[NU Sports] Cat Season Report Card

[Frank F. Loomis III]

Dennis, 

You gave us a superb analysis.

I agree with every grade you assigned and your reasons therefore except one: the B you gave RW. 

To me he rates a C- at best. That’s because the buck stops with him that our recruiting has not met the blatant deficits your analysis points out. As you say: 

"We need defense and special teams. They killed us all year. They killed us all last year, the year before, the year before that, etc."

Because of that, I say Walker is an "incomplete" coach. He’s super on some things like developing offense, winning close, exciting games.......but el stinko on defense and in doing something to cure the malady. Instead, he’s tunnel visioned on offense.

He’s had seven years to change. . .more than enough time. But he has not. The seven years prove he never will. It’s like the color of his eyes, he cannot change it. 

The above is true even considering that Walker enjoys the greatest advantages of any NU coach in history: They include: 

1. 85 scholarship limit.....levels playing field for schools with high academic standards.

2. Proposition 48.......also levels playing field for schools with high academic standards.

3. Practically all games on TV......kids now know of Northwestern (despite that Walker disdains having a coach’s show and does little attending of alumni, high school, and fan meetings to aid recruiting and attendance.)

4. Because of our ‘95 Rose Bowl appearance, NU is now on the map. Gary Barnett did that. We were the talk of the sports and academic world. GB proved that excellence in academics and football can co-exist. Interest in NU skyrocketed. 

5. Walker has the best facilities that any NU Coach has ever had to offer. 

However, it must be said that if Walker’s 445(?) overall losing record is overlooked – which it would not be at most Div I schools (he’d be gone), most people think he has done well by us. 

If that’s true, why so? Well, if we face facts, it’s because of those five factors cited above. Walker has been in the right place at the right time. 

In summation, Walker is a mediocre coach who has accomplished some good things by taking advantage of conditions never enjoyed by an NU coach. Give him the conditions GB faced in 1992, Dennis Green in 1981, Francis Peay in 1986, well, we’d be sticking a fork in him.

We do have, however, some great kids who play their hearts out for us. But do we have them because of Walker’s good recruiting? 

Nope! In the main, we have them because of the five factors cited above. 

So, again, as a head coach,Walker at best is a C-. And what we are going to see out of him in years to come? Well, most importantly no matter how many thrillers he might provide, overall he will continue to lose more games than he will win. (Unless we increase our Ws by scheduling more patsies...that seems to be coming.) Our attendance and fan interest will persist in drooping.

But we’ll accept this because we’re Northwestern. It’s Ok to lose more than we win as long as we’re now and then competitive and win some thrillers.

Walker will do that. 

Nuff said.

Thank you again, Dennis, for your fine analysis. 

Frank Loomis

P.S. Please don’t anyone continue to offer praise of Walker for graduating a high percentage of his kids. That sophistically implies that some or many of his predecessors have not. That is not true! Traditionally, all NU coaches in modern history have so done. This is a credit to the University, not to its coaches, including, of course, Mr. Walker. 


"Dennis W. Brandt" <tbng at suscom.net> wrote:OFFENSE
QB - A What more is there to say? Baz may have a shot at the NFL in a West 
Coast-type offense.
RB - A- He'll only get bigger, stronger, and smarter. While the freshman 
came out in the Michigan and Ohio State games, something tells me those 
experiences were lessons not lost on the bright and unusually mature Mr. 
Sutton.
WR - B- No studs here but good quality, good depth, and more speed than is 
traditional at NU. The minus comes by virtue of way too many dropped 
passes, especially at key moments in games.
TE - I Not enough action to rate, but he did score a time or two
OL - B- Did a generally credible job on pass blocking, but Baz's 
scrambling made them look better statistically than they actually were. 
They failed to handle the Michigan and OSU defenses and were, as usual for 
NU, weak near the goal line. Run blocking was adequate with Sutton's 
ability to find holes quickly, but they cannot move the big boys, which 
means they are not yet ranked among the big boys. Must get bigger, 
stronger, quicker, and deeper. Given their youth, that is a real 
possibility, and they'll grow up with Tyrell Sutton.

DEFENSE
DL - F Even with Barry Cofield, this was the single biggest reason we were 
among the worst defenses in the country. A quick count reveals but 7 sacks 
the entire season by the DL (out of a miserable 11) and only 16 tackles for 
loss (out of 36). They were no better on run defense. Too small, too weak, 
too slow, too young, and too untalented. Three of the four can be changed. 
The fourth can only improve through what for NU would be unprecendented 
recruiting.
LB - B- Good but not devistating. McGarigle was a workhorse and will be 
missed. Roach may be the future star, but we must hear his name more often 
next year. What we couldn't do with an A. J. Hawk type who attends classes 
and studies hard.
DB - C- Less than average but an improvement over last season. With all 
the injuries that hit them, any improvement was a miracle, especially with a 
terrible DL putting enormous pressure on them. Still short on speed, size, 
and talent but getting better.

SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - D Field goals are still an adventure, and kickoffs rarely go into the 
endzone sans tailwind. At least we made extra points.
P - D No one could boom long ones or place punts inside the 20 with 
consistency. But see below for part of the explanation.
Kick coverage - F Our kick coverage was so dreadful that Randy Walker 
called for pooch kicks all season knowing special teams could stop no decent 
returner. We may as well have kicked-off out of bounds every time. (I 
didn't figure this out, but I'd be willing to bet opponents' average 
starting field position would have been little or no better if we had. 
Maybe worse!)
Kick returns - C There were some good returns, but no one feared kicking to 
our receivers.

COACHING
B- - Randy Walker squeezed 7 wins from a team that played almost every game 
against more talented opposition. That should deserve an A. Problem is, he 
has created a string of mono-faceted teams. While the spread has given us 
an offense to be feared, he has never recruited talented kickers, special 
teams, or defenses. We will not compete with Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn 
State until we do. Beat them on occasion, yes, but not compete regularly.

INTANGIBLES
B+ - These guys may be short on skill compared to their opposition, but they 
have heart, brains, and balls. They didn't get down when after big loses 
and, unlike their fans (see Iowa game), never gave up until the final gun. 
The drop to a "B" comes from all those dropped passes, crucial penalties, 
and that loss to Michigan that could (should!) have been an NU victory that 
would have hung a bright star over Evanston on national TV.

Comments
We need defense and special teams. They killed us all year. They killed us 
all last year, the year before, the year before that, etc. Recruiting a few 
top quality athletes turned Penn State around. Let's see the same for NU 
next season.

GO CATS!

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