I'm as interested in what has happened to Fitz in the past few years as in what's happening to the football team. Not keeping up with the game? Too comfortable now that he apparently has it made? Lost interest in coaching? Poor judge of coaching ability? Nothing, same old Fitz? People have posted various theories, but I thought to get it all in on place might be informative.
What has happened to Fitz?
- Thread starter stpaulcat
- Start date
Do you mean to say that I could be right? Mark it on your calendars. October 10, 2022.
I just saw this quote, purportedly from John Wooden.
"Failure isn't fatal, but failure to change might be.
"Failure isn't fatal, but failure to change might be.
I dislike coaching changes in mid-season, regardless of whether it’s the position coaches or the C’s (HC, OC, DC). A team and its coaches should value loyalty and trust. However, there are times when you have to take a hard and objective look at yourself. Our games are unwatchable now and we’re bleeding fans.
These are not the dark ages when our facilities were the worst in the conference and our consistent losing was a severe impediment to recruiting. Our facilities are outstanding and we have been competitive on the field for a long time now – except of course, recently.
An occasional stinker of a season I can take in stride. Every school has ups and downs with recruiting, and a perfect storm of recruiting failure can wreak havoc with just about any program – for one season. However, experiencing this level of failure for three out of four seasons, and with the latest trend being the most negative of all, that says something. It makes a compelling statement that there is an underlying problem.
It is up to Fitz to fix it. Given the situation, he is fully justified in making whatever changes are necessary. The important thing is that some strong action has to be taken. Doubling down on the status quo is not an option at this point.
These are not the dark ages when our facilities were the worst in the conference and our consistent losing was a severe impediment to recruiting. Our facilities are outstanding and we have been competitive on the field for a long time now – except of course, recently.
An occasional stinker of a season I can take in stride. Every school has ups and downs with recruiting, and a perfect storm of recruiting failure can wreak havoc with just about any program – for one season. However, experiencing this level of failure for three out of four seasons, and with the latest trend being the most negative of all, that says something. It makes a compelling statement that there is an underlying problem.
It is up to Fitz to fix it. Given the situation, he is fully justified in making whatever changes are necessary. The important thing is that some strong action has to be taken. Doubling down on the status quo is not an option at this point.
An "occasional stinker of a season"? We've had stinkers 3 out of the last 4 now.
You're both in agreement. Astrocat's saying he could accept an occasional stinker of a season, but follows that 3 out of 4 is a pattern of failure. For me, a concurrent issue is losing to run-of-the-mill FCS and MAC-like schools (e.g.., Southern Illinois, Miami (OH), Akron, Illinois State, Northern Illinois, Army). The Wildcat's talent is not at Ohio State or Michigan's level, but it is better than the mid-majors. With all the success and recent and ongoing investments in the program, the Wildcats shouldn't be a consistently losing or struggling to put away these mid-majors. I'm concerned that the lack of innovation is going to leave the Wildcats lost in the Bigger Ten.
Yes. I remember the dark ages. Guys who were game enough. (I knew a few.), but nowhere near today's talent. I remember several walk-ons who did not play high school football. (To be truthful, I don't think these guys made it out of summer camp) And I remember the weight room. Again, different ball game today. But clearly something is wrong today, and I believe it starts with cultivating a quarterback who is mobile enough and accurate enough to keep the defense honest.
When was the last (or even the first) time Fitz hired an assistant clearly destined for bigger things? After all, he the brash young guy who told Coach Walk, "I want your job someday." He needs assistants with fresh ideas and youthful energy.
I think it would make a very interesting case study on leadership. I know Fitz has read a lot on the subject. Is there a point when any organization needs fresh leadership? Fitz is not old but he has been head coach for a long time. Who on the staff challenges him? With very little turnover, who is bringing energy and new ideas? To whom is he accountable with Phillips gone and Morty retiring? It would be very understandable if he were not receptive to change given his success and the low expectations for the program. I am guessing if he had to start over at a new program, there would be a different energy and focus. Awful seasons are not tolerated at top programs but he has faced almost no scrutiny. If nobody you respect is telling you things have to change, does the program have to hit rock bottom before changes are made? Shocking and really sad for us hard core fans.
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Great post. Lack of accountability has to be a factor. I have seen it in other settings. When a leader of an organization either creates a hierarchy where they aren’t accountable for bad behavior or performance, or if the organization creates a structure that does not foster accountability, then bad things eventually happen for both the leader and the organization. It’s not that nefarious in this situation, as Fitz would certainly be held accountable for academic or regulatory transgressions, but he seems to have virtually no consequences for poor performance.
This year: Ryan Smith (new CB coach) is the first, as far as I'm concerned. A guy with no *obvious* ties to Fitz, with at least one degree of separation. Everyone else on the staff were referrals with a clear connection to Fitz himself or one of his assistants, i.e. "I know a guy..."
i think many people would argue Ayeni is a rising star, but the point is valid: Fitz prioritizes guys who will stay and fall into line. I think a part of that is his own insecurity. Can't fault a guy for wanting low turnover...but due to his own fragile ego? Imagine if Walker took that attitude with his offensive coordinator and left Kevin Wilson behind before coming to NU, because he was too gruff or thought he wouldn't stay?
A lot of this can be easily explained and traced to his admiration of the way Paterno ran things (with the obvious exception) - get some guys together who will basically stay forever...but Penn State had some built in advantages that Northwestern never will to make that a working model.
Thanks for providing more color. And I agree that by all accounts Fitz is a man of high integrity and is an excellent leader of young men. It’s just very clear that with our talent (which is very average at best most years compared to our football peer schools like Wisconsin and Iowa) and lack of explosive playmakers (almost every year), we have to play and coach at a very high level to be successful. It’s why we lose to inferior teams even in good years. We cannot let up at all, even for a game against Illinois State. And it looks like that is what has happened programmatically. Our players appear poorly coached and unprepared and our offensive and defensive schemes are only magnifying the deficiencies. I don’t think the talent is dramatically different than in seasons where we were competitive. And if it is, than our coaching staff has failed at evaluating and developing players.
My take is that Fitz does not have carte blanche job security. If we finish out 1-11, he is on the hot seat next year. Even 2-10 will probably yield that. If he has another double digit loss season next year, (assuming the two wins are interspersed and don't come toward the end of the season to give hope) one of two things will happen. Either a) there will be wholesale coaching changes b) Fitz will step down. (Far less likely) .
That said, 3,4, and 5 win seasons make things much murkier. Are we re-building? If we grab 3 conference wins, that will be the narrative. And enforcing change will be much harder.
One of the things that rarely gets mentioned in these conversations, is the fact that Fitz is a national media darling. No one has anything bad to say about him. He handles the media well., to his credit. The undercurrent is always, "Fitz had done a hell of job with what he has had to work." Few people, even football people, see things week to week to week, the way we do. They remember two valiant Big Ten title games, and now "this motivator of fine young men must be doing his darnedest to rebuild." In this kind of climate, Northwestern would get roasted for firing Fitzgerald without back to back to back ten loss seasons. This is not lost on the NU hierarchy.
That said, 3,4, and 5 win seasons make things much murkier. Are we re-building? If we grab 3 conference wins, that will be the narrative. And enforcing change will be much harder.
One of the things that rarely gets mentioned in these conversations, is the fact that Fitz is a national media darling. No one has anything bad to say about him. He handles the media well., to his credit. The undercurrent is always, "Fitz had done a hell of job with what he has had to work." Few people, even football people, see things week to week to week, the way we do. They remember two valiant Big Ten title games, and now "this motivator of fine young men must be doing his darnedest to rebuild." In this kind of climate, Northwestern would get roasted for firing Fitzgerald without back to back to back ten loss seasons. This is not lost on the NU hierarchy.
This point is spot-on. The glamor program jock sniffer analysts that make up the college football media universe are stuck in the past and this helps Fitz. Even when Northwestern wins the division, they dismiss it as the little program that could. We fans actually have higher expectations.
Since you are a Rev, cat, I think we can agree that a good QB can make up for a lot of sins.
(See: Persa, Dan)
Persa wasn't a dark ages denizen. We actually had some good players- Greg Boykin, Pete Shaw, Tony Ardizzone, Chris Hinton, Steve Tasker, Mike Adamle. Just no depth. And some really bad coach hires.
I remember a quote by Fitz several years ago: "Football is a production business." Working hard and being a good guy/teammate/coach is nice, but if you don't perform, you need to go. We shall see.
I regret not seeing Chuck Kern. He got hurt my Freshman year, before school started. I hear he was really good.
Is he though? I don't see former players under him coming back. They all seem to be tight lipped. I don't think Fitz IS open to new ideas. I doubt he asks advice or seeks to improve. I see few former players defending or endorsing him. Their silence is loud. Kyle Queiro a few years back crapped on him on Twitter a few years back but it looked petty.
Notice how Alex Spanos isn't a story any more? Don't you think someone told him to tone it down because he was "distracting"? The last time I saw this team seem like they were having "fun" was in 2020. The sidelines are dead and have been for a while.
Fitz made a kid from Iowa not ever put that on his team bio just because he "hates" Iowa so much. That's pathetic that he makes a kid not acknowledge his home for some BS grudge that happened before the kid was born or even knew who Fitz was. That's how petty this dude is. Some leader of 'men'.
Look at Isiah Bowser. Fumbles the ball is basically out of the program. But Chris Bergin can get run over for an entire season. Okay. That makes sense. Eku Leota leaves for Auburn. Imagine what kind of senior he would be here?
Fitz has the team clamped down under fist and I would love for Gragg to talk to players in confidence. I bet it would be UGLY.
I can't remember verbatim but alluded to Fitz being kind of a fraud in 2019 following the 2018 season. @Kyles_Style It was the first instance I ever saw of a former player alluding to Fitz not being a "great guy".
OK. You definitely have some issues with Fitz.
Can't address all of your comments because I don't know about some of them or can't follow what you are getting at. What kid from Iowa?
But I can address Bowser. He got passed on the depth chart by Porter. He did not look the same after his injuries and was ineffective (didn't seem to have any explosion). Happy he has done well since he left but his fumbles had little to do with him losing his starting spot. Not sure how he was basically out of the program.
Lots of players come back to the program. I see them all the time at games. What do you mean they sound tight-lipped? Can you give an example?
And players are going to transfer out of every program for a variety of reasons. If Leota left because he didn't respect Fitz, then that's troubling. But I am guessing you have no knowledge of that.
I am sure there are players that don't like Fitz. No coach could make 80 plus kids happy. But what I have read about him from third parties (high school coaches, referees, other coaches, etc.) is that he is a genuinely good guy behind the scenes. Certainly not perfect but better than most. And I have spoken to a few former players as well and they all had positive things to say about him.
Persa was a winner. And fun to watch. One wonders what would have happened to him if he hadn't gotten hurt against Iowa.
Eastern Pennsylvania fun fact: He went to the same high school as Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik. They grow 'em tough in Bethlehem.
Shocking NU fun fact. There were more future NFL players of Dennis Green's " 0-11 outscored by over 5 to 1 1981 team" than on the '95 Rose Bowl team. Rob Taylor was a diamond in the rough on the '81 team. I remember lifting next to Ardizzone in the Patten basement after his brief NFL stint. Beast.
Of course guys like Adamle, Boykin (Both Kent Roosevelt kids BTW) were recruited pre-dark ages.
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I saw Ardizzone in the library one night and asked him what he was doing there. "I wanted to see what it looked like before I graduated" he told me. Funny guy.
Bednarik was a star at Penn, back when the Ivy League played big time college football. I yearn for those days, even though I wasn't there, then
Yep, it was Penn's last national hurrah. Although I knew a couple of guys who saw Penn tie Notyre Dame at Franklin Field in '52.
Yep. Hopefully, he will regain his explosiveness and confidence by next season. It’s only been a little more than a year since the injury. He was really good as a freshman.
can't think of the name of that kid from Io-a but used to tailgate with his dad in the west lot regularly. Uber...help!
I don't think Fitz has changed, but I think the times have changed. Sometimes people are a victim of their own success. Fitz built on the success of Gary Barnett and coach Randy Walker. Gary Barnett pulled NU out of the dark ages and won Big Ten titles. Randy Walker showed that NU could have down years and come back and added another title. Fitz brought continued competitiveness, regular bowl games, and bowl titles and division titles. 30 years ago 3-8 or 3-9 would have been an OK year, but now that is a disappointing year. Expectations have been upgraded. In our down years we now expect overall records at or near .500 at a minimum. We are disappointed to miss a bowl game at 4-8 or 5-7 but expect improvement the next year. Sinking to a double digit loss year now, specially after a 3-9 year, would be an anathema and clear sign the wholesale change is needed, but the angst now is there does not seem to be an indication from Fitz that major changes will be made. And now, NU has invested a large amount upgrading its facilities and is targeting to upgrade its stadium and is now part of a Big Ten that is expanding and eyeing becoming an even more competitive "Bigger Ten" conference and there does not seem to be a sense of urgency about making the program more competitive. Maybe there is not an understanding by Fitz and his advisors that continued loses to mediocre FCS and MAC teams is just not cutting it. Fans need to be put in the stands and earnest efforts to develop competitive exciting offenses, along with tough defenses need to be undertaken. The Tresselball experiment has run its course at NU.
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