[NU Sports] Now THAT was a game!

[Jonathan Hodges]

One thing that is missing from both of your arguments is player development
in college.  Raw talent is one thing, and that's the primary input for the
"star ratings" since it's usually pretty easy to spot college-level talent
at the high school level and players can get by on that raw talent alone.
The thing is, those star ratings are based on the opinions of a select few,
none of which have actually seen enough of these players in person to make a
good comparison.  What you end up with is a bunch of players who have
collegiate talent but are broken into tiers (2-5 stars) based on the opinion
of some scouts, some video, stats - a lot of which are based on how they
have translated that talent into the game of football during high school
(when they are 16-18 years old).

College is a place where people develop academically and socially, and
athletically is no different.  Much of the development of football players
comes in college where they hit the weight room full time, get coached up
more than they ever were in high school, and start to reach the height of
physical development.  Good coaches and staffs take that raw talent and
develop/coach them into good football players no matter how many stars they
came in with.

The traditional "football powers" can reload so easily because they either
bring in recruits who are ahead of the curve in their development and have
more football skills than others as underclassmen or are close enough to be
developed quickly.  Yes, there are really special athletes who can come in
and set the world on fire, but there aren't as many of them as the star
ratings make it seem.

Everyone else must bring in a bunch of average-development level guys and
develop them as quickly as possible.  I believe this is a piece that Coach
Walker did well at NU, bringing in relatively unheralded recruits and
developing them to get consistent results on the field (see the '03-'05
seasons and even some recent years under Fitz with Walker recruits
playing).  Fitz looks like he will continue this trend, and he's helped by
the fact that he was one of those recruits that wasn't highly sough-after
but was the best defensive player in the nation two years running.

I believe Fitz is bringing in a few more polished recruits, which definitely
helps with a roster limited by 85 scholarships meaning that every team needs
to play underclassmen, but overall the talent level is there for NU to
compete.  The key is developing a team of guys who can beat other teams on
par with NU and play the teams with "better talent" close.

One telling stat is the close games that NU has won - meaning that all of
that preparation has helped NU beat a team that is on par with the 'Cats.
NU is 24-6 in the last 30 games decided by 7 points or less, showing that
they can persevere in the end.

In summary:

You can count me in the crowd that doesn't put much stock in the star
ratings for recruits since development is what matters in the college game.
I believe Walker and now Fitz do a great job at developing players and that
makes NU competitive with anyone.  Hopefully we see that pay even more
dividends shortly.

Jonathan

On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 9:13 AM, Beamsley, Jeff
<Jeff.Beamsley at covisint.com>wrote:

> If you are speaking in the Biblical context, yes I am a fan of David.
> The point of that story was that you don't have to become Goliath in
> order to defeat him.
>
> The same thing is true here at Northwestern.  We don't have to become
> Ohio State in order to beat them.
>
> That was also the point of my previous post.  Competition isn't only
> about raw ability, otherwise why play the game?  You can just have
> everyone pull out their Rivals ratings, add them up, and the group with
> the higher score gets the W.  I understand that this is a difficult
> concept for you to gasp, but it is not theoretical.  You only have to
> look at the results.  At least in the case of Northwestern, Goliath does
> not win 98% of the time.
>
> I suggest that the secret to NU's success is our belief that team play
> can overcome individual weakness.
>
> As far as your compliment - "well coached, pretty good players working
> their hearts out"; it has a hint of condescension, particularly in the
> context of this discussion about "talent".  Perhaps that was unintended,
> but the subtext I read was "pretty good players but you're still no Ohio
> State".  I disagree.  The way this team is playing right now, if Ohio
> State were on the schedule next week, we'd beat them too.
>
> To that end, what Fitz IS saying is that the '95 season is his
> expectation for every team every year.  It just depends on how hard the
> players and staff are willing to work and how much of themselves are
> they willing to invest in becoming a team that believes it can win.
>
> National Championships are catching lightening in a bottle for everyone.
> In the past ten years (BCS era), OSU is the only BT team with a NC in
> 2003.  From 1989 - 1999, Michigan was the only BT team and they shared
> that title with Nebraska in 1997.  But you can bet that winning a NC is
> one of the goals of OSU every year, why is it any less realistic for NU?
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
>
>
>
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> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com]
> On Behalf Of Dennis W. Brandt
> Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 6:32 AM
> To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Now THAT was a game!
>
> Re: [NU Sports] Now THAT was a game!<If it really was just about talent,
> how do explain the success this group of too slow, too small, too smart,
> too lightly recruited kids had in November? They beat teams filled with
> blue chip recruits. Every team they beat has lower academic standards
> for their athletes. Every team they beat puts way more people in the
> stands than we do and probably has better facilities too.
>
> Athletic competition isn't about talent?  That will come as a shock to
> every coach in the world.  You have a David syndrome.  Everyone loves to
> see underdog David put it to big, nasty Goliath.  Problem is, Goliath
> wins 98% of the time.  As I said in my original e-mail on this topic,
> the NU football team is staffed by "well coached, pretty good players
> working their hearts out."  Last time I checked, that was a complimentt
> In NU football history, "pretty good" has been a rarity, so it looks
> good by comparison.  We will win more games yet with well coached,
> HIGHLY TALENTED players working their hearts out.  We cannot rely on the
> 1995 dream team as an end-all standard.  That was our Goliath year, and
> you don't get many of them.  Fitz clearly has recruited better talent.
> If he hadn't, we would have been 2 - 9 this season.  He just as clearly
> needs to continue the climb up the talent pool if we are to be a
> contender every season.  I don't question that is his intent, nor do I
> doubt that if he had an interested stud running back on the academic
> cusp, he would fight like hell to get him.  The way to build a fan base
> and draw more press coverage is to enter every season as a strong BCS
> contender.  In other words, EXPECT VICTORY in reality, not just as a
> rah-rah slogan.  If we don't, why set foot on the football field?  I
> have no doubt Fitz would agree.
>
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