[NU Sports] Football experiment

Thu Dec 2 17:47:33 CST 2004

I wonder what all the virulence on the various boards that are read by the
recruits is doing to dissuade some of the top players from considering NU this
year?

You know that some of the top players in Illinois who were not being recruited
nationally, were carefully weighing NU vs. IL and leaning towards NU because we
were a given. The same thing with Indiana's recruits.

But to read some of the message boards, you'd think that Randy Walker was an
absolute ogre, totally incompetent, a fool, a loser, stupid, and a whole bunch
of names that I care not to repeat.

I don't know what Coach Walker ever did to some of these [or you] guys, but the
only other place I've seen this much hate has been in the last two presidential
elections.

C'mon people, get a life!

Go Cats

rsl

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate
Computer Applications & Support Associates
and Publisher of Purple Reign, 
The Scout.com Northwestern University Site
(http://www.purplewildcats.com)
AIM Handle: CoachRoy74

=========================================
No Society has ever Taxed or Litigated
itself to prosperity...Think about it.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com 
> [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of sjtruog at jorsm.com
> Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 4:10 PM
> To: Jeff Beamsley
> Cc: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Football experiment
> 
> 
>  > Actually I think that we are on the same page here.
> 
> Yeah - just look at Ty -- he had a great record his first 
> year and folks were ready to annoint him the ND football savior.:)
> 
> But yes, it's gonna be real interesting to watch all these 
> schools -- who they go after, who they settle for and what 
> that person does in the next few years. It should be fun. The 
> Trib had a great back page graphic/article today on all the 
> openings, who's up for 'em, what expectations are, status of 
> the program, etc.
> 
> > Some on this list are convinced that ANY coaching change is ALWAYS 
> > BAD.
> 
> I don't think I've seen anybody say that. And if that is 
> intended to mean me, then I certainly never said it. I do 
> think firing a coach because he only won 6 when we have 
> unreasonable expectations to win 9 is bad. And in that case, 
> we can look at a few schools in the next few years ...
> 
> - As mentioned, Nebraska fired a coach with 9 wins. They 
> wanted more -- year one was a disaster, but we'll see what 
> the next few years of change brings as the Huskers try and go 
> Oklahoma's route ... suffer for awhile, then change and move 
> in the modern era.
> 
> - Florida fired a coach who had brought in top classes and 
> won 7 games this year with a predominantly underclass team. 
> The SEC has passed the Gators by and if Spurrier catches fire 
> in Columbia, Florida may be looking up at UGa, Rocky Top and 
> the Gamecocks from the lower division of the SEC east.
> 
> - And yes, Notre Dame, fired a coach three years into a 
> rebuilding project that wasn't going fast enough ... amid 
> dellusions of past grandeur that many don't feel still exist 
> in the new era of college football.
> 
> Those three coaching changes I'd say were cases of "greedy 
> firings" in that the staffs were doing well, but not well 
> enough with what many could argue are unrealistically high 
> expectations ... it will be fun to see whether they pay off.
> 
> It will also be interesting to watch Illinois and Indiana 
> simply because they are conference foes whose programs the 
> last decade or so have been pretty much at or below NU's 
> level (plus, the DiNardo firing was especially bogus) ... 
> will they just continue a cycle of frustration and start 
> rebuilding from square 1 or 2 again while their students look 
> forward to hoops season ... or can they turn it around quickly (ala
> Purdue) and (then the tricky part) get that miracle worker 
> coach to stick around and see it through? (something we 
> couldn't do with Barnett).
> 
> > Most everyone here wants to see a more competitive NU team while 
> > preserving the integrity of the program and the high academic 
> > standards of the institution.  We just don't agree on the 
> best way to 
> > go about it.
> 
> We'll agree on that -- plus, you mention the contract and 
> right now we're in the middle of a contract. So we'll have a 
> couple years to watch the results elsewhere and see how they 
> apply to Northwestern. But I think we all can agree that we 
> don't want NU to become one of those schools that axes a 
> coach mid-contract even if they do everything right "Sunday 
> through Friday."
> 
> The other interesting one to watch, of course, will be 
> Stanford. Ty took 'em to their first Rose Bowl in decades 
> (kind of like us in 1995 except we got Dennis Green among the 
> frustrated past coaches instead of Bill Walsh:)
> ) ... can they rebound in a more competitive Pac 10 (the Pac 
> Northwest schools are solid now ... USC and Cal have awoken 
> from hibernation ... and keep an eye on Stoops the Second 
> down in Tuscon)?
> 
> > consequences.  I think that he would look great in purple; 
> but I don't 
> > have a vote, I don't have the ear of anyone who has 
> influence, and I 
> > can't even depend on my wife to agree with me - so my only 
> outlet is 
> > this list.
> 
> Hah.:) Well, that's what makes this list great -- we can 
> cover, and disagree, on a number of topics to keep us busy in 
> the offseason. If I didn't feel strongly about axing coaches 
> mid-contract who have completed back-to-back 6-win seasons, 
> I'd be awfully tempted to go after Willingham as well.
> 
> But you're right -- this is going to be a real interesting 
> next few years to watch. There certainly seem to be more 
> firings now than I can remember in other years ... and if 
> Meyer, BSU's coach, and others are picked for some of these 
> jobs, there will be more openings (and don't forget that Utah 
> is a pretty attractive job now -- they've done the impossible 
> with the BCS, they've renovated facilities, have a 
> competitive NC schedule to make waves nationally ... and Mr. 
> Chow lives in Salt Lake City, so the Utes may still be around 
> even if Meyer bolts for the THIRD time in four years).
> 
> Just a quick look at the Big Ten coaching positions ...
> 
> MINNESOTA - Mason was pretty obviously campaigning for OSU a 
> few years back, now it appears he's stuck in Siberia, er, 
> Minneapolis until they either get a new stadium or get sick 
> of 6-5 seasons and minor bowls.
> 
> IOWA - Despite the rumors, I think Ferentz is gonna be a pain 
> in our butts for a loooong time in Iowa City. They're 
> upgrading facilities, have a solid tradition and program and 
> are only getting better recruits each year. After his kids 
> are out of school, perhaps he'll bolt for the pros, but he'd 
> be a fool to ... he's a college coach and could be a legend 
> bigger than Hayden by the time he's done.
> 
> WISCONSIN - Barry's got a year or two left until he hands it 
> off to his hand-picked successor. No real shocking changes on 
> the horizon there.
> 
> ILLINOIS - Open!
> 
> INDIANA - Open!
> 
> PURDUE - I thought for sure Tiller would have bolted by now 
> ... but he's sticking around and doing a solid job in West 
> Lafayette. They're upgrading facilities as well and starting 
> to be a consistent threat to battle for the league title. I 
> don't see Wily Joe leaving anytime soon.
> 
> MICHIGAN STATE - They stumbled upon a pretty good one in John 
> L. Smith after a few years of rotation following Perles ... 
> Smith's already made his move and should be in Spartan green 
> for a few more years at least. If he can take the program out 
> of the shadow of Big Blue (and he's done wonders with a 
> patchwork of players his first two years - think of what 
> he'll do with his own recruits), he may bolt higher in 5-6 years.
> 
> MICHIGAN - If Carr is about to step down, I'd think Michigan 
> will be like Wisconsin and promote from within the family. If 
> it does become open, it is one of the 2-3 most attractive 
> positions in the nation. But I think this one won't be up for 
> grabs like ND or Florida this year ... Carr won't leave until 
> he wants to, and when he does, he'll have a successor lined up.
> 
> OHIO STATE - If Tressel survives the scandal, he'll be in 
> Columbus for a long time. This was the job he wanted and 
> despite the headaches, it's one of the elite jobs. Plus, the 
> guy's a heck of a coach -- and as long as he keeps beating 
> Michigan, he won't be under any alumni pressure for awhile. 
> If the scandal does grow, though, this could be one of those 
> wide-open coaching scrambles because they'd want to clean 
> house to clean up the image.
> 
> PENN STATE - The one position everyone thought would be up 
> for grabs isn't ... yet. I think JoePa knows his D will be 
> something special next year and wants one more season (asking 
> Santa for a halfway decent offense) so he can go out on top. 
> In any case, he's gotta line up a successor to take over the 
> program or else this job could slip into disarray. Still - 
> you have one of the nation's largest stadiums, loyal alumni, 
> great tradition, a football-crazy state and a recruiting 
> pipeline nationwide ... if this one does open up, there will 
> be some good candidates looking into it and someone could 
> really awaken a sleeping giant in Happy Valley.
> 
> NORTHWESTERN - Well, we can leave that for the list to 
> decide.:) Some of us see progress, others want more ... in 
> the next year or two and with watching what happens in South 
> Bend, Lincoln, Palo Alto and elsewhere, we may have our answer.
> 
> GO CATS!!!
> -SjT
> 
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