[NU Sports] Fitz and Penn State

Thu Nov 18 08:55:24 CST 2010

Speaking of momentum, did you see the Trib article today?

They characterized NU as a program on the way up and Illinois as a
program on the way down.

Quite a change from the expectations that accompanied Zook to Illinois.

Zook has demonstrated that he can recruit great players.  But Fitz has
demonstrated that he can consistently build competitive teams who are
able to make up for any talent deficit with character, desire, and
intelligence.  I think that Fitz knows that this is his secret sauce and
that it REQUIRES the demanding academic standards of NU to work best.  I
don't think that he would be nearly as successful at Illinois as he is
at Northwestern and I think that he knows it.  At Illinois he is just
another hired gun.  At Northwestern, he can be sincerely idealistic.  At
NU, he has the opportunity to change kids lives in the same way that NU
changed his.  For a guy like Fritz, that opportunity is something money
can't buy.

Jeff

From: Jonathan Hodges [mailto:jonathanwhodges at gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2010 9:30 AM
To: Beamsley, Jeff
Cc: Dennis W. Brandt; Northwestern Wildcats
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Fitz and Penn State

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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