[NU Sports] coaches leaving (fwd)

[Roy Lamberton]

A little rambling, but you nailed it Mike....

Walker is one or two coaches away from becoming the "Dean" of Big 10/11 coaches
and I know its eating up a few on this list....

Back when he got the extension to his contract one of things he got from Rick
Taylor was raises for the assistants to bring them closer to the rest of the
league. I think he's still pushing for that and I think the quality of the guys
who have followed the original Miami crew is a reflection of that requirement

However, I think that if he gets a new contract, or extension, he'll do the same
thing for the assistants, and pour a few more bucks into the program. 

FWIW - Randy has stayed 10 years at his last 2 big jobs, but I think he'd like
to finish out at NU and will do whatever it takes to do that.

A little inside stuff: Last year I walked out of the practice facility with RW
and one or two other hanger's on. During our official postgame interviews he
talked about finishing above .500 but as we walked off, we were talking about
winning 7 in 2004 and how I almost bought #7 pins to give to the coaches after
Spring 2005. [we'd finished 6-6 for a couple of years]

He said, almost to himself, that he was tired of just finishing at .500 or even
at 6-6 and wanted better. Its one of the "off the tape" things he's said in my
presence, and since he finished above .500 at 7-4 I feel open to pass it on.

I know there are those who don't like Coach Walker, but I suggest that if you
can, come to a few practices and hang around afterwards. 

Coach Walker is the kind of guy that I'd send my kids to play under. He expects
them to win and will do what it takes to help them get there. If you as a player
put out the effort, he and his staff will try get you there as a winner.

If what I've heard is true, we're in fine shape on the offensive side of the
ball - we'll find the assistants to continue the system. What is encouraging is
that our defensive coaching team is still intact. I had heard rumbles preseason
that at least one besides Fitz was in the crosshairs.

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
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com 
> [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of Mike Nolan
> Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 4:13 PM
> To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
> Subject: RE: [NU Sports] coaches leaving (fwd)
> 
> 
> > However, I think the days of coaching stability are almost 
> gone - look 
> > at all the changes happening not only at our place, but up 
> the road in 
> > Madison...
> 
> True.  Coaches with the length of tenure of a JoePa, Tom 
> Osborne or Bobby Bowden are likely to be rare commodities in 
> the next 25 years.  Solich 
> couldn't cut it as Osborne's successor (though that's a very 
> complex issue), I don't know what will happen at Penn State 
> and FSU when those legends finally hang it up or leave the 
> building feet first, but I'd put money that their successors 
> will stumble a bit, too.  
> 
> How many years did it take for a coach to emerge from the shadows of 
> Darryl Royal at Texas?  Has Alabama found a satisfactory 
> replacement for 
> the Bear yet?  No coach at Notre Dame since Rocke has made it 
> beyond 11 
> years or won more than 100 games (Rocke won 105 in 13 
> seasons, Holtz 100 
> in 11, Parseghian 95 in 11, Leahy 87 in 11.)  I guess the luck of the 
> Irish doesn't apply to the head coach.
> 
> Ferentz has so far seemed a worthy successor to Hayden Fry, it'll be 
> interesting to watch what happens in Madison over the next 
> few years.  
> One advantage Osborne had in Lincoln was he had Devaney 
> (fondly known as the Bobfather) protecting his flank, will 
> Alvarez do that for his chosen 
> successor?  What will happen when Lloyd Carr steps down at 
> Michigan? (15 weeks ago I might have phrased that 'is forced 
> out at Michigan', but I think he's safe for another year or two.)
> --
> Mike Nolan
> 
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