[NU Sports] Defense

Tue Nov 7 21:08:19 CST 2006

Except when Vanderlinden was DC, when have the CATS had a good defense? What
other DC has done really well at NU?

Also, wasn't the D so-so under Barnett after Vanderlinden left for Maryland?

I contend that outside of the Vanderlinden years we've never had a great
defense. Is that the athletes? Is it that Barnett and Walker were previous
OCs? Combination. Somehow our D just doesn't look like the Tennessee D
(another team I follow to a lesser degree) and I can't wait for a stiffer D
to develop and be consistently good at NU. Vanderbilt University supposedly
has a consistently sound defense, so I would think we should be able also.

But given all that, I must say I've been in total agreement with what Jeff
has said this year.

Go CATS!
Chris 
Knoxville, TN

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
Behalf Of Jeff Beamsley
Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 4:11 PM
To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Defense

When you failures over long periods of time, particularly where multiple
assistants are involved, you have to lay it at the feet of the HC.  RW never
had a strong defense.

It may be just as simple as RW was a offensive player and Fitz played
defense.  Fitz believes that you win with defense, RW believed that you win
with offense.  That philosophy determines how you recruit and where you put
your best athletes.

Given how the year started, I think that it is remarkable that the team is
playing as well as they are.  For that, you have to give credit to whole
coaching staff.  So I'm willing to let Fitz do whatever he thinks he needs
to do with the coaching staff after we finish our season in two weeks.  If
he feels that they should all be retained, that's fine with me.  If he feels
that changes are needed, that's fine with me too.

As far as Gill, McManis, Simpson, etc. - those young guys who are turning
this defense around, these guys didn't just fall out of the sky.  The
defensive coaches including Brown and Colby recruited them, so they deserve
credit for that too.

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
Behalf Of cherron604 at aol.com
Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 1:26 PM
To: rstetson at capps-assoc.com; DPENDERG at aol.com; jonathanwhodges at gmail.com;
nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Defense

My only question would be - if Jerry Brown or Greg Colby are suddenly good
and retained - why did it take Colby almost 5 years (and Brown a heck of a
lot longer) to figure out what they were doing ? 

Maybe it's a threshold thing with Colby - after 9 or 10 500 yard choke-jobs
(and 28-30 400 yard 'performances'), a lightbulb goes on and you say 'Maybe
if I stopped the run and pressured the quarterback, they'd score fewer
points'.

If our students learned that rapidly, many of them would be grasping
sentence structure and algebra by about their sixth or seventh year at the
University

Chuck Herron   Tech '85

PS - we had better get Colby and Brown locked-up long term before Tressel or
somebody tries to 'steal' them away.

-----Original Message-----
From: rstetson at capps-assoc.com
To: DPENDERG at aol.com; jonathanwhodges at gmail.com; nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
Sent: Sun, 5 Nov 2006 4:11 PM
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Defense

A better answer would be that Fitz used to be one of the guys who signaled
the defenses in when RW was the head coach.

As I recall the talk about how the phones work at NU, the guys upstairs
would call the play, and RW would have the option of overriding the call.
With McGee down talking with Johns up stairs, I'm sure Johns is relating
what he sees and McGee and Fitz are talking back and forth on the field,
even though they're in different parts of the sidelines.

If you noticed the Hawks, with their coordinators both down  on the field,
had a lot of space between Ferentz, the OC and the DC, at least that's how
it looked on TV.

Anyway, I wouldn't put too much stock in one or two shots of Fitz holding up
fingers towards the defense and reading grand changes.

While most of the fans in a few folk's circles hope for coaching changes at
the end of the season, I personally will be surprised at ANY, unless someone
is hired away.

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
======== Go Cats -  Beat 'em All =========== "You have a Republic Madam --
     If you can keep it" - Benjamin Franklin
============================================

> -----Original Message-----
> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com
> [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of DPENDERG at aol.com
> Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2006 10:05 AM
> To: jonathanwhodges at gmail.com; nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Defense
> 
> 
>  
> I wonder then why the head coach (and not another defensive
> coach)  would be
> assigned the sideline duty of simply transmitting the coordinator's 
> calls from the press box.

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