[NU Sports] Hankwitz bad recruiter?

[Jonathan Hodges]

This is completely based on my perception and what I've read (or haven't
read) in articles concerning NU since he came on board, so feel free to
take it with a grain of salt.

It seems like Hankwitz is an "X&O's" guy as I haven't heard his name
associated with recruiting all that much for the 'Cats.  I'm sure he does
recruit, due to NCAA restrictions on time to recruit and the number of
staff members, but I don't think he's a top recruiter for NU.

That could very well be a reason why Wisconsin dumped him (I had read there
were personality differences between he and Bielema, and he had been
co-coordinator with Doeren, now HC at NIU, and Bielema opted to keep Doeren
at the time), but each staff has its own needs in terms of recruiting
versus X&O/coaching assistants.  And recruiting isn't limited to one's area
of coaching responsibility and is usually divided geographically (e.g.
Hankwitz isn't necessarily responsible for bringing in overall defensive
players).  In the run up to the bowl, Fitz noted that LB coach Randy Bates
had responsibility for Texas (along with other areas) and his recruits
included the 5 Houston-ites on the roster for the game.

Even if he isn't a strong recruiter there may very well be a place on the
staff for him.  But, if Fitz chooses to make changes on the staff this
offseason (which many including myself hope he does) that may change the
complexion of the staff (e.g. current OL coach Adam Cushing is noted as a
top recruiter even if the OL has underperformed under his time at that
position).

It is an interesting and seemingly accurate observation concerning
Hankwitz.  In any case it will be interesting to see what happens/doesn't
happen with the NU staff over the next few weeks.

Jonathan

--
Jonathan Hodges
Contributor, HailToPurple
Web: http://www.hailtopurple.com/jhodges/
Twitter: @hailtopurple
Email: j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu



On Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 8:28 PM, <bwdolphin146 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> My Wisconsin friends (go Bucky pluck the ducks btw) say that Wisconsin
> booted Hank because he was a terrible recruiter. Anybody know if that is
> supposedly so or not?
>
> Brad Wilson
> Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
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