Who will ask the tough questions?

[1830sherman]

Now is when I really miss Greenstein and a publication that once had the gravitas the Trib did. Not taking anything away from LV et al, because that's not the role of someone operating a fan site. But I wish there were someone to respectfully put before Fitz the hard questions everyone who loves the program is asking:

Fitz, you said two years ago that this type of season would never happen again. But after a great year last year, it seems the program has regressed to what we saw in 2019. Two questions for you:

1. To what do you attribute this regression?
and
2. What is your plan to turn this around?

And if he replies with the typical Fitz-speak about 'it's on us coaches to fix it' the follow-up is: Does that mean you're not contemplating staffing changes? And if not, can you tell us specifically what steps you'll be taking to 'fix it' ? Is there young talent waiting in the wings to step in? Transfers from the portal?

 

[StreamCat]

Don’t forget to ask about the supply of hot dogs at Ryan.

 

[Sheffielder]

I've always taken, "that's on us as coaches," as a slap in the face by a guy who will use his brand as a human shield for his assistants. But...we'll see. I have to believe Fitz took the last two losses in particular as a one-two punch...I have every reason to assume we will lose at Wrigley this weekend and honest to god...I'm actually hoping for a loss to Illinois in Bret's first year to be the knockout punch we need to get Fitz off his ass and grab the fire extinguisher for this dumpster fire...otherwise he's going to over-sell the rivalry game and burn all his mic time gushing about the seniors.

 

[stpaulcat]

Even in 2019, there was hope for a win, on a weekly basis. I never thought there would be hope for a loss.

 

[phatcat]

I've always taken, "that's on us as coaches," as a slap in the face by a guy who will use his brand as a human shield for his assistants. But...we'll see. I have to believe Fitz took the last two losses in particular as a one-two punch...I have every reason to assume we will lose at Wrigley this weekend and honest to god...I'm actually hoping for a loss to Illinois in Bret's first year to be the knockout punch we need to get Fitz off his ass and grab the fire extinguisher for this dumpster fire...otherwise he's going to over-sell the rivalry game and burn all his mic time gushing about the seniors.

The senior thing drives me nuts.

Look, he can turn this around. He's done it before - 2012, 2015, 2020. There are tools to use (e.g., transfer portal) if he uses them properly. But, otherwise, I see us with a couple more crap years followed by hoping for a triumvirate of Ryan, Gragg and Blank to get him off his ass

 

[Sheffielder]

The senior thing drives me nuts.

Look, he can turn this around. He's done it before - 2012, 2015, 2020. There are tools to use (e.g., transfer portal) if he uses them properly. But, otherwise, I see us with a couple more crap years followed by hoping for a triumvirate of Ryan, Gragg and Blank to get him off his ass

I will be an apologist for a minute and say...I don't envy the position Fitz finds himself in right now. Everything he's relied on - coordinators, player development, reliable QB - isn't working. And I can't imagine he loves the brand he's building for himself right now - every good season is followed by an atrocious season.

It's easy for us fans to say fire this one or that one...but certainly easier said than done (and the fact that so many programs are letting their head coaches go mid-season is NOT what I would use as evidence that "this isn't hard to do")

So, as a villager who is sharpening his pitchfork, I also acknowledge that right here in the moment I wouldn't want to be Fitz, even with his paycheck.

 

[FeralFelidae]

The fans will ask the tough questions, because they wanna know.

 

[loyolacat]

It is interesting to me that I really believe he thought this was going to be not only a good year but the year that really proved we had arrived , that we were going to continually, year after year fight to put the flag at the top of the mountain. even going out with the brand of , what was it..getting everything by coming to NU...top school , top team......and then bam......we got hit with what no one was prepared for , a really good MSU team. I am guessing he is stunned.....and now the question is what will he do? Fitz simply will not throw anyone under the bus whether it be coaches or players. His loyalty gene is overdeveloped so I am guessing he will give the new coaches another year....but maybe change some of the longer served coaches....I am thinking he has had enough time to see if new players have improved and will be playing next year. Putting in new players for the last two games will most likely give us no chance of winning.....winning the last two games would show at least we are improving.......but this winter will be a total time for re-evaluation.....the goal now is to hold to the current freshman class and the incoming class and find a qb for next year

 

[stpaulcat]

I will be an apologist for a minute and say...I don't envy the position Fitz finds himself in right now. Everything he's relied on - coordinators, player development, reliable QB - isn't working. And I can't imagine he loves the brand he's building for himself right now - every good season is followed by an atrocious season.

It's easy for us fans to say fire this one or that one...but certainly easier said than done (and the fact that so many programs are letting their head coaches go mid-season is NOT what I would use as evidence that "this isn't hard to do")

So, as a villager who is sharpening his pitchfork, I also acknowledge that right here in the moment I wouldn't want to be Fitz, even with his paycheck.

If you look at the history of NU football, The chances of building a very successful team, and sustaining that, are slim to none. However Fitz has basically accomplished that, so far. The question is not, should NU fire Fitz, but should Fitz fire NU? Possibly he's burnt out. There are solutions to that which don't involve replacement. If winning is all that is important, NU should make the phone call to the Ivy League, or wake up that they are in the B1G.

 

[stpaulcat]

It is interesting to me that I really believe he thought this was going to be not only a good year but the year that really proved we had arrived , that we were going to continually, year after year fight to put the flag at the top of the mountain. even going out with the brand of , what was it..getting everything by coming to NU...top school , top team......and then bam......we got hit with what no one was prepared for , a really good MSU team. I am guessing he is stunned.....and now the question is what will he do? Fitz simply will not throw anyone under the bus whether it be coaches or players. His loyalty gene is overdeveloped so I am guessing he will give the new coaches another year....but maybe change some of the longer served coaches....I am thinking he has had enough time to see if new players have improved and will be playing next year. Putting in new players for the last two games will most likely give us no chance of winning.....winning the last two games would show at least we are improving.......but this winter will be a total time for re-evaluation.....the goal now is to hold to the current freshman class and the incoming class and find a qb for next year

If this winter is a time for total re-evaluation, coaches will be gone.

 

[phatcat]

It is interesting to me that I really believe he thought this was going to be not only a good year but the year that really proved we had arrived , that we were going to continually, year after year fight to put the flag at the top of the mountain. even going out with the brand of , what was it..getting everything by coming to NU...top school , top team......and then bam......we got hit with what no one was prepared for , a really good MSU team. I am guessing he is stunned.....and now the question is what will he do? Fitz simply will not throw anyone under the bus whether it be coaches or players. His loyalty gene is overdeveloped so I am guessing he will give the new coaches another year....but maybe change some of the longer served coaches....I am thinking he has had enough time to see if new players have improved and will be playing next year. Putting in new players for the last two games will most likely give us no chance of winning.....winning the last two games would show at least we are improving.......but this winter will be a total time for re-evaluation.....the goal now is to hold to the current freshman class and the incoming class and find a qb for next year

which players do you think he means, though? I remember previously where we had young players that have made mistakes but have shown flashes enough to give us hope. Here, we just have a bunch of old guys playing until garbage time, which leads me to believe that the young guys aren't as good. Personally, I think Fitz is FOS about this. Now, he may come up with solutions, but "developing young players" isn't a panacea.

 

[Sheffielder]

If you look at the history of NU football, The chances of building a very successful team, and sustaining that, are slim to none. However Fitz has basically accomplished that, so far. The question is not, should NU fire Fitz, but should Fitz fire NU? Possibly he's burnt out. There are solutions to that which don't involve replacement. If winning is all that is important, NU should make the phone call to the Ivy League, or wake up that they are in the B1G.

I guess it depends on your definition of "sustaining." The last 5-7 years don't totally look dissimilar to Ron Zook's tenure at Illinois (by that I simply mean huge swings in performance) and we all had a pretty good time making fun of the Zooker.

I think Fitz's response to this season will be most critical. Will his changes be intangible/invisible, or will they be evident and build "consumer confidence?"

One thing important to distinguish between Fitz and his predecessors - absolutely no one came close to having the resources that Fitz has to field a good program - his political power is exponentially greater than any coach before him, he's got some of the best facilities in FBS, he's got a piece of BTN money, he's got the BTN production reach that puts him and the team on tv every single week, he's got $ to pay his assistants, and he's even got a website that's a de facto rummage sale for experienced college football players.

 

[stpaulcat]

I think Fitz's response to this season will be most critical also.

More "sustaining" than previous NU coaches. Also, no previous coach has come close to Fitzgerald's tenure. Pappy Waldorf may be the closest.

 

[Catreporter]

no one came close to having the resources that Fitz has to field a good program -

Yeah, but that just evened the playing field somewhat, and he still has to deal with higher academic standards, and being a small fish in a big market. He has a daunting challenge next year, no doubt, especially with the new transfer rules and NIL (which is much more lucrative in true college towns and state schools).

 

[NUCat320]

It is interesting to me that I really believe he thought this was going to be not only a good year but the year that really proved we had arrived , that we were going to continually, year after year fight to put the flag at the top of the mountain. even going out with the brand of , what was it..getting everything by coming to NU...top school , top team......and then bam......we got hit with what no one was prepared for , a really good MSU team. I am guessing he is stunned.....and now the question is what will he do? Fitz simply will not throw anyone under the bus whether it be coaches or players. His loyalty gene is overdeveloped so I am guessing he will give the new coaches another year....but maybe change some of the longer served coaches....I am thinking he has had enough time to see if new players have improved and will be playing next year. Putting in new players for the last two games will most likely give us no chance of winning.....winning the last two games would show at least we are improving.......but this winter will be a total time for re-evaluation.....the goal now is to hold to the current freshman class and the incoming class and find a qb for next year

This is a good post and I agree that he expected a good team.

 

[Arlcatsfan]

I know we are a development program,but want to see more progress from our younger guys.Did you see the arms on Wiscy's LB'ers compared to our guys like night and day.Their guys had tree trunks we had twigs.Strength and conditioning has to improve.

 

[realklysickoflosing]

Now is when I really miss Greenstein and a publication that once had the gravitas the Trib did. Not taking anything away from LV et al, because that's not the role of someone operating a fan site. But I wish there were someone to respectfully put before Fitz the hard questions everyone who loves the program is asking:

Fitz, you said two years ago that this type of season would never happen again. But after a great year last year, it seems the program has regressed to what we saw in 2019. Two questions for you:

1. To what do you attribute this regression?
and
2. What is your plan to turn this around?

And if he replies with the typical Fitz-speak about 'it's on us coaches to fix it' the follow-up is: Does that mean you're not contemplating staffing changes? And if not, can you tell us specifically what steps you'll be taking to 'fix it' ? Is there young talent waiting in the wings to step in? Transfers from the portal?

I have lamented the same as recently as yesterday. When Teddy got under his skin he got mad and amazingly the team played better. Who now? A few weeks ago, I listened to a university board member say that the best thing we have going for us is our football coach. How does that work? Be interesting to see how the new prez feels when she takes over.

 

[freewillie07]

I will be an apologist for a minute and say...I don't envy the position Fitz finds himself in right now. Everything he's relied on - coordinators, player development, reliable QB - isn't working. And I can't imagine he loves the brand he's building for himself right now - every good season is followed by an atrocious season.

It's easy for us fans to say fire this one or that one...but certainly easier said than done (and the fact that so many programs are letting their head coaches go mid-season is NOT what I would use as evidence that "this isn't hard to do")

So, as a villager who is sharpening his pitchfork, I also acknowledge that right here in the moment I wouldn't want to be Fitz, even with his paycheck.

Fitz is not a "young" coach anymore, but he has gotten away with it for a long time. I expect he will need to grow up a lot as a result of this season.

 

[1830sherman]

I have lamented the same as recently as yesterday. When Teddy got under his skin he got mad and amazingly the team played better. Who now? A few weeks ago, I listened to a university board member say that the best thing we have going for us is our football coach. How does that work? Be interesting to see how the new prez feels when she takes over.

I finally got around to looking at the presser after the Ill fiasco, and to his credit, Ben Chasen of Inside NU actually did pretty much ask the question about the 2019 vow. As mentioned elsewhere, Fitz bizarrely pointed to the bowl win (wrong bowl, which he later corrected) from a year ago--a bowl win, from whatever part of Fla in which it took place, that's irrelevant to the mess of a season we just witnessed.

He then alluded to the youth of the team this year--also mentioned elsewhere on this board, also creating some head-scratching. But then he added, "those are excuses," followed by more Fitzspeak, i.e., gonna keep growing, keep building, get to work.

A question later was asked (can't remember by whom) about the coordinators, and what's to be done post-season, and that was met with the usual generic response of, gonna get together, see how/where we can improve, etc. It was all about "WE are gonna do ABC," not, "I'm going to evaluate every staff position."

Bottom line--Fitz was congenial to the questioners and wished them well. But his answers and demeanor say to me he does not feel affected in the least by whatever they might print on-line.

 

[realklysickoflosing]

I guess it depends on your definition of "sustaining." The last 5-7 years don't totally look dissimilar to Ron Zook's tenure at Illinois (by that I simply mean huge swings in performance) and we all had a pretty good time making fun of the Zooker.

I think Fitz's response to this season will be most critical. Will his changes be intangible/invisible, or will they be evident and build "consumer confidence?"

One thing important to distinguish between Fitz and his predecessors - absolutely no one came close to having the resources that Fitz has to field a good program - his political power is exponentially greater than any coach before him, he's got some of the best facilities in FBS, he's got a piece of BTN money, he's got the BTN production reach that puts him and the team on tv every single week, he's got $ to pay his assistants, and he's even got a website that's a de facto rummage sale for experienced college football players.

An issue that can't be ignored is that the number of empty seats. It becomes really obvious when there are not a lot of visiting teams fans. People vote with their feet. I have been a season ticket. holder for 35 years and I can't remember when "nobody there" was more pronounced. Yet, the survey we got a few weeks ago about our preferences for the stadium renovation asked some crazy questions - like would be be willing to pay $200 a ticket for some amenity? I moved to Florida a year ago, but retained my tickets. For the games I can't get there, it is hard to give them away. At certain levels, there is a huge disconnect.

 

[Turk]

Don’t forget to ask about the supply of hot dogs at Ryan.

That was bigtime funny

 

[Turk]

I will be an apologist for a minute and say...I don't envy the position Fitz finds himself in right now. Everything he's relied on - coordinators, player development, reliable QB - isn't working. And I can't imagine he loves the brand he's building for himself right now - every good season is followed by an atrocious season.

It's easy for us fans to say fire this one or that one...but certainly easier said than done (and the fact that so many programs are letting their head coaches go mid-season is NOT what I would use as evidence that "this isn't hard to do")

So, as a villager who is sharpening his pitchfork, I also acknowledge that right here in the moment I wouldn't want to be Fitz, even with his paycheck.

You forgot Kickers. "He hit 28 out of 29 in practice"
This is the madness and intellect level we are dealing with.
Bad!
Fans wanna know

 

[phatcat]

You forgot Kickers. "He hit 28 out of 29 in practice"
This is the madness and intellect level we are dealing with.
Bad!
Fans wanna know

In a weird way, I'm glad he said this infuriating thing about Charlie. I don't want to be mad at Charlie any more than I want to be mad at McIntyre. They are both 5 year Cats that are probably doing their best. I don't think either one of them is lazy. I think Charlie's problems are between his ears, and, unlike HuJo, Fitz just kept trotting him out there. Or, worse, NOT sending him out in situations where he obviously didn't trust him, like 4th and 15 from the 28 or whatever. Likewise, I presume McIntyre isn't lazy or stupid, he just isn't a good linebacker, and shouldn't have been getting 95% of the snaps.

Off topic, the one good thing about the coaching carousel is that Fitz's extension will have him at below average salary in the B1G once all the other boats rise. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Fitz.

'It's on THEM, as coaches'

 

[StreamCat]

That was bigtime funny

Why thank you, young man.