[NU Sports] OSU game highlighted Randy Walker's shortcomings

[Joe Thiegs]

NU 41, UNLV 7 to open the season.  I remember watching that game in a local
bar with the NU Club of the Twin Cities.  In '97 we shut out Oklahoma to
start the year.  Those were the "promising moments" to which I was
referring.  :)

-----Original Message-----
From: John Labbe [mailto:johnl at mac.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2005 11:43 AM
To: Joe Thiegs
Cc: 'NU Sports Discussion'
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] OSU game highlighted Randy Walker's shortcomings


You'll have to remind me about the "promising moments" in the '98 season.
As I recall, we were 0-8 in the Big Ten and we were blown out at home by
Duke.

Assuming a win on Saturday, Walker will be 14-10 in the Big Ten over the
past 3 years.  I don't have time right now to compare that to see how it
ranks among other Big Ten teams, but I'd venture a guess that it's about the
middle of the pack or perhaps the upper-middle.

It's not fair to look at Walker's entire record; let's talk about what he's
done the past few years.  Barnett didn't have a winning record at
Northwestern, either.  His best 3-season Big Ten record was 18-6 and then
the following season he was 0-8.  Hardly consistent.

My biggest question, though, is if we fire Walker, who would we hire?
Charlie Weis is spoken for.

Do we try to read the tea leaves and hire an "up and coming" coach who may
or may not win, but if he does, he will promptly leave for a better program?


On Wednesday, November 16, 2005, at 12:00PM, Joe Thiegs <thiegs at umn.edu>
wrote:

>quite closely.  '97 and '98 had promising moments but didn't end too 
>well, as I recall.  The point is that I don't think we'll find a coach 
>much better