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techtim72

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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.
 
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hdhntr1

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WestCoastWildcat said:
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.
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One of his Alma Matters. He was also at IL
 
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hdhntr1

All-Conference
Sep 5, 2006
37,200
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techtim72 said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.

en.wikipedia.org

Northwestern University Lakefill - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
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NJCat

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JustGary said:
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.
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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.
 
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docrugby1

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Jun 16, 2010
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hdhntr1 said:
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
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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
 
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Catreporter

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Sep 4, 2007
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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
 
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CatManTrue

CatManTrue

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Catreporter said:
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
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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 goyeo.com
 
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hdhntr1

All-Conference
Sep 5, 2006
37,200
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docrugby1 said:
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
Click to expand...
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
 
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Hungry Jack

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Hungry Jack

All-Conference
Nov 17, 2008
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techtim72 said:
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.
Click to expand...
Arnold Weber was hired the year I came in . He was a fundraiser, and he had a lot of work to do at NU.
 
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docrugby1

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hdhntr1 said:
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
Click to expand...
I do not know if you saw UCLA run out to the court before the game, but there were 4' x 8' boards over the ice from the runway to the floor. UCLA players missed the planks and fell in a mass pile on the ice.
Jim Sarno and Jerry Sutton were 2 of the centers but the 3rd escapes me. Dan Davis , Stirling Burke and Don Adams were forwards. Dale Kelly and Terry Gamber were the guards.
Another game that stands out was NU v Kentucky at McGaw. Watching Rupp's warm up drills was like watching the Globetrotters. Ironically, in a tie game, NU took the last shot and lost the game.
 
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hdhntr1

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docrugby1 said:
I do not know if you saw UCLA run out to the court before the game, but there were 4' x 8' boards over the ice from the runway to the floor. UCLA players missed the planks and fell in a mass pile on the ice.
Jim Sarno and Jerry Sutton were 2 of the centers but the 3rd escapes me. Dan Davis , Stirling Burke and Don Adams were forwards. Dale Kelly and Terry Gamber were the guards.
Another game that stands out was NU v Kentucky at McGaw. Watching Rupp's warm up drills was like watching the Globetrotters. Ironically, in a tie game, NU took the last shot and lost the game.
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I think the KY game was before my time
 
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Catreporter

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Sep 4, 2007
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We are 1-14 vs. Kentucky all time. We played them a lot back in the day. Last time was 1977 and McKinney led NU to its only win, 89-77, over a Kentucky team that had won the NIT the year before (when that was still a meaningful tournament). Don't think we've played them since.
 
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No Chores

Senior
Jul 2, 2006
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hdhntr1 said:
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.

en.wikipedia.org

Northwestern University Lakefill - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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Correct. The lakefill campus was being created while I was at NU, but here were no buildings on it when I graduated in 1965. Even when I went back for my 60th reunion in 2025 I was amazed to see what the lakefill campus had become. Of course I was equally amazed when I went back for my annual visits in previous years.
 
CatManTrue

CatManTrue

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Hungry Jack said:
He’s 2-28 there. He’s following grandpa’s footsteps.
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John Pont’s record isn’t just 2-28: he’s gone 1-9, 1-9, 0-10 with a number of UGLY blowouts to mid-tier D3 teams.

He’s as bad a football mind as his grandfather, if not somehow worse.

Thankfully D3 football players remain unpaid, and thus “pure blood” collegiate athletes. Right @bringbacktherantboard ?

2025 Football Schedule - Oberlin College Athletics

The official 2025 Football schedule for the Oberlin College Yeomen and Yeowomen
goyeo.com goyeo.com
 
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