[NU Sports] Where do we go from here?

[Mike Nolan]

> I wish that I could be so relatively upbeat about the future. We've been  
> waiting for five years for Walker to field a solid, consistent defense.  To  
> think that with another year of experience, the secondary will be suddenly  
> effective is wishful thinking at best.  I still argue that our recruiting  of DBs 
> has been poor and watching receivers roam freely in our secondary (and  Robinson 
> missed a lot of them Saturday) is something that will continue to haunt  us 
> this year and next.   It was absolutely inexcusable to have that  tight end 
> catch the decisive 4th and 15 pass. Since a pass in that situation was  certain, 
> a safety should have been on him like a glove.  A breakup  there and the game 
> was ours. 

I thought Northwestern was in a form of 'prevent' defense.  Of course the
standard line on that is that all a prevent defense prevents is winning.

I also don't buy the theory that DBs are dumb jocks so Northwestern can't
recruit them.  That hasn't stopped Stanford from having good DBs.

Do people also believe that linemen are dumb?  We seem to be doing an OK 
job recruiting them.  (Keeping them healthy is a different matter.)  

This is an ongoing recruiting failure.  Saturday's game was also a 
coaching failure and, yes, a playing failure.  

Of those three, I can excuse the playing failure much more readily.

I think Walker has to be considered 'on the bubble' at Northwestern.
Does that mean I think he should be fired this year, or even next year?
No, but then I don't get to make that decision. 
--
Mike Nolan