[NU Sports] Fitz and Penn State

[Jonathan Hodges]

I agree that PSU will likely stay inside the program, although they will
most likely interview external candidates as well.  And I don't blame them
for having Fitz on their radar.

But, I don't believe Fitz would jump, particularly due to his contract
signed before last season.  Although NU can never compete with the football
factories (of which Penn State is one) in terms of pay, Fitz's new contract,
which runs through 2015, pays him at least somewhat competitively - which
was a big problem at NU up until this point (he is most likely NU's highest
paid head coach in history by a good margin, even in inflation-adjusted
terms).  Also, Northwestern has shown a strong commitment to the program as
of late, including ponying up for assistants (another thing they used to
rarely do), pumping in marketing dollars, and, finally, showing that they're
going to push ahead with facilities improvements.  And, of course, Fitz is a
bleed-purple guy and truly believes NU is a place that can win on a
sustained basis and at the highest level.

If this were two years ago and most of the points listed above weren't true,
I'd say there is a decent chance he would be gone.  But everything seems to
be pointing up for Northwestern football and NU has taken care of Fitz
financially (which allowed him and his family to move into a large place in
Northfield over the summer), so it would take a LOT to get him to leave.

As anyone knows, anything is possible because money does indeed talk.  And
even though the coaching game is a business just like anything else, I
believe Fitz when he says it's more than just business at Northwestern for
him.

Jonathan

On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 8:18 AM, Beamsley, Jeff
<Jeff.Beamsley at covisint.com>wrote:

> Dennis,
>
> I don't think that Penn State is going to go outside to replace Joe.
>
> If they did, they would likely lose a significant number of the
> long-time assistants who are really running the program these days.
>
> You can certainly appreciate the ego around going out and bringing in
> someone like Fitz, but it's going to be Tom Bradley who is a PSU grad
> and has been on Joe's staff for 30+ years.  With someone like Bradley
> the program will not miss a beat.  Bradley has also already demonstrated
> his loyalty to PSU by turning down plenty of HC offers over the years.
> PSU does not want to become one of those schools that shakes up the
> football program every four years.  They love the tradition that Joe Pa
> (who was also an inside hire) brings.  Tom Bradley is the best choice to
> continue that tradition.
>
> The only scenario that I could see that would cause them to go outside
> is if the program appeared to be in serious decline.  That would call
> into question not only Joe but also the staff.  That doesn't appear to
> be the case.  They are a young team that has gotten better as the season
> progressed.  They rediscovered their running game. Freshman Silas Redd
> looks even better than Evan Royster.  They are bowl eligible with a
> winnable game against Indiana this weekend and a big game against MSU to
> finish out the season.  They will likely be 7-5 with a shot at 8-4.  Not
> bad for a team that started a freshman QB this year.
>
> The smart money is on Bradley and the rest of the talk about Fitz and
> others is just window dressing to satisfy the masses and massage the PSU
> ego.
>
> 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: Thursday, November 18, 2010 8:23 AM
> To: Northwestern Wildcats
> Subject: [NU Sports] Fitz and Penn State
>
> Here in Pennsylvania, the big topic surrounding Penn State football
> naturally is JoePa's retirement.  There is a lot of speculation that
> this
> year may be his last or at best, since he'll have a lot of returning
> players, next year.  Sadly, I have a lot of personal experience watching
> the
> elderly slide into disfunction, and I see the symptons in Paterno.  He
> has
> slowed considerably in the last year.  The top two replacement
> candidates
> seem to be Temple coach and PSU alum Al Golden, and, sorry to say, our
> very
> own Pat Fitzgerald.  I had lunch with a local sports writer this week,
> and
> he confirmed that Fitz is number one on Penn State's wish list.  I
> responded
> with, "Nah!  He bleeds purple, and he's only 35," but the writer knew I
> was
> whistling in the dark.  Sorry to say that Fitz is an excellent fit for
> Penn
> State football in too damn many ways, and the brain trust in State
> College
> knows it.
>
> Don't give us the fits, Fitz!  Stay!
>
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