[NU Sports] the next coach

[Peter C. Warner]

The Brown problem:
Brown was defensive backs coach for Barnett/Vanderlinden.  He took over for
Vanderlinden as defensive coordinator in 1997 and turned NU's defense into
perhaps the worst defense in the country.  Because of his loyalty to NU, he
was "promoted" to Assistant Head Coach and sent back to coaching the
defensive backs.  The defense still hasn't recovered from that abyss.  
Making Brown the interim head coach will send a message to the players and
their families:  NU, itself, has indeed written-off the 2006 season.
Players on the fence of deciding whether to stay at NU or bolt will bolt.
They may as well sit out the year somewhere else knowing who and what they
will play for the following year rather than playing for a team whose own
school has no expectations for them.
Worse, it could send the entire team down the path followed by the NU
defense of the late-90s.  It took NU 20 years to recover from John Pont.
That history shouldn't be allowed to repeat itself.
Brown has been loyal to NU.  That loyalty deservedly allowed him to stay on
the coaching staff after his total failure as defensive coordinator.  Brown
did a good job as defensive back coach for Barnett/Vanderlinden.  He can and
should stay in that position.  

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
Behalf Of SjT (Stephen J. Truog)
Sent: Monday, July 03, 2006 8:02 PM
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] the next coach

> All of this speculation is a lot of fun to read but
> I am willing to wager  
> that Jerry Brown will be the coach when the 2006
> season opens. And that makes  

Exactly. I'm not sure it's disrespectful and I know
most of us have the Walker family in our prayers and
thoughts and are having this discussion with the idea
of keeping Randy's work moving forward.

That said, I really think we have to throw any and all
expectations out the window for the team this year and
I think most of the press and college football world
will do likewise. I'd love to see us rally for coach
and capture the title ... but in all honesty, I'm just
hoping we can hold things together and finish the
campaign with our heads held high.

In that respect, I think Jerry Brown as interim head
coach when the season begins is really the only
option. Have a familiar face and the rest of the staff
keep the team together for a year and then start to
look at the program next year as to whether we set a
plan in place for a future permanent coach down the
road (as others have said, Fitz would be ideal) or go
outside the program (Navy coach? Willingham?).

I think it'd be a real mistake to bring someone from
outside in for this year -- we need to keep it within
Walker's circle of coaches and players so they can
deal with this together. And I REALLY do not want to
see Barnett or Vanderlinden coming in ... their
connection may be recent for fans, but they didn't
recruit or have anything to do with these players.
Barnett would be a constant distraction and he already
burned his bridges here and Vandy would make the Fitz
transition difficult.

I'm sure Murphy and the NU staff have a plan in mind
and I'm certain they won't drag this out -- they just
can't with the season less than two months away. The
only real option this year is to put Brown in charge
and hope these coaches and kids can hold it together
-- with the support of the school and fans -- for this
season. If they put together a great run, then that's
fantastic ... but if not, well, it's understandable to
have more on the mind this season and I just hope they
can get through it together. Then we can look at
continuing Walker's legacy in building the program
more after the season.

GO CATS!!!
- SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!

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