting sucked and this year it was as bad as it’s ever been under his watch. If there was ever a time to clean house, this was it.

And so as much as I’m sad that Fitz couldn’t leave on better terms, it is for the best. The program would have been mortally wounded and walking dead had he not been fired. Now we can rip off the scab and extract the toxins and clean it and allow it to heal. Maybe painful, but the only way we can recover.

What the firing enables us to do is to potentially reboot and have a chance to be something better. I have always thought we were selling ourselves short thinking this was the best we could do. A program that once won 3 titles in the span of 6 years won zero under Fitz. Illinois passed us under his watch. Color me underwhelmed.

Absolutely he made his contributions to this program. The 10 win seasons. He got the facilities built. The stadium (hopefully), but with divisions going away did anyone believe Fitz and his bullshit offensive philosophy was ever going to give us a chance to win the B1G? Was he the guy to take us to the next level? I doubted it before and especially after 4-20 but with this hanging over us, clearly he wasn’t. Now at least we can have a fresh start. We might not make the most of it and we might just suck now forever, but at least we have a chance now for some real change.

And I’m not nearly as pessimistic about who we could bring to Evanston. Always take a job when you’re at the nadir. Nowhere to go but up. See Gary Barnett. Never take one at the peak. See JON. Expectations are low, and this is still the B1G, $$$$ is big, no pressure to win, state of the art facilities, won’t even likely have to run kids off to make room for your own. One thing we’ve got to thank Fitz for is that he made this an attractive place to be. And that’s what I’m hearing. Wilbon made the point - people calling him telling him they’d be attracted to the job. We know Ed Orgeron is interested and say what you will but how many candidates have a national championship ring and knows how to recruit at an SEC level? Brian Hartline is intriguing to me. Big time. Who cares if he moves on if he earns that right by making us winners again? And we may actually end up with a modern offense that can actually score points! I’m getting a hard on just thinking about that. Again, perhaps I’m just an unbridled optimist, but I think we can get a major upgrade here. Not saying Schill and Gragg won’t eff this up, but until they do hope springs eternal. Time to move on and hopefully on to better days ahead. Thank you Fitz for what you have done. It’s time for us to bring in someone to take what you have built for us, and who can take us further and enable our full potential and now we can.

The only problem with this view is that so far we’re stuck with an incompetent administration and a lawsuit/consequences that could cost the university hundred of millions with lost donations.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Have thought about what happened and maybe it’s the optimist in me but maybe there is some good to come out of this. Don’t get me wrong, I am sorry for Pat Fitzgerald. For all he did for this program and for what happened and the likelihood that it was a mean spirited hit job by a spiteful a-hole out to ruin him, he did not deserve this at all. I wish he didn’t have to bear this. However, let’s be real here. We were never going to be a Championship team under Fitz. St. Gary got us there, but Fitz had what 17 years and never got us there. We were 4-20 the past couple years, and our offense and defense stunk. Our recruiting sucked and this year it was as bad as it’s ever been under his watch. If there was ever a time to clean house, this was it.

And so as much as I’m sad that Fitz couldn’t leave on better terms, it is for the best. The program would have been mortally wounded and walking dead had he not been fired. Now we can rip off the scab and extract the toxins and clean it and allow it to heal. Maybe painful, but the only way we can recover.

What the firing enables us to do is to potentially reboot and have a chance to be something better. I have always thought we were selling ourselves short thinking this was the best we could do. A program that once won 3 titles in the span of 6 years won zero under Fitz. Illinois passed us under his watch. Color me underwhelmed.

Absolutely he made his contributions to this program. The 10 win seasons. He got the facilities built. The stadium (hopefully), but with divisions going away did anyone believe Fitz and his bullshit offensive philosophy was ever going to give us a chance to win the B1G? Was he the guy to take us to the next level? I doubted it before and especially after 4-20 but with this hanging over us, clearly he wasn’t. Now at least we can have a fresh start. We might not make the most of it and we might just suck now forever, but at least we have a chance now for some real change.

And I’m not nearly as pessimistic about who we could bring to Evanston. Always take a job when you’re at the nadir. Nowhere to go but up. See Gary Barnett. Never take one at the peak. See JON. Expectations are low, and this is still the B1G, $$$$ is big, no pressure to win, state of the art facilities, won’t even likely have to run kids off to make room for your own. One thing we’ve got to thank Fitz for is that he made this an attractive place to be. And that’s what I’m hearing. Wilbon made the point - people calling him telling him they’d be attracted to the job. We know Ed Orgeron is interested and say what you will but how many candidates have a national championship ring and knows how to recruit at an SEC level? Brian Hartline is intriguing to me. Big time. Who cares if he moves on if he earns that right by making us winners again? And we may actually end up with a modern offense that can actually score points! I’m getting a hard on just thinking about that. Again, perhaps I’m just an unbridled optimist, but I think we can get a major upgrade here. Not saying Schill and Gragg won’t eff this up, but until they do hope springs eternal. Time to move on and hopefully on to better days ahead. Thank you Fitz for what you have done. It’s time for us to bring in someone to take what you have built for us, and who can take us further and enable our full potential and now we can.

I’m not sure you appreciate just how difficult of a job NU just became. Not only do you have the admissions issues that have been there for a while, but you’ve got all the public fallout from the current situation plus whatever behind-the-scenes institutional changes are made as a result. And I doubt the new stadium gets approved or built anytime soon. And I doubt we are going to be able to depend on support from our longtime #1 financial backer. And we are already well behind the pack in terms of competing in modern recruiting (mostly related to NIL).

I just have an extremely hard time seeing any younger, exciting coach deciding that NU is the place for them. Yes it’s a P5 job and he’s a B1G job is extremely coveted.. but it’s just tough to see someone who believes in their ability to get a job at the highest level to do the full cost/benefit analysis of the NU job and reach the conclusion that they want it rather than waiting for another B1G to open (and I could plausibly see openings at at least Indiana and Rutgers in the next few cycles, potentially more if guys retire (Harbaugh, Ferentz) or take different jobs (Fleck)).

 

[samuirocks]

Great post. I would feel 100x better if Jim Phillips and Bienen were still leading the ship. Gragg is a tool. Doesn’t say much when I think they will more likely **** this up and hire some cheap MAC coach.

 

[samuirocks]

I’m not sure you appreciate just how difficult of a job NU just became. Not only do you have the admissions issues that have been there for a while, but you’ve got all the public fallout from the current situation plus whatever behind-the-scenes institutional changes are made as a result. And I doubt the new stadium gets approved or built anytime soon. And I doubt we are going to be able to depend on support from our longtime #1 financial backer. And we are already well behind the pack in terms of competing in modern recruiting (mostly related to NIL).

I just have an extremely hard time seeing any younger, exciting coach deciding that NU is the place for them. Yes it’s a P5 job and he’s a B1G job is extremely coveted.. but it’s just tough to see someone who believes in their ability to get a job at the highest level to do the full cost/benefit analysis of the NU job and reach the conclusion that they want it rather than waiting for another B1G to open (and I could plausibly see openings at at least Indiana and Rutgers in the next few cycles, potentially more if guys retire (Harbaugh, Ferentz) or take different jobs (Fleck)).

I don’t believe that. If you have some level of success doors will open. Fitz had some big time opportunities after some of his successful years that he turned down.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

I don’t believe that. If you have some level of success doors will open. Fitz had some big time opportunities after some of his successful years that he turned down.

Sure… but that was AFTER having success at a place where he had all the institutional advantages possible. And it took about 5 years to start getting those “big time” opportunities.

It’s just as plausible (and likely, IMO) that a young up-and-comer type could look at NU right now and conclude that it is a career killer.

 

[Arnell Dautry]

Well, I admire the positive outlook and hope you're right, but I think you're living in a fantasy world if you think Northwestern is going to win anything much in a single-division Big 10 featuring NIL and the transfer portal. The conditions are vastly different from the Barnett era, and he didn't have USC to contend with along with the traditional Big 10 powers. I wish the guy who gets the job good luck; he's definitely going to need it.

Barnett had to contend with USC once ... and lost (which, I think, is more evidence for your argument).

 

[SadCat]

This is now the worst P5 job by a wide margin and money would be the only reason that a talented coach would take the job.

Could that change once this blows over? Perhaps. But it will still be an unattractive job. Lots of alumni support is going away from an already tiny fan base.

 

[Jaycg15]

There’s not much NIL funding and subpar leadership. The only selling point right now is the Big Ten.

 

[phatcat]

Have thought about what happened and maybe it’s the optimist in me but maybe there is some good to come out of this. Don’t get me wrong, I am sorry for Pat Fitzgerald. For all he did for this program and for what happened and the likelihood that it was a mean spirited hit job by a spiteful a-hole out to ruin him, he did not deserve this at all. I wish he didn’t have to bear this. However, let’s be real here. We were never going to be a Championship team under Fitz. St. Gary got us there, but Fitz had what 17 years and never got us there. We were 4-20 the past couple years, and our offense and defense stunk. Our recruiting sucked and this year it was as bad as it’s ever been under his watch. If there was ever a time to clean house, this was it.

And so as much as I’m sad that Fitz couldn’t leave on better terms, it is for the best. The program would have been mortally wounded and walking dead had he not been fired. Now we can rip off the scab and extract the toxins and clean it and allow it to heal. Maybe painful, but the only way we can recover.

What the firing enables us to do is to potentially reboot and have a chance to be something better. I have always thought we were selling ourselves short thinking this was the best we could do. A program that once won 3 titles in the span of 6 years won zero under Fitz. Illinois passed us under his watch. Color me underwhelmed.

Absolutely he made his contributions to this program. The 10 win seasons. He got the facilities built. The stadium (hopefully), but with divisions going away did anyone believe Fitz and his bullshit offensive philosophy was ever going to give us a chance to win the B1G? Was he the guy to take us to the next level? I doubted it before and especially after 4-20 but with this hanging over us, clearly he wasn’t. Now at least we can have a fresh start. We might not make the most of it and we might just suck now forever, but at least we have a chance now for some real change.

And I’m not nearly as pessimistic about who we could bring to Evanston. Always take a job when you’re at the nadir. Nowhere to go but up. See Gary Barnett. Never take one at the peak. See JON. Expectations are low, and this is still the B1G, $$$$ is big, no pressure to win, state of the art facilities, won’t even likely have to run kids off to make room for your own. One thing we’ve got to thank Fitz for is that he made this an attractive place to be. And that’s what I’m hearing. Wilbon made the point - people calling him telling him they’d be attracted to the job. We know Ed Orgeron is interested and say what you will but how many candidates have a national championship ring and knows how to recruit at an SEC level? Brian Hartline is intriguing to me. Big time. Who cares if he moves on if he earns that right by making us winners again? And we may actually end up with a modern offense that can actually score points! I’m getting a hard on just thinking about that. Again, perhaps I’m just an unbridled optimist, but I think we can get a major upgrade here. Not saying Schill and Gragg won’t eff this up, but until they do hope springs eternal. Time to move on and hopefully on to better days ahead. Thank you Fitz for what you have done. It’s time for us to bring in someone to take what you have built for us, and who can take us further and enable our full potential and now we can.

I regret that I have but one like to give to this post.

I happen to believe he deserved a more severe punishment, even firing, but the clown show that went on was a complete disaster. It's like they had 5 key decisions to make and missed them all.

 

[elgatoloco]

To get a coach who can revive the program, I think the way forward will now have to include a more expansive admissions policy. It’s time.

 

[FeralFelidae]

To get a coach who can revive the program, I think the way forward will now have to include a more expansive admissions policy. It’s time.

Then down the road we can have another scandal about the measures taken to "help" underqualified students "pass" their classes.

 

[elgatoloco]

Then down the road we can have another scandal about the measures taken to "help" underqualified students "pass" their classes.

If the NCAA has made one thing clear, it’s that they won’t tolerate academic dishonesty by member institutions

 

[NJCat]

If the NCAA has made one thing clear, it’s that they won’t tolerate academic dishonesty by member institutions

Except North Carolina.

[Did you forget to add /s ?]

 

[EvanstonCat]

Sure… but that was AFTER having success at a place where he had all the institutional advantages possible. And it took about 5 years to start getting those “big time” opportunities.

It’s just as plausible (and likely, IMO) that a young up-and-comer type could look at NU right now and conclude that it is a career killer.

Career killer? If someone comes here and wins, they will have the world at their feet. If they come and fail, they will be able to blame the circumstances. And the reality is there is nowhere but up from where we are. Can’t really fail.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Career killer? If someone comes here and wins, they will have the world at their feet. If they come and fail, they will be able to blame the circumstances. And the reality is there is nowhere but up from where we are. Can’t really fail.

But that “if” on “comes here and wins” is MASSIVE.

And if it fails that’s still 5-6 years spent spinning on the carousel and going nowhere.

 

[NJCat]

And if it fails that’s still 5-6 years spent spinning on the carousel and going nowhere.

Failure not such a bitter pill to swallow at around $3 million/year over those 5-6 years on the carousel though......

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Failure not such a bitter pill to swallow at around $3 million/year over those 5-6 years on the carousel though......

It is if you can earn ~$2MM/year as a SEC coordinator and not have to deal with our shit storm.

I know Wilbon keeps droning on about how it’s a good job and coaches are interested, but it is going to be very difficult to fill the job long-term. That isn’t speculation on my part.

 

[FanatiCat]

Career killer? If someone comes here and wins, they will have the world at their feet. If they come and fail, they will be able to blame the circumstances. And the reality is there is nowhere but up from where we are. Can’t really fail.

Yes, we will have to accept a different model now, of being a stepping stone for coaches to show they can build and win at NU, then climb the ladder for a more prestigious job. We may get coaches who have higher win ceiling than Fitz but they’ll leave in 3-5 years and we’ll probably fall back as far as we came. I think Fitz had definite limitations with his philosophy and willingness to change, but there were signs of improvement with making some different coaching changes, starting the NIL collective and getting the stadium going.

 

[Darren72]

I think it would be very good if we were a school that won between 5 and 10 games a year, made a bowl game most years, sometimes competed for the Big 10 championship, and once in a while smelled the top 15. That was us from say 2008 to 2018. So it isn't crazy. Obviously we can't just flip a switch and get back there immediately. We will have to rebuild. But it isn't an unreasonable goal. If that's what we become, and the university provides all of the material resources a coach would need (i.e. facilities), we will attract very good coaches.

 

[pawildcat]

Yeah but weren’t you one of the guys who thought Carmody was as good as it could possibly get?

Sorry I don’t buy the we are destined for mediocrity schtick.

I don't think I've mentioned Bill Carmody on a Northwestern board in years and certainly don't recall saying he was as good as it gets. I usually try to stay out of the basketball board spitting contest as much as possible. Carmody was a decent Xs and Os coach who ultimately failed because he wouldn't put any effort into recruiting. Collins, who has done some decent recruiting, certainly has a higher ceiling and has had a couple of good seasons along with some awful ones. The jury is still out on him as far as I'm concerned but least he did get the team to the tourney (which is a low bar, but unprecedented at NU) and possibly the return of Boo will keep them competitive this year. And you can't compare building a basketball team, where two or three outstanding players can have huge impact (Buie and Audige last year) to putting together a football team with 11 guys on each side of the ball. It's amazing to me that Northwestern has managed to be inept at basketball for as long as it has while at times being relatively competitive in football. You'd almost think the law of averages would have given them a better basketball record over time.

Certainly the next couple of seasons of Northwestern football will be a hot mess. Fitz's disastrous DC hire to replace Hankwitz and the continuing stagnant offense already had them 4-20 the last two years before all this crap even started.

I'm old enough now that I'm pretty sure the 2000 Big Ten title will be the last one the Cats win in my lifetime, and that was won with an offense that was innovative for the time and a lousy defense that was exploited by Nebraska in the bowl game. They will now have to compete in a single division and beat out Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, USC, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc. The common denominator in their last three B1G championships was that they didn't play Ohio State in any of them. And they now have to beat out the bigger schools in a college landscape that includes the transfer portal and NIL rules that enable football factories to openly pay players rather than do it under the table. The traditional powers, with lower academic standards, will always have access to more top recruits than NU and the ability to pay more of them. I'm watching businesses across central Pa. mobilize this summer to throw money at the Penn State NIL bucket.

Fitz's formula, when he was doing well, was to have a couple of so-so seasons while building up recruits over three or four years to hit the occasional 9- or 10-win season. Have a down year now, and you'll watch your good players head for the transfer portal. Fitz's 110-101 coaching record is relatively heroic by Northwestern standards. It's been tough to win consistently at NU since the early 1940s, and the new rules ensure it will be even tougher.

 

[Bwm57]

This feels more like going through chemo than ripping off a scab.

Yuck.

 

[hdhntr1]

I’m not sure you appreciate just how difficult of a job NU just became. Not only do you have the admissions issues that have been there for a while, but you’ve got all the public fallout from the current situation plus whatever behind-the-scenes institutional changes are made as a result. And I doubt the new stadium gets approved or built anytime soon. And I doubt we are going to be able to depend on support from our longtime #1 financial backer. And we are already well behind the pack in terms of competing in modern recruiting (mostly related to NIL).

I just have an extremely hard time seeing any younger, exciting coach deciding that NU is the place for them. Yes it’s a P5 job and he’s a B1G job is extremely coveted.. but it’s just tough to see someone who believes in their ability to get a job at the highest level to do the full cost/benefit analysis of the NU job and reach the conclusion that they want it rather than waiting for another B1G to open (and I could plausibly see openings at at least Indiana and Rutgers in the next few cycles, potentially more if guys retire (Harbaugh, Ferentz) or take different jobs (Fleck)).

NU is looking more like a place that coming here could wreck your career for a young coach

 

[NURoseBowl]

Barnett had to contend with USC once ... and lost (which, I think, is more evidence for your argument).

Welcome aboard, Arnell - but I've gotta ask you . . . you're saying a game from over a quarter of a century ago is "more evidence" . . . of anything today?

 

[mountaindrew]

To get a coach who can revive the program, I think the way forward will now have to include a more expansive admissions policy. It’s time.

Uh huh. And its time for me to give up sugar, junk food, and eating at Golden Corral. Good luck with that.

 

[elgatoloco]

Uh huh. And its time for me to give up sugar, junk food, and eating at Golden Corral. Good luck with that.

I understand that the university very likely won’t move in that direction any time soon, and for a long time I didn’t agree with it, but recruiting was hard enough before this idiocy. Two consecutive one-win seasons, the portal, NIL madness, and now this.

 

[corbi296]

I understand that the university very likely won’t move in that direction any time soon, and for a long time I didn’t agree with it, but recruiting was hard enough before this idiocy. Two consecutive one-win seasons, the portal, NIL madness, and now this.

Huge long term damage has been done to the football program and as a result to the University’s athletic programs. Football is the funding engine that pays for all the other athletic programs at NU. Already faced with huge changes in the football competitive landscape (conference realignments (UCLA & USC anyone), Pay for play/NIL) with the firing of Pat Fitzgerald, Mr. NU football and the main reason many of our recruits chose NU, I really question if NU can even compete let alone thrive in the Big Ten going forward. If we embarrass ourselves on the field over the next five years, we may come to the point where by mutual agreement NU football is no longer part of the Big Ten. If that happens, watch out because the Title IX requirements will trigger a blood bath in NU’s athletic departments. We may not have to worry about baseball, soccer or lots of other sports anymore.

 

[pawildcat]

Huge long term damage has been done to the football program and as a result to the University’s athletic programs. Football is the funding engine that pays for all the other athletic programs at NU. Already faced with huge changes in the football competitive landscape (conference realignments (UCLA & USC anyone), Pay for play/NIL) with the firing of Pat Fitzgerald, Mr. NU football and the main reason many of our recruits chose NU, I really question if NU can even compete let alone thrive in the Big Ten going forward. If we embarrass ourselves on the field over the next five years, we may come to the point where by mutual agreement NU football is no longer part of the Big Ten. If that happens, watch out because the Title IX requirements will trigger a blood bath in NU’s athletic departments. We may not have to worry about baseball, soccer or lots of other sports anymore.

Depends what league you go into and what level you want to compete at. Last I looked, Northwestern sponsors a combined 19 men's and women's sports. My Division II alma mater sponsors 20, including track and field, which I believe is not included at NU. You'd be surprised how many sports you can sponsor when you're not concerned with paying out huge bucks for travel, facilities, etc.

 

[DaCat]

I understand the general pessimism in this thread but overall I believe the NU football program can and will weather this storm. The main roadblock at this point is the Shill and Gagg sh.tshow. Get those two clowns out and start rebuilding.

 

[mesacat]

University of Chicago has 20 varsity sports involving. 500 student athletes at Div 3. Seems to they are just fine since leaving the big Ten . They have remained in the academic and research. consortium of the Conference .We could also maintain our high level women's programs as stand alone associated with a major conf. Life after the Big Ten may not be so bad. Over the long run, the portal, NIL and admission policy will be more significant in our decline than the firing of Fitz.

 

[corbi296]

Depends what league you go into and what level you want to compete at. Last I looked, Northwestern sponsors a combined 19 men's and women's sports. My Division II alma mater sponsors 20, including track and field, which I believe is not included at NU. You'd be surprised how many sports you can sponsor when you're not concerned with paying out huge bucks for travel, facilities, etc.

Of course, I am talking about NU athletics competing at the highest level of collegiate athletics. If you want to run a DIII program playing the little sisters of the poor, then it doesn’t matter. NU is unique because of the combination of big time athletic and academics. I fear the events of this week leave us on a trajectory to become much more like U of C than the program that finished ranked 10th in the country in college football just a few years ago. That may have been the apex and none of us realized it at the time. For those who only care to watch your school play football and don’t care at what level that happens, then none of this really matters. I for one, won’t get as excited about playing and beating Valparaiso as I do about Michigan.

 

[pawildcat]

Of course, I am talking about NU athletics competing at the highest level of collegiate athletics. If you want to run a DIII program playing the little sisters of the poor, then it doesn’t matter. NU is unique because of the combination of big time athletic and academics. I fear the events of this week leave us on a trajectory to become much more like U of C than the program that finished ranked 10th in the country in college football just a few years ago. That may have been the apex and none of us realized it at the time. For those who only care to watch your school play football and don’t care at what level that happens, then none of this really matters. I for one, won’t get as excited about playing and beating Valparaiso as I do about Michigan.

There are plenty of schools playing Division 1 ball outside the Big 10 (MAC, anyone) and funding a variety of sports. What I was addressing was your contention that NU would somehow be shedding a boatload of of sports if they left the Big 10. It's fine to be unique as you say, but the rules of the game have shifted. I'm not interested in being unique if it means constantly being the doormat of the Big 10, and frankly I'm not crazy about the direction of big-time college football programs that are increasingly professional outfits in search of a campus. Even my brother, who has spent thousands over the years on Penn State season tickets, is getting tired of the constant appeals for NIL funds on top of what he already shells out. As far as beating Valparaiso, Fitz has lost to Southern Illinois in the not-too-distant, even with all the money that has been poured into the NU program.

 

[corbi296]

There are plenty of schools playing Division 1 ball outside the Big 10 (MAC, anyone) and funding a variety of sports. What I was addressing was your contention that NU would somehow be shedding a boatload of of sports if they left the Big 10. It's fine to be unique as you say, but the rules of the game have shifted. I'm not interested in being unique if it means constantly being the doormat of the Big 10, and frankly I'm not crazy about the direction of big-time college football programs that are increasingly professional outfits in search of a campus. Even my brother, who has spent thousands over the years on Penn State season tickets, is getting tired of the constant appeals for NIL funds on top of what he already shells out. As far as beating Valparaiso, Fitz has lost to Southern Illinois in the not-too-distant, even with all the money that has been poured into the NU program.

Again you are comparing apples and oranges. What I am talking about is maintaining high level D1 programs with scholarship athletes and top coaches. Where is the money going to come from to pay for the scholarships and coaching salaries for our highly accomplished Women’s LAX and Softball teams if NU football falls off a cliff? Goodbye Kelly Amonte Hiller. See you later Izzy Skane. Kate Drohan would be out of here.

 

[BillMedleyFan]

Couple of things

1) I agree with EvanstonCat although I think Fitz deserved a chance to fix it. Our best recruiting classes are often the ones that aren’t rated very high. That said, the Brandon Joseph transfer last year was a big red flag to me that something was wrong.

2) The downfall of Northwestern football is a very real possibility in the future. It’s not because Northwestern will leave the big ten (kicked out for being so bad or leaving voluntarily). I believe that over the next twenty years the big ten could very much dissolve. What’s stopping the blue bloods from collaborating to join a new mega conference? If OSU, UM, and PSU leave the conference that might be all she wrote.