[NU Sports] Football experiment

[Jeff Beamsley]

First a disclaimer - this post is not about firing RW.  I agree that, 
baring some health problem, he is going to be coaching NU next year.  So 
it isn't worth discussing that any more. 

This is about the larger question of why ND, Stanford, and Indiana 
didn't seem to be afraid of the dire consequences that some on this list 
associate with firing a coach.

 From where we sit, it may seem precipitous and unfair (particularly the 
DiNardo firing), but we aren't the ones responsible.  The governing 
bodies of these institutions are.  Perhaps they are all stupid, 
misguided, and unprincipled.  Perhaps they have lost sight of the value 
of education, have unreasonable expectations, and have sold out to the 
football dollar. 

OR

Perhaps they know something that some folks on this list are unwilling 
to admit.  Perhaps they do care about their institutions more than we 
can ever know.  Perhaps they have a better understanding of what is 
possible and the courage to take action when it's required regardless of 
the criticism that it attracts.  These boards are full of people who 
have demonstrated that they understand leadership, success, and committment.

There is a popular saying in business management that you are limited by 
what you tolerate.

It is fairly obvious that RW is welcome to stay another year at NU if he 
wants to.  With the loss in Hawaii, I seriously doubt that he is going 
to be on anyone else's short list for the all of the openings we're 
likely to see in the next couple of weeks.

These actions DO give us an interesting opportunity to observe what 
happens to these particular institutions over the next couple of years. 

Some on this list would predict that each of these institutions will 
fall into deep recruiting and rebuilding holes and will ultimately fall 
further behind than they would have been if they had just allowed their 
current coaches to continue to make incremental improvements. 

If, on the other hand, each of these institutions ends up making 
significant progress over the next three or four years (ND getting a BCS 
bid, Stanford contending for the PC-10 championship, Indiana going to a 
bowl game), what sort of conclusion could be drawn? 

First, that a lot of people may owe the governing bodies of these 
institutions an apology.

Second, that perhaps the fastest track to success is to change coaches 
when they don't do what they were hired to do.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.  Hope I'm here to 
claim victory and admit defeat.

Jeff