[NU Sports] What needs to be said...

[DPENDERG at aol.com]

As I said, I want Fitz to succeed, but as in any job situation, there is  
always the possibility that he's simply not the right one for the position of  
running a major college football program regardless of his purple credentials.  
Give him five years?  No, that will not (and should not)  happen.  We simply 
cannot tolerate a series of poor (2-10, 3-9, or 4-8)  seasons and I doubt the 
University will either.  
 
I think this season's disaster clearly invites major changes in  the coaching 
staff, which I am convinced will happen, the first really important  
management decision Fitz will make.  The status quo is simply  unacceptable. The 
coaching staff -- both offense and defense -- has failed  despite a lot of veterans 
returning on both sides of the ball.   Northwestern football is not a job 
training program for young, inexperienced  coaches.
 
 
In a message dated 10/15/2006 12:06:25 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
sjtruog at yahoo.com writes:

> We  all want Fitz to succeed, but at this point it
> really does seem   that he's 
> in over his head. Cats have been out-coached in  

What's important to remember, though, is Fitz was
pretty clear at  the start of the year that he'd let
his coaches coach. It's a great  philosophy, IMO ... if
you have the personnel in the coaching ranks to  do
that.

>From what I saw yesterday, Fitz is doing his job  of
firing up the kids and keeping the team motivated --
but the  offensive coordinator is not doing his job.
Now McGee is new as well, but I  would say he's clearly
the one in over his head right now and if he  keeps
performing like this, Fitz needs to step in and become
more  hands-on.

> done.  With our schedule, we 
> will be lucky  to win one more game and that  may be
> a stretch (MSU desperate  now 

I still think we can get two more W's if we open up
the  offense. The defense was trying new things
(blitzes, bump coverages on the  fades, etc.) - let the
O try as well and we can get those W's or at least  set
up for next season. This season was going to be tough
anyway and  probably a loss -- but it's a total loss if
we keep failing to use it to  improve for next year.

> Of course, Fitz's job is secure for now  (anybody
> know length of his  
> contract??), but if the  team is performing at the 
> same level at midpoint next season,  
> then his future will really be  under serious

I want Fitz  on the sidelines in Evanston for a long
time. He is the right man for the  job. Yes, there will
be growing pains, but he gets at least five  years
before he's even thought of as "under review," IMO.
The  coordinators, OTOH, have really gotta show that
they deserve this freedom  Fitz is giving them and so
far they have not. I've at least seen Colby  trying new
things - I need to see McGee open up that offense.

>  will not suppress my  
> disappointment with the play of a Wildcat  team that
> had most starters  returning 

Well, losing a  head coach, offensive coordinator,
offensive leader and defensive leader  would be
devastating for most teams regardless of whether or
not the  rest of the team returned.

I'm willing to give Fitz a lot of slack and  think he's
doing most of what he should this year as a head coach
-  represent the program well, recruit hard, not have
his team quit and  motivate them through hard times.
But if he's giving his coordinators this  much freedom
(again, a good idea in most circumstances), they
really  need to show that they've earned it and Fitz'
biggest mistake may be not  having his coordinators
prove themselves worthy. If he needs to become  more
hands on, I'm sure he will, but I won't blame him for
trying the  other way and while I'm frustrated and
disappointed, there's no way his job  is even in
jeopardy of being in jeopary for a long time. This is
our guy  and I expect to see Coach Fitz in purple for
decades in Evanston.

GO  CATS!!!
-SjT

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

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