[NU Sports] Respect

[Mike Nolan]

> I never gave Ron Vanderlinden a thought, but wouldn't that be a great match 
> for NU?  Perhaps we should start hoping.  What would Penn State have to say 
> about that?  I doubt that JoePa would object to the move because he's a good 
> human being, although RV would have to take the lateness of the date into 
> consideration. 

I didn't put Vanderlinden on my short list for three reasons:

1.  JoePa may be a nice guy, but I don't see him as being willing to let 
    a coach out of his contract this close to the start of the season 
    and especially not to a Big 10 competitor.

2.  With all due respect to what Ron helped achieve at NU 10 years ago,
    his expertise is on defense, and right now the big holes are on 
    the offensive coaching side.  

3.  My sources in Happy Valley tell me that he opted out of several
    head coaching searches in the last year.  Maybe he's found a home.

However, even having listed those reasons, I think he'd be an interesting
choice.  However, since he just turned 50 in January, bringing him in would
probably be a bit of a setback to the 'Pat Fitzgerald is our coach of the 
future' movement.
--
Mike Nolan