[NU Sports] Fitz: The Future is Now

[Jeff Beamsley]

I also applaud Murphy and the administration for being willing to take a
risk on Fitz.  This speaks volumes not only in their confidence in the man,
but also their confidence in the program.  

Fitz is going to help our existing players find focus and meaning in
Walker's passing.  I have no doubt that Fitz was also the choice of the
current coaching staff, so we should see them all pulling together too.

Since college football is at least 50% recruiting, if anything, this
improves NU's ability to recruit.  Now instead of being the setup guy, he is
going to be the closer.  He will be able to point to his own career as
testimony to the possibilities.  

As Stephen pointed out, it may be somewhat more difficult to attract "wanabe
head" coaches, but NU has already proven to be a very successful stepping
stone, so perhaps that will wash.  In any case, we are blessed that Jerry
Brown does appear to be fulfilled in his supporting role.  I'm certain that
his support and commitment were key to making this appointment work.  

This year is going to be "starting over" from so many perspectives.  I hope
the Fitz is able to take the long view, help his players discover that
"never give up" attitude in themselves, and forgive himself for the mistakes
that he is sure to make as he learns this new position.  It may be bumpy for
a while, but I'm sure that NU football is on the right road.

Jeff


-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
Behalf Of SjT (Stephen J. Truog)
Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 1:44 PM
To: NU Sports List
Subject: [NU Sports] Fitz: The Future is Now

Well, some much-needed good news after a week of sadness -- and a choice I
think Wildcat fans everywhere can agree on! He played under Barnett but
coached under Walker and is the fan favorite.

I think we all were hoping Fitz would be our coach down the road and the
only real drawback was his age ... but as my former NU roommate Jim Leonard
told me, Mark Murphy is a pretty smart guy who wasn't going to be influenced
by Fitz being a past player (i.e. he earned the job) and as other listers
have posted, John Gruden, Avery Brown and other coaches in other sports have
proven that if you got it, you got it no matter what the age.

The best upside is that Fitz bleeds purple -- he'll be our coach and not
looking for a stepping stone ... and I think the fans and administration
will be patient with Fitz, especially this coming season, realizing that
this could be a great investment in the future.

So the Fitz era is about to begin and I think it's a great decision by AD
Murphy. Fitz' biggest recruiting task may be finding/keeping a staff though,
as the age thing will probably matter more to coaches upset about being
passed over than it will to recruits who will love this guy's intensity and
fire and respect him as a former player who knows his stuff on the field and
what it's like to be an NU student athlete.

I can't say it better than Paul did -- a silver lining on the large cloud of
the past week. I hope everyone in purple is excited to do whatever he or she
can to help Fitz succeed and I think Coach Walker would be proud of the
young coach he hired into the program now in charge of the purple.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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

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