What is the Buzz on Northwestern in Recruiting?

[charcat]

Fitz is now one of the top 2-3 tenured coaches in the Big 10. Does the stability at the top and recent success mean a new Buzz for Northwestern, or is it pretty stable from the HS coaches/recruit perspective?

It seems like the academic schools are all doing better in the recruiting world, Duke, Stanford, BC, Vandy vs 20 years ago. Is that a positive trend helping NU, or is there more competition for those kids that are strong academically?

 

[NJCat]

Fitz is now one of the top 2-3 tenured coaches in the Big 10. Does the stability at the top and recent success mean a new Buzz for Northwestern, or is it pretty stable from the HS coaches/recruit perspective?

It seems like the academic schools are all doing better in the recruiting world, Duke, Stanford, BC, Vandy vs 20 years ago. Is that a positive trend helping NU, or is there more competition for those kids that are strong academically?

Pat is the clear #2 behind Ferentz in tenure.

The buzz wil come from the new Lakeside facilities. Stanford continues to be the premier destination for academic recruits. NU has lost 2 kids with NU offers to Stanford in the 2017 class, after losing 8 in the 2016 class. None of NU's 2016 commits had an offer from Stanford, nor do any of the 4 2017 NU commits. NU does much better head to head against Duke, Vandy and BC.

 

[hdhntr1]

Pat is the clear #2 behind Ferentz in tenure.

The buzz wil come from the new Lakeside facilities. Stanford continues to be the premier destination for academic recruits. NU has lost 2 kids with NU offers to Stanford in the 2017 class, after losing 8 in the 2016 class. None of NU's 2016 commits had an offer from Stanford, nor do any of the 4 2017 NU commits. NU does much better head to head against Duke, Vandy and BC.

Be honest. If given a choice, where would you go? We should have a shot against a midwest kid who wants to play in the BIG and/or close to home but for anyone else? Maybe the guy who doesn't think he could break into the Cardinal starting lineup but feels he can play here.

 

[NJCat]

Be honest. If given a choice, where would you go? We should have a shot against a midwest kid who wants to play in the BIG and/or close to home but for anyone else? Maybe the guy who doesn't think he could break into the Cardinal starting lineup but feels he can play here.

It is a no brainer. Given the choice to play football at NU or Stanford, I'd take SU every time. But only about 25 kids get to take that choice every year. NU still will get plenty of good players.

 

[Hungry Jack]

I think the new West Lot plan will be a game-changer. Phil, Glades and Waterboy will no longer be preoccupied policing ill-behaved fans desecrating private property, which frees them up to parade around Ryan Field in nothing but a purple jockstrap. Glades always talks about strapping it on, so now he can live his fantasy.

 

[Aging Booster]

It is a no brainer. Given the choice to play football at NU or Stanford, I'd take SU every time. But only about 25 kids get to take that choice every year. NU still will get plenty of good players.

This is a very personal decision, but I would pick NU over Stanford. Both are top academic institutions with little to choose between them as far as professors, grad school admissions, or empIoyment opportunities. I prefer NU's Gothic architecture, deciduous trees and Lake Michigan to Stanford's Spanish colonial architecture and semi-arid high desert forest(mostly pines). I also prefer Chicago to San Francisco, and the former is much more accessible from NU than the latter is from Stanford. People may think that because Stanford is on the west coast, it is loaded with gorgeous girls - not so. This is no UCLA or USC here. I also would love to play for Fitz knowing he will be there for my whole time at the school. To each his own, but I take NU.

 

[Gladeskat]

It is a no brainer. Given the choice to play football at NU or Stanford, I'd take SU every time. But only about 25 kids get to take that choice every year. NU still will get plenty of good players.

Even as a ChemE major? My understanding when I was at NU was that NU had one of the top, if not the top, chemistry departments in the country. I was at NU from 1974-1976.

 

[NJCat]

Even as a ChemE major? My understanding when I was at NU was that NU had one of the top, if not the top, chemistry departments in the country. I was at NU from 1974-1976.

My NU degrees in ChE served me well. Very few football players were either ChE or Chemistry majors in my time at NU however, from fall 1974 to the spring of 1979. And when I returned to NU to get my PhD in ChE in 1981 all I saw on the football field was loss after loss after loss (I still have my "Stop State at 28" button somewhere). Today, Stanford offers many more opportunities in Chemical and Biomedical Engineering than NU given proximity to the whole biotech community in the Bay area. And if you wanted to work for a crook you could hook up with Stanford drop-outs at Theranos.

 

[charcat]

Stop State at 28 button. A sign of a true NU football Fan from the dark ages!

 

[No Chores]

This is a very personal decision, but I would pick NU over Stanford. Both are top academic institutions with little to choose between them as far as professors, grad school admissions, or empIoyment opportunities. I prefer NU's Gothic architecture, deciduous trees and Lake Michigan to Stanford's Spanish colonial architecture and semi-arid high desert forest(mostly pines). I also prefer Chicago to San Francisco, and the former is much more accessible from NU than the latter is from Stanford. People may think that because Stanford is on the west coast, it is loaded with gorgeous girls - not so. This is no UCLA or USC here. I also would love to play for Fitz knowing he will be there for my whole time at the school. To each his own, but I take NU.

Aging, my man, I'm with you! The NU campus is far preferable and the differences in the academic programs are negligible. In addition, the people in the mid-west are far more pleasant. Chicago beats SF hands down in most respects, and the sanctuary city concept doesn't much appeal to me since it ignores federal law. Give me NU any day!

 

[EvanstonCat]

This is a very personal decision, but I would pick NU over Stanford. Both are top academic institutions with little to choose between them as far as professors, grad school admissions, or empIoyment opportunities. I prefer NU's Gothic architecture, deciduous trees and Lake Michigan to Stanford's Spanish colonial architecture and semi-arid high desert forest(mostly pines). I also prefer Chicago to San Francisco, and the former is much more accessible from NU than the latter is from Stanford. People may think that because Stanford is on the west coast, it is loaded with gorgeous girls - not so. This is no UCLA or USC here. I also would love to play for Fitz knowing he will be there for my whole time at the school. To each his own, but I take NU.

It is personal, and I have a good friend who spurned Stanford for NU (and actually grew up in Palo Alto). But, I don't think the majority of people would make the same decision. Stanford's academics are rated higher than NU's, which nullifies what arguably is our greatest asset. There is the weather and Cali environment, but I would call that more of a wash for people who are from Midwest or Chicago - geography is a factor, but small relative to the academic standing. The traditions are probably greater at Stanford along with current program strength, so that's another factor.

I actually think our greatest advantage over Stanford when it comes to football recruits right now is actually our geography. As someone has pointed out, we do much better for Midwestern recruits that are jointly offered. Potentially, because kids here are used to the weather, it is closer to home, etc... Maybe the coaching relationships or players are a factor, but I'm not sure it goes beyond personal chemistry. When the facilities go on line, I think we'll begin to close the gap some. But, it's always going to be hard to beat Stanford. In my mind, they are probably the school I think it would be most challenging to recruit against.

This said, for the same reasons Stanford is tough for us to beat on the recruiting trail, I think we own an advantage over most other schools for the type of recruit that can even get into NU. Surely, our academics are one reason we have never lost a recruit to Illinois since before I can remember since Barnett's days (aside from Aaron Bailey who wanted to play QB and wasn't going to at NU after Alviti committed and Aaron Hodges - whose brother was at Illinois)Sure, some will want to play for a football factory and crowds, but I think if we can enjoy sustained success (9-10 win seasons) we will get to a point where we get top 25 recruiting classes perennially just like Stanford. At which point, I think we will really narrow the gap considerably. I think the facilities could be a gamebreaker for us.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Pat is the clear #2 behind Ferentz in tenure.

The buzz wil come from the new Lakeside facilities. Stanford continues to be the premier destination for academic recruits. NU has lost 2 kids with NU offers to Stanford in the 2017 class, after losing 8 in the 2016 class. None of NU's 2016 commits had an offer from Stanford, nor do any of the 4 2017 NU commits. NU does much better head to head against Duke, Vandy and BC.

TSISB is the school that we need to beat for top targets. Sorry to my NU grad friends on here, but ND is a damn good school with strong connections and an extraordinary tradition on the gridiron. Werner today, Kmet earlier this year, Love last year. Tired of our top targets choosing ND.

 

[EvanstonCat]

TSISB is the school that we need to beat for top targets. Sorry to my NU grad friends on here, but ND is a damn good school with strong connections and an extraordinary tradition on the gridiron. Werner today, Kmet earlier this year, Love last year. Tired of our top targets choosing ND.

True, we lose more than we should to ND. Hopefully, that will change when we get the facilities up and when we pound them again in 2018.

 

[CatsDad]

It is a shame your top targets choose ND and then you get stuck with what you get. Stanford was recruiting Jango, we weren't interested in visiting because he wanted to play in the B1G. Dean Lowry was a two star and so was Vitale. Vitale had two offers, Central Michigan and NU. I am sure many on this board were not overly impressed or happy when he originally committed. Jango didn't pick NU because of the new facilities coming, he picked NU because of life after football and he felt the coaching staff in place at NU could best develop him into the best player he could be. And he believes we can win a BIG Championship, and he believes in the coaches ability to find and develop hidden talent My dream school for my son was NU always and he felt the same as I did. The players and patents of the players don't look at stars or offers, we look to our Coaches at NU and we have faith and know we are on the verge of being a part of something special. Our kids have something better than stars, they have heart and a will to be successful on and off the field. And many have chips on their shoulders for the so called elite schools who felt they were snubbed or under valued by. Fitz is a natural leader of men, and I have nothing but faith and high expectations for this program. Maybe my son and most the team are 3 star recruits, but I don't think any of them think an OSU or ND 4 star are better players then them. We are going to beat OSU the Junior year of this class coming in. It will be in Evanston in front of all you star gazers.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

It is a shame your top targets choose ND and then you get stuck with what you get. Stanford was recruiting Jango, we weren't interested in visiting because he wanted to play in the B1G. Dean Lowry was a two star and so was Vitale. Vitale had two offers, Central Michigan and NU. I am sure many on this board were not overly impressed or happy when he originally committed. Jango didn't pick NU because of the new facilities coming, he picked NU because of life after football and he felt the coaching staff in place at NU could best develop him into the best player he could be. And he believes we can win a BIG Championship, and he believes in the coaches ability to find and develop hidden talent My dream school for my son was NU always and he felt the same as I did. The players and patents of the players don't look at stars or offers, we look to our Coaches at NU and we have faith and know we are on the verge of being a part of something special. Our kids have something better than stars, they have heart and a will to be successful on and off the field. And many have chips on their shoulders for the so called elite schools who felt they were snubbed or under valued by. Fitz is a natural leader of men, and I have nothing but faith and high expectations for this program. Maybe my son and most the team are 3 star recruits, but I don't think any of them think an OSU or ND 4 star are better players then them. We are going to beat OSU the Junior year of this class coming in. It will be in Evanston in front of all you star gazers.

Thanks for the insight Mr.Jango. I think your description of why young men choose NU fits most of our recruits. I agree the star system is flawed. I like the talent we are bringing in. What matters is the staff likes our recruits and they have confidence in themselves like Vitale and Lowry. Having said that, there are recruits that have us in their final 3 that eventually wind up at ND that would be excellent fits both from a football perspective and character perspective at NU. We all know there is star inflation for some that pick a factory. Doesn't make them better players. My point was if they are top targets with a serious interest we should win some of the battles.

 

[shakes3858]

It is a shame your top targets choose ND and then you get stuck with what you get. Stanford was recruiting Jango, we weren't interested in visiting because he wanted to play in the B1G. Dean Lowry was a two star and so was Vitale. Vitale had two offers, Central Michigan and NU. I am sure many on this board were not overly impressed or happy when he originally committed. Jango didn't pick NU because of the new facilities coming, he picked NU because of life after football and he felt the coaching staff in place at NU could best develop him into the best player he could be. And he believes we can win a BIG Championship, and he believes in the coaches ability to find and develop hidden talent My dream school for my son was NU always and he felt the same as I did. The players and patents of the players don't look at stars or offers, we look to our Coaches at NU and we have faith and know we are on the verge of being a part of something special. Our kids have something better than stars, they have heart and a will to be successful on and off the field. And many have chips on their shoulders for the so called elite schools who felt they were snubbed or under valued by. Fitz is a natural leader of men, and I have nothing but faith and high expectations for this program. Maybe my son and most the team are 3 star recruits, but I don't think any of them think an OSU or ND 4 star are better players then them. We are going to beat OSU the Junior year of this class coming in. It will be in Evanston in front of all you star gazers.

We've got a few people on the board that live close enough to Vitale's high school. They were very high on Vitale. There was some question of what position he would play, but everyone seemed relatively excited about him. Part of the reason why Vitale was a 2 star and didn't have the offer list is because he committed incredibly early in the cycle and didn't seek out offers. Fitz dubbed Vitale the easiest player he ever recruited. I believe Fitz offered Vitale in camp and Vitale said, yes and committed. That was it.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

We've got a few people on the board that live close enough to Vitale's high school. They were very high on Vitale. There was some question of what position he would play, but everyone seemed relatively excited about him. Part of the reason why Vitale was a 2 star and didn't have the offer list is because he committed incredibly early in the cycle and didn't seek out offers. Fitz dubbed Vitale the easiest player he ever recruited. I believe Fitz offered Vitale in camp and Vitale said, yes and committed. That was it.

Don't want to quibble too much, but Vitale committed in June 2011 after a summer camp as the 6th member of the 2012 class. He didn't commit "incredibly early," he was just a case of the NU staff identifying a local player who fit into their scheme better than others'.

 

[willycat]

True, we lose more than we should to ND. Hopefully, that will change when we get the facilities up and when we pound them again in 2018.

Agree. Still wondering if TSISB will honor their commitment to play in Evanston in 2018. Has anyone heard anything?

 

[CatsDad]

Thanks for the insight Mr.Jango. I think your description of why young men choose NU fits most of our recruits. I agree the star system is flawed. I like the talent we are bringing in. What matters is the staff likes our recruits and they have confidence in themselves like Vitale and Lowry. Having said that, there are recruits that have us in their final 3 that eventually wind up at ND that would be excellent fits both from a football perspective and character perspective at NU. We all know there is star inflation for some that pick a factory. Doesn't make them better players. My point was if they are top targets with a serious interest we should win some of the battles.

When we start winning consistently like we did this last season, recruits will pick Northwestern more often. There are many reasons for a kid picking a school, but winning is a big one for many recruits. No schools gets every recruit they go after, but NU will have enough to entice most recruits. There are plenty of good players across this nation that put education as a priority and want to play in the B1G. We will begin the win the majority of the battles against schools like Stanford, Duke, Vandy, and other academic schools. We won't lose many recruits in the Midwest to Stanford. You have no idea how much my son and I want to beat OSU. Each one of these kids wants to and believes we can win the B1G10. My son has played with or against his fair share of the high recruits going to OSU, MSU, Michigan, and Notre Dame. He believes Northwestern will compete with anyone. I look at our defense. The linebacker group with the addition of Fisher and Jango will be nasty. They will push each other to get better. We have great receiver to help one of the most talented Quarterbacks in the B1G. You have Skowronek who is talented and tall who can play receiver or superback. Our defensive line with Thompson and the players we just recruited will be very good. Larkin will be a great back who gets better from competing and learning from the great backs we have. If we can get a good offensive line and win the battle for some blue chip O lineman, we will be very good. The recruits that just tell reporters and fans what they want to hear in their interviews will actually mean Northwestern is a top pick and begin to pick us more often. Go Cats

 

[Fitz51]

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[corbi296]

When we start winning consistently like we did this last season, recruits will pick Northwestern more often. There are many reasons for a kid picking a school, but winning is a big one for many recruits. No schools gets every recruit they go after, but NU will have enough to entice most recruits. There are plenty of good players across this nation that put education as a priority and want to play in the B1G. We will begin the win the majority of the battles against schools like Stanford, Duke, Vandy, and other academic schools. We won't lose many recruits in the Midwest to Stanford. You have no idea how much my son and I want to beat OSU. Each one of these kids wants to and believes we can win the B1G10. My son has played with or against his fair share of the high recruits going to OSU, MSU, Michigan, and Notre Dame. He believes Northwestern will compete with anyone. I look at our defense. The linebacker group with the addition of Fisher and Jango will be nasty. They will push each other to get better. We have great receiver to help one of the most talented Quarterbacks in the B1G. You have Skowronek who is talented and tall who can play receiver or superback. Our defensive line with Thompson and the players we just recruited will be very good. Larkin will be a great back who gets better from competing and learning from the great backs we have. If we can get a good offensive line and win the battle for some blue chip O lineman, we will be very good. The recruits that just tell reporters and fans what they want to hear in their interviews will actually mean Northwestern is a top pick and begin to pick us more often. Go Cats

I agree. If we take care of business more consistently on the field, the recruiting will pick up even more than it has already.

 

[NorthNJCatsfan]

Yep. Winning the B1G West is the next step in taking the program to the next level.

 

[Catreporter]

The winning thing about recruiting is why "Belief without evidence" or the story of the 1995 NU miracle will always be one of the great sports stories of our time.

 

[CatsDad]

We just picked up a D end to add to our great defense. We will be nasty in a few years.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

Make it 2 - check out the Rock!

 

[NURoseBowl]

Agree. Still wondering if TSISB will honor their commitment to play in Evanston in 2018. Has anyone heard anything?

Have no inside information on this, Willy, but this is a question we'd do well not to dismiss. Hope to be proven wrong, but I'd be pretty surprised if Notre Dame doesn't find a back door out of their "commitment".

 

[aquacat]

When we start winning consistently like we did this last season, recruits will pick Northwestern more often. There are many reasons for a kid picking a school, but winning is a big one for many recruits. No schools gets every recruit they go after, but NU will have enough to entice most recruits. There are plenty of good players across this nation that put education as a priority and want to play in the B1G. We will begin the win the majority of the battles against schools like Stanford, Duke, Vandy, and other academic schools. We won't lose many recruits in the Midwest to Stanford. You have no idea how much my son and I want to beat OSU. Each one of these kids wants to and believes we can win the B1G10. My son has played with or against his fair share of the high recruits going to OSU, MSU, Michigan, and Notre Dame. He believes Northwestern will compete with anyone. I look at our defense. The linebacker group with the addition of Fisher and Jango will be nasty. They will push each other to get better. We have great receiver to help one of the most talented Quarterbacks in the B1G. You have Skowronek who is talented and tall who can play receiver or superback. Our defensive line with Thompson and the players we just recruited will be very good. Larkin will be a great back who gets better from competing and learning from the great backs we have. If we can get a good offensive line and win the battle for some blue chip O lineman, we will be very good. The recruits that just tell reporters and fans what they want to hear in their interviews will actually mean Northwestern is a top pick and begin to pick us more often. Go Cats

I appreciate your insight Mr Jango. I have been to a couple of NU practices and I definitely can feel the family atmosphere. I'm sure all football programs have that to a certain degree, I think NU remains more committed to this concept more than most. With many big time football programs, it seems like they are run more like an NFL franchise rather than a school trying to produce the best student-athletes. It seems almost unheard of these days to have long tenured assistant coaches but NU has a slew of them. It seems if you can't produce or get injured, they try to cut you any way they can.

I would love to beat Michigan and Ohio State as much as you do but that is quite a challenge. Those programs are stocked with NFL talent at almost every position. It's not impossible but incredibly challenging. Since Northwestern refuses to compromise academics for their athletes, NU probably can only recruit 20-25% of the football talent pool each year. This alone gives other programs a big advantage. While other observers seem to be enthralled by stars, I think they forget that out of the 250 or so 4 star or better players out there, NU can only offer around 40-50 of them each year. And that is nationwide. Then you throw in the fact that those big programs have the resources, crowds, and exposure equivalent of an NFL franchise.

NU does have one advantage though. It can offer a very rigorous academic environment as well as big time D1 football, a claim that only a few other schools can make. I think there will always be a few kids each year who will choose to take on that challenge instead of going to the football factories. I walked around NU's campus last year with one of my med school friends who attended Florida State. She said the atmosphere between the 2 schools are completely different. She said FSU was a big party school, with nonstop celebration occurring. She could tell that the students at NU take their academics very seriously. I love it when I see an NU recruit with Ivy league offers because I absolutely know that those schools would NOT offer an academically questionable athlete. NUs football graduation rate is crazy high at close to 100%, higher than the national average of all students. Nowadays, a D1 football athlete has about a 60% chance of graduating from college which I find sad. NU will never have a recruiting class that is completely full of blue chippers but I don't think you need that in order to have a successful program. You said as much when you pointed to Michigan State. I would much rather have the 2 and 3 star Vitales and Lowrys of the world that continue to improve and get better each year and then leave school with a degree. NU has done a strong job of identifying talent early in upstanding young men. So let the OSUs and Michigans of the world have their blue chippers. They will be part of the "family" until they fail to develop, suffer injury, break the law or flunk out of school.

 

[Bwm57]

Have no inside information on this, Willy, but this is a question we'd do well not to dismiss. Hope to be proven wrong, but I'd be pretty surprised if Notre Dame doesn't find a back door out of their "commitment".

I think they will bail on the commitment because they are worried they will lose and it will give them a black eye in Chicago.

 

[julescat]

And if you wanted to work for a crook you could hook up with Stanford drop-outs at Theranos.

I would never want to work for and especially never, ever want to hook up with that bitch who runs that fraud outfit.

 

[Williesfan]

It is a shame your top targets choose ND and then you get stuck with what you get. Stanford was recruiting Jango, we weren't interested in visiting because he wanted to play in the B1G. Dean Lowry was a two star and so was Vitale. Vitale had two offers, Central Michigan and NU. I am sure many on this board were not overly impressed or happy when he originally committed. Jango didn't pick NU because of the new facilities coming, he picked NU because of life after football and he felt the coaching staff in place at NU could best develop him into the best player he could be. And he believes we can win a BIG Championship, and he believes in the coaches ability to find and develop hidden talent My dream school for my son was NU always and he felt the same as I did. The players and patents of the players don't look at stars or offers, we look to our Coaches at NU and we have faith and know we are on the verge of being a part of something special. Our kids have something better than stars, they have heart and a will to be successful on and off the field. And many have chips on their shoulders for the so called elite schools who felt they were snubbed or under valued by. Fitz is a natural leader of men, and I have nothing but faith and high expectations for this program. Maybe my son and most the team are 3 star recruits, but I don't think any of them think an OSU or ND 4 star are better players then them. We are going to beat OSU the Junior year of this class coming in. It will be in Evanston in front of all you star gazers.

Catsdad most on this board love our **'s.

 

[CatsDad]

I appreciate your insight Mr Jango. I have been to a couple of NU practices and I definitely can feel the family atmosphere. I'm sure all football programs have that to a certain degree, I think NU remains more committed to this concept more than most. With many big time football programs, it seems like they are run more like an NFL franchise rather than a school trying to produce the best student-athletes. It seems almost unheard of these days to have long tenured assistant coaches but NU has a slew of them. It seems if you can't produce or get injured, they try to cut you any way they can.

I would love to beat Michigan and Ohio State as much as you do but that is quite a challenge. Those programs are stocked with NFL talent at almost every position. It's not impossible but incredibly challenging. Since Northwestern refuses to compromise academics for their athletes, NU probably can only recruit 20-25% of the football talent pool each year. This alone gives other programs a big advantage. While other observers seem to be enthralled by stars, I think they forget that out of the 250 or so 4 star or better players out there, NU can only offer around 40-50 of them each year. And that is nationwide. Then you throw in the fact that those big programs have the resources, crowds, and exposure equivalent of an NFL franchise.

NU does have one advantage though. It can offer a very rigorous academic environment as well as big time D1 football, a claim that only a few other schools can make. I think there will always be a few kids each year who will choose to take on that challenge instead of going to the football factories. I walked around NU's campus last year with one of my med school friends who attended Florida State. She said the atmosphere between the 2 schools are completely different. She said FSU was a big party school, with nonstop celebration occurring. She could tell that the students at NU take their academics very seriously. I love it when I see an NU recruit with Ivy league offers because I absolutely know that those schools would NOT offer an academically questionable athlete. NUs football graduation rate is crazy high at close to 100%, higher than the national average of all students. Nowadays, a D1 football athlete has about a 60% chance of graduating from college which I find sad. NU will never have a recruiting class that is completely full of blue chippers but I don't think you need that in order to have a successful program. You said as much when you pointed to Michigan State. I would much rather have the 2 and 3 star Vitales and Lowrys of the world that continue to improve and get better each year and then leave school with a degree. NU has done a strong job of identifying talent early in upstanding young men. So let the OSUs and Michigans of the world have their blue chippers. They will be part of the "family" until they fail to develop, suffer injury, break the law or flunk out of school.

I am not just saying that. We will beat OSU the class of 2016 Junior year. Thorson will be as good as any QB in the league. Our defense will be nasty. If we can get a good offensive line, we will have a record year.

 

[JoeWildcat]

Agree. Still wondering if TSISB will honor their commitment to play in Evanston in 2018. Has anyone heard anything?

If they do end up playing in Evanston, we should truck in tons of snow and put it on the seats and ground in their allotted section, just like we had in South Bend. I think my feet didn't thaw out until a couple days later

 

[aquacat]

I am not just saying that. We will beat OSU the class of 2016 Junior year. Thorson will be as good as any QB in the league. Our defense will be nasty. If we can get a good offensive line, we will have a record year.

I think we can do it if Thorson continues to develop. I was at Ryan Field in 2004 when we beat OSU so I know it's possible. In the past, I have seen NU lose these games when they hand off the ball to their large RB and run it for 4-7 yards behind their large O line. At the 2013 homecoming game, NU lost the game in the second half when OSU started handing the ball off to Carlos Hyde on every single play. I think we saw Tennessee do the same with Hurd. However, I think NU finally has a front 7 that can shut down large RBs, especially after picking up these two outstanding DE recruits today.

 

[CatsDad]

I think we can do it if Thorson continues to develop. I was at Ryan Field in 2004 when we beat OSU so I know it's possible. In the past, I have seen NU lose these games when they hand off the ball to their large RB and run it for 4-7 yards behind their large O line. At the 2013 homecoming game, NU lost the game in the second half when OSU started handing the ball off to Carlos Hyde on every single play. I think we saw Tennessee do the same with Hurd. However, I think NU finally has a front 7 that can shut down large RBs, especially after picking up these two outstanding DE recruits today.

I am excited. Not only does NU have great coaches, but they are great recruiters. You remember I was the first to say we will beat OSU in three years at home.

 

[DaCat]

I am excited. Not only does NU have great coaches, but they are great recruiters. You remember I was the first to say we will beat OSU in three years at home.

We are due for a win against dOSU.

By the way, Jango and the other LBs must be quite happy that about the new crop of DL coming in to win the LOS so that they can rack up the tackles.

 

[pawildcat]

If they do end up playing in Evanston, we should truck in tons of snow and put it on the seats and ground in their allotted section, just like we had in South Bend. I think my feet didn't thaw out until a couple days later

I'm with you on that. I think it was a plot to sell Notre Dame seat cushions. My friend and I bought two to keep our rear ends dry.

 

[CatsDad]

We are due for a win against dOSU.

By the way, Jango and the other LBs must be quite happy that about the new crop of DL coming in to win the LOS so that they can rack up the tackles.

I was so excited I called Coach Bates and told him how excited I was at the job they are doing recruiting. It is only going to get better. I am telling you, we will be THEE DESTINATION. In three years we will beat OSU at home. I think we are getting the depth, the talent, and we always had the coaches. Everybody who has doubted this staff will see why Fitz stuck with them. I am seriously excited about being a Wildcat. This was always a dream destination for my son and I have been a huge Fitz fan since the 90's. He won the two top linebacker trophies the year Jango was born. I grew up a huge ND fan , but I switched to a Wildcat fan in 2006. The better recruits also push the other recruits to play better and harder. Practice wil make them all better. We are getting the speed and front lines we need. I have no clue how we will be this year, especially with this years schedule. But the next few years should be very good, which will attract players along with the new facilities. When you are going through the recruiting process , you have no idea how much character of the coaching staff means to the recruit and the recruits parents. Northwestern and MSU stood out. Looking forward to joining you all in Indy at least once in the next 4 years.

 

[CatsDad]

It is a no brainer. Given the choice to play football at NU or Stanford, I'd take SU every time. But only about 25 kids get to take that choice every year. NU still will get plenty of good players.

Why would a Midwest kid want to go to Stanford ? I can tell you that the expense for the family to go to the west coast to watch their son play would be astronomical. Stanford wasn't even a thought Both are excellent degrees. We should very rarely lose a Midwest recruit to Stanford. Besides, the B1G is better than the PAC in my opinion. Just wait till we continually compete for the West and win the B1G. Congrats on your hard work and your degree.

 

[Aging Booster]

I am excited. Not only does NU have great coaches, but they are great recruiters. You remember I was the first to say we will beat OSU in three years at home.

Why wait three years? Let's beat the Buckeyes this year and win the west, then take on Harbaugh in Indy.

 

[NJCat]

Why would a Midwest kid want to go to Stanford ? I can tell you that the expense for the family to go to the west coast to watch their son play would be astronomical. Stanford wasn't even a thought Both are excellent degrees. We should very rarely lose a Midwest recruit to Stanford. Besides, the B1G is better than the PAC in my opinion. Just wait till we continually compete for the West and win the B1G. Congrats on your hard work and your degree.

I understand your point about Midwestern kids. But both Stanford and NU recruit nationally. In the last 2 years NU has lost kids to Stanford who come from NJ, IN, LA, PA, CA, FL, MD, VA, and 2 from GA this year. I don't think the midwest alone is deep enough given the competition from OSU, MI, MSU. Demographics are shifting the talent pool south and proximity is becoming less of a factor. Half of the commits in the current class are from TX, not exactly a piece of cake to travel to Chicago for games!