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.
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.
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