[NU Sports] the next coach

Tue Jul 4 13:13:17 CDT 2006

Looking at Vanderlinden's bio on Penn State's website, I 'm guessing 
that he is about 50 years old which means that were NU to hire him there 
would be a decent age gap between he and Fitzgerald making it worthwhile 
for Fitzgerald to hang around if Vanderlinden were hired.  Look at  how 
long Paterno was an assistant to Rip Engle before he became head coach 
at Penn State. Vanderlinden would be a great pick in my opinion and 
Brown would be a disaster as Peter Warner suggests.

John DeGroat

Peter C. Warner wrote:

>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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