Embarrassing...

[techtim72]

Not expert but I don't think that NU was in nearly as good a financial shape in the '70's as it is now. Same thing on the academic excellence front. Certainly a highly respected school and a Midwest Ivy, but the reputation of its grad schools in particular grew in later years. So I suspect Strotz had some logic to his penny pinching.

NU also played big programs in Evanston and in the late '60's and early '70's plenty of top tier programs came to Evanston. The crowds on average were far larger than recent years. Even though Agase had the two big years we also suffered plenty of 50-14 type games over my four years there. Big Ten teams did not play the Eastern Illinois' of the football world. NU was looked at as the perfect opponent to get a little competition but not too much.

 

[hdhntr1]

I was there ‘71-‘75 when NU had a decent program under Alex Agase until he left in ‘72 for his alma mater Purdue. (Alex was born and raised in Evanston.) Then NU Pres. Strotz was not a fan of sports and brought in John Pont and the program began its long slide until Gary Barnett and Randy Walker brought it back to life. I’m pretty sure we had the worst record in nation during the period between post-Alex and pre-Barney. Pretty brutal.

One of his Alma Matters. He was also at IL

 

[hdhntr1]

Not expert but I don't think that NU was in nearly as good a financial shape in the '70's as it is now. Same thing on the academic excellence front. Certainly a highly respected school and a Midwest Ivy, but the reputation of its grad schools in particular grew in later years. So I suspect Strotz had some logic to his penny pinching.

NU also played big programs in Evanston and in the late '60's and early '70's plenty of top tier programs came to Evanston. The crowds on average were far larger than recent years. Even though Agase had the two big years we also suffered plenty of 50-14 type games over my four years there. Big Ten teams did not play the Eastern Illinois' of the football world. NU was looked at as the perfect opponent to get a little competition but not too much.

I believe that we had recently used a big portion of the endowment in the creation of the lakefill. It was done for 1962-1964.

Northwestern University Lakefill - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Fanaticat98]

This is some great history, guys!

 

[Hungry Jack]

The French would say that Pont was a bridge from relevance to the Dark Ages

He tried to be the Pont of no return for football at NU

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

This is some great history, guys!

It pays to have a lot of fossils on this board!

 

[NJCat]

That is why Strotz hired Dennis Green, not to save the football program but to regain lost university donations. The fact that Green was a half decent coach was just an unexpected result. Green was promised that the University would give him a bigger budget with better facilities. When Strotz wouldn’t do so, Green abruptly left and never looked back.

I played a pick-up game against Green in Patton Gym. Dude had a big tush which he used to back-down weak undergrads for easy lay-ups.

 

[ToledoCat]

Thanks for the history. The Lakefill was an amazing success.

 

[docrugby1]

I was there from 68-73. Top seasons were 70 and 71. Agase was a very good coach, Campus protests led to Rocky Miller leaving and after 15 months Strotz was elevated to President in 1970 NU had always been tight witht he budget (that is how they lost Parsegian) but nothing compared to what Strotz did. Strotz was the one that forced out Agase with the limited (read that non existent) support for the program a year after he was promoted,

Much of Pont's success at Indiana was with players brought in by previous coach and after that glorious season it slid back down. That said he was successful there, Not sure if he realized how bad Strotz was or how much he was a willing participant but he was a big part of the destruction of the FB He did not take over the AD position till a couple years after he started as Head FB Coach(but while he was still HC). Unfortunately BB also suffered ( but now where near as badly) Don't remember why Glass left but he was there my first year and was a reasonably good HC

As I recall, Larry Glass resigned and said " If I couldn't win with this team, it was time to go" NU had very good teams in the late 60's but probably underachieved. NU actually had the #1 recruiting class in the nation in '63 or '64. Some of the players from that era included Jim Pitts, Jim Burns, Ron Koslickl, Walt Tiberi ,Mike Weaver, Don Adams, Dale Kelly, Terry Gamber, Dan Davis

Only one team from the B1G made the NCAA Tournament during that time period

The most memorable game from '69 was against UCLA((Lou Alcindor) at the Chicago Stadium. NU had a 10 point lead at the half but could not hold on. NU used 3 centers to pound LA , but shot poorly in the second half.
UCLA featured Alcindor, Wicks ,Rowe, Shackleford, and others, later winning the National Championship

 

[Catreporter]

Pont was also plagued by a black boycott which had begun against him at Indiana. Ironically, as an undergrad and football star at Miami Ohio, he led campus pushback against a Ku Klux Klan appearance on that far southern Ohio campus

 

[CatManTrue]

Pont was also plagued by a black boycott which had begun against him at Indiana. Ironically, as an undergrad and football star at Miami Ohio, he led campus pushback against a Ku Klux Klan appearance on that far southern Ohio campus

John Pont’s grandson, John Pont, has been head coach at D3 Oberlin College since 2023.

John Pont - Football Coach - Oberlin College Athletics

Recruiting Areas Quarterbacks & Offensive Line John Pont will enter his third season as the Oberlin College Head Football Coach in 2025, after being hired in

goyeo.com

 

[hdhntr1]

As I recall, Larry Glass resigned and said " If I couldn't win with this team, it was time to go" NU had very good teams in the late 60's but probably underachieved. NU actually had the #1 recruiting class in the nation in '63 or '64. Some of the players from that era included Jim Pitts, Jim Burns, Ron Koslickl, Walt Tiberi ,Mike Weaver, Don Adams, Dale Kelly, Terry Gamber, Dan Davis

Only one team from the B1G made the NCAA Tournament during that time period

The most memorable game from '69 was against UCLA((Lou Alcindor) at the Chicago Stadium. NU had a 10 point lead at the half but could not hold on. NU used 3 centers to pound LA , but shot poorly in the second half.
UCLA featured Alcindor, Wicks ,Rowe, Shackleford, and others, later winning the National Championship

I was at that game as well at the Stadium. What happened was Alcindor fouled out the three centers and then we could not stay with them