[NU Sports] may be a long time to break this streak

[Scott Zeller, M.D.]

Word is that Vandy is returning to Maryland as their defensive coordinator.

On Sat, Dec 31, 2011 at 2:16 PM, <neonrye at aol.com> wrote:

> Anybody think that Hank's time may be up--either by retirement or
> involuntarily?  If so, could Fitz lure his mentor, Vanderlinden, back to
> Evanston as Associate Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator?
>
> Vandy should be available, assuming PSU cleans house.
>
> Any thoughts, Coach Roy, as you have offered many insights about Coach RV
> over the years?
>
>
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "SjT \(Stephen J. Truog\)" <sjtruog at yahoo.com>
> Sender: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com
> Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2011 13:50:16
> To: Scott Zeller, M.D.<scottzel at gmail.com>; NUSPORTS<nwu-sports at tssi.com>
> Reply-To: "SjT \(Stephen J. Truog\)" <sjtruog at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] may be a long time to break this streak
>
> I know - it's a tough call. I certainly don't fault our AD for bragging up
> NU and moving us up in the bowl process -- he's doing an amazing job of
> promoting Northwestern football.
>
> But ... it was tough to watch our game and then swing over to sunny San
> Francisco, actual green turf and all the picturesque vistas and beatable
> UCLA team and not wonder "what if ..."
>
> I'm sure we will hear from those who attended the game today, but on TV at
> least, the Houston Meh Bowl had to rank low on NU's bowl experiences.
> Dallas at least had the historic Cotton Bowl setting, Detroit has a better
> stadium, San Fran would have had the sights, Phoenix has perfect weather
> this weekend, Tampa sounded like a first-rate experience, San Antonio was a
> nice setting with everything nearby, etc. etc. etc.
>
> As for next year, I'm pretty optimistic (and looking at our 2013 and 2014
> schedules - OUCH! - next year BETTER be our year!). We lose some big-time
> seniors, but I think we'll be fine on offense. And the defense has to get
> better? Right??? Plus, we had some special teams bright spots this year
> that were lacking in the past. And Fitz is the embodiment of all the class
> and enthusiasm I want from a head coach on the sideline.
>
> The problem comes in the rest of the staff -- I'm not so harsh on Hank
> because he's dealing with a tougher deck, but he needs to get better on
> playing aggressive and playing smart. We can't just sit back and wait for
> teams to make 3rd down after 3rd down on us. If we get beat, we get beat,
> but we gotta go out fighting and take our chances in smart ways. My beefs
> are more on the offense, where it really appeared today that we "out-thunk"
> ourselves -- our tempo push hurt us more than ATM with sloppy penalties and
> missed blocking assignments ... and the rotating QB gimmick was a bust. Put
> Colter in for a series or so, but alternating by play ruined any rhythm we
> had and made it predictable when Kain came in what the call would be -- at
> the end when we stuck with Persa consistently, he then developed a rhythm.
> We need to get our offensive game plan back to the Walker days where the
> spread was used to SPREAD the field -- swing the D side to side, test them
>  deep and dink them short ...  then get smart about finding the holes and
> mixing it up. Now it seems like we want to be more Oregon-lite with
> gimmicks and flash instead of smarts and substance.
>
> But I like our team for next year and our schedule is as good as it will
> be for a couple of years -- our staff needs to kick it in gear and get back
> to making smart game plans for NU football in 2012 - use or strengths to
> help us overcome the weaknesses NU will always have.
>
> Happy NU year!
> GO CATS!!!
> -SjT
>
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> STEPHEN J. TRUOG
> sjtruog at yahoo.com
> GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
> Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
> ________________________________
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>  From: "Scott Zeller, M.D." <scottzel at gmail.com>
> To: NUSPORTS <nwu-sports at tssi.com>
> Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2011 2:05 PM
> Subject: [NU Sports] may be a long time to break this streak
>
> Next year is a major rebuilding project as we lose a lot of seniors, then
> our schedule gets really tough for the foreseeable future. Not scheduling
> many cupcakes anymore. Add that to our admissions office preventing at
> least two four-star recruits from committing to the team recently. We might
> not be back to a bowl for a long time, much less win one.
>
> Watched in San Francisco in a bar owned by an NU alum, with more than 100
> purple in attendance. I'm sure our fans would have packed AT&T Park today
> on a beautiful sunny day on the Bay, for a very winnable game against UCLA.
> Thanks a lot Mr Phillips, for doing all you did to "move us up" away from
> SF to a very difficult opponent in a much less attractive setting, when we
> could have been spanking the Bruins instead and ending this streak. As it
> is, there is no evidence of any Illinois presence in town, and none of
> their fans care (most of my family are Illini and none have any interest in
> the game).
> _______________________________________________
> nwu-sports site list
> nwu-sports at tssi.com
> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports
> _______________________________________________
> nwu-sports site list
> nwu-sports at tssi.com
> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports
>