[NU Sports] 4th Quarter

[Jeff Beamsley]

Dennis wrote <snip>

What are the plans to make Northwestern football perennially competitive? 
Would a new stadium attract a few more recruits and fans?  Reduce entrance
requirements for a few players as long as the university offers a guided plan
for their academic success?  We all get queasy thinking about that, but we
could turn it into a positive by selecting motivated kids.

Gary Barnett created a monster in 1995/96.  Now we expect victory.  He got us
out of the lake-the-post era.  Walker gave us one exciting season and a few
decent ones that gave us hope for a future that now seems to be going in the
opposite direction.  Now, we have to take the next step up.  That starts with
recruiting. 


==========================

What Barnett proved is that you CAN compete without having the best athletes.
What he also proved is that you CAN compete without changing the character of
your institution.  What RW proved is that our kids are quick learners and
hard workers who respond to the challenge to be the best.  Programs win by
playing to their strengths.  At UoM and OSU, it is big enrollments, jock
majors, big budgets, big stadiums, and the best athletes.  At NU it is
motivation and innovation.  

You appear fixated on four star recruits as the route to victory.  You don't
have to look any further than MSU or ND to see that better athletes don't
always translate into better teams.  This year is filled with examples of
better teams beating better athletes.  We just happened not to get it done on
Saturday because we are still a young team that doesn't yet completely
believe that they can win.  Run that same game again next year with more
seasoned leaders on offense and defense and NU comes away with a win.  

What we've seen at NU is the impact that creative coaches can have on a
program where all of the kids are smart overachievers.  Barnett proved that
kids who really believe can win.  I wasn't a big RW fan, but he had the guts
to install a trick offense to make up for having no defense, and won the BT.
He also sent more NU players to the NFL than any previous coach.  Only time
will tell whether Fitz can demonstrate similar innovation and motivation.  I
personally think that as his recruits start to play, you will see an up tick
in athleticism.  We'll have to see if he can also attract the sort of coaches
needed to get kids to the next level athletically, and build offenses and
defenses that players believe they can win with.

Finally, you have to define what you mean by perennially competitive.  

IMHO, for NU that means going bowling in all but rebuilding years, competing
for the BT championship in those years when we have a senior QB, and every
decade or so when the planets align, having a top ten team that has a shot at
the BCS.  That seems a fine goal with me because I'm proud that our
institution is committed to graduate all of our kids with real degrees and
won't admit a kid who hasn't demonstrated similar academic commitment.

For UoM and OSU, it means going bowling every year, competing for the BT
championship every year, and competing for a NC those years when you have a
junior/senior QB.  It also means graduating fewer kids, having a lot more
leave early for the NFL, and providing some only the appearance of an
education rather than the substance of one.  

If you really would like to remake NU in the image of UoM or OSU, I suggest a
much easier path.  Just start rooting for them.

Jeff