[NU Sports] Fitz and Penn State

[Dennis W. Brandt]

Bradley surely will be considered, and I, too, thought they would stay in 
house.  But now there are rumblings that Penn State thinks the football 
program has stagnated and needs a jolt to lift them into Ohio State-like 
consistency.  They certainly have not been among the elite of college 
football for some time now.  I agree that bringing in an outsider would 
likely cause a flight of coaches, but a head coach often changes his staff 
anyway.  I don't know if the sports writer is correct, but he attends every 
game and speaks to coaches and players both on and off the record.  If PSU 
does pursue Fitz, PLEASE let him turn them down.  He would have a much 
happier, lower pressure life if he remains in Evanston.  And if he were ever 
to win a national championship, he would be deemed the greatest coach in 
college football history.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Beamsley, Jeff" <Jeff.Beamsley at covisint.com>
To: "Dennis W. Brandt" <tbng at comcast.net>; "Northwestern Wildcats" 
<nwu-sports at tssi.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2010 9:18 AM
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Fitz and Penn State


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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