Opinions

stpaulcat

Senior
May 29, 2001
34,972
695
113
If you can never recover, many programs would be gone. You can recover. Takes time. And if change comes at that price, fitz will still have his recruiting network in place to start from.

Alternatively, keep JONS and watch defense turn to Colby Swiss Cheese. How will continued losing impact recruiting and the success of a program?
Odd, that I suddenly find myself agreeing with you.
 

stpaulcat

Senior
May 29, 2001
34,972
695
113
What makes you think the "new AD" will make good staffing decisions? He played football at Vandy for God's sake, not exactly a program with a history of winning coaches......
...says the "Northwestern" football fan.
 

TerraCat

Redshirt
Jun 19, 2001
1,254
30
48
Fitz is not going to fire JON, primarily that would mean he was wrong. To me it appears the defense is not aggressive and doesn’t attack. It looks as they are always reacting to the play. When doing so they are always steps behind or out of position.
It's way worse than that. People are not in a position to make plays. The scheming is completely inadequate. The offense sees opportunities and makes one block and the field is open to the goal line. This is not on the players. This is bad coaching.
 

timbfischer

Redshirt
Oct 22, 2009
1,185
6
0
I'm not suggesting they don't take it seriously, I just think inexperienced undergrads aren't going to put Fitz on the hot seat.....Teddy G they aren't.
Well, to be fair, Teddy G WAS once in their spots. As were a lot of great sports journalists who worked at The Daily. I can assure you they were not afraid to ask tough questions of coaches or players. If anything, the hubris of youth led them too far the other way at times.
 

JournCat

Junior
Aug 4, 2009
4,476
201
63
Well, to be fair, Teddy G WAS once in their spots. As were a lot of great sports journalists who worked at The Daily. I can assure you they were not afraid to ask tough questions of coaches or players. If anything, the hubris of youth led them too far the other way at times.

Most students have a tough time asking direct and difficult questions, and now there are no professional reporters to model how to do it. It’s so sad. We play in the third-largest market and no media is around to give a crap. I genuinely hope Fitz never takes the Bears job because I think he’d melt under the slightest real scrutiny and it would suck to hate him.
 
Nov 5, 2001
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Most students have a tough time asking direct and difficult questions, and now there are no professional reporters to model how to do it. It’s so sad. We play in the third-largest market and no media is around to give a crap. I genuinely hope Fitz never takes the Bears job because I think he’d melt under the slightest real scrutiny and it would suck to hate him.
I misread that you WANT him to go. I do not want that either, but yeah, they would roast him over an open fire
 

NUChicago

Sophomore
Aug 23, 2001
3,628
199
63
Most students have a tough time asking direct and difficult questions, and now there are no professional reporters to model how to do it. It’s so sad. We play in the third-largest market and no media is around to give a crap. I genuinely hope Fitz never takes the Bears job because I think he’d melt under the slightest real scrutiny and it would suck to hate him.
The Bears would be nuts to hire him and/or any NFL team. If he plays the CEO role the most important task is hiring/firing. Could you imagine him being taken to task on the SCORE 24/7? Fitz needs to do the right thing and make a change to his program, I am worried this won't happen quick enough.
 
Nov 5, 2001
18,494
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We have Turk, not surprisingly, to thank for that english malfunction. :)
I think it goes without saying - but I will anyway - that it's funny because his name is Colby (like cheese) and his defenses were full of holes like Swiss Cheese. I think everyone gets that. If his name was Deuteronomy, it wouldn't be funny to say Deuteronomy Swiss Cheese.

Although Deuteronomy would be a wonderful name for a coach of the "Cats"
 

zeek55

Sophomore
Nov 21, 2010
3,583
132
0
I think keeping JONS through the season is a good idea. This is a lost season. So let IO and MI destroy us. End with a terrible record and let fitz respond to everyone bringing back his own quote….and then ask him how it happened. I don’t see many BS excuses. Only major injury was porter and that alone was not a season changer.

Let JONS stay and empower the new AD in ways never expected. With growing unhappiness plus fitz stubborn snarkiness and some transfers and decommitments - fitz won’t be untouchable. The AD will be very able to get involved in staffing decisions. And fitz will have no choice - no longer desirable and nobody to blame but himself.

Use this list season to teach fitz some humility. Maybe it will make him the better HC over the long run, or maybe just an angry, bitter man. Either way is ok by me.
Plunging the program into a mini-Dark Ages helps nobody. It's hard to recover from stuff like that. A year of sporting the worst defense in FBS and with a coach that pretty much everyone is going to point to as the problem can hurt us for years.

We should want Fitz to make changes to get the defense working. If that involves meeting JON and telling him to change his schemes to more Hank-like schemes or demoting or firing him, that's what needs to happen.
 

freewillie07

Redshirt
Aug 22, 2017
5,169
16
23
They should try anyone at LB, freshman, walk ons, position change, it can’t get any worse. Maybe they’ll find some one who can play, it happened with Marty.
Can we please stop repeating this nonsense? Yes, I criticized the LBs in the instant reaction to MSU, but now after five games it is abundantly clear to anyone who has analyzed the film that the LBs are being put in positions to fail by the scheme, including but not limited to the D-line technique.
 
Nov 5, 2001
18,494
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Plunging the program into a mini-Dark Ages helps nobody. It's hard to recover from stuff like that. A year of sporting the worst defense in FBS and with a coach that pretty much everyone is going to point to as the problem can hurt us for years.

We should want Fitz to make changes to get the defense working. If that involves meeting JON and telling him to change his schemes to more Hank-like schemes or demoting or firing him, that's what needs to happen.
Even before the season, I was seeing BS like "well, it's an odd year, so Northwestern will suck". Right- because we sucked in 2019 and...2013? We've already given the talking heads what they need to say we can't win 2 years in a row, even though we have done so. Do we have to make it a chemical spill?
 

zeek55

Sophomore
Nov 21, 2010
3,583
132
0
Even before the season, I was seeing BS like "well, it's an odd year, so Northwestern will suck". Right- because we sucked in 2019 and...2013? We've already given the talking heads what they need to say we can't win 2 years in a row, even though we have done so. Do we have to make it a chemical spill?
Yeah I really don't get that stuff.

A problem like this can snowball to the point where it won't be an "only the odd year/off year" kind of thing.

There's not going to be a snapback from this without serious changes and fast.

Do we really want to test the waters in the portal era and with recruiting with such an obvious problem on one side of the ball.

Good luck to the coaches but it's going to be way too easy to negatively recruit against JON.
 

xxxbobxxx

Sophomore
Mar 12, 2005
10,789
134
43
Plunging the program into a mini-Dark Ages helps nobody. It's hard to recover from stuff like that. A year of sporting the worst defense in FBS and with a coach that pretty much everyone is going to point to as the problem can hurt us for years.

We should want Fitz to make changes to get the defense working. If that involves meeting JON and telling him to change his schemes to more Hank-like schemes or demoting or firing him, that's what needs to happen.

Should want to and the reality that is Fitz are mutually exclusive. Again, I have no control over it. Just looking for silver linings.
 

DocCat2

Redshirt
Aug 25, 2005
846
26
0
Both.

We don't have the horses.
The horses we do have are out of position much of the time. Slow to react. Not reading well. And whiffing on tackles. The scheme has issues too, but I think it's more lack of talent right now....
 
Nov 5, 2001
18,494
736
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Both.

We don't have the horses.
The horses we do have are out of position much of the time. Slow to react. Not reading well. And whiffing on tackles. The scheme has issues too, but I think it's more lack of talent right now....
I don't think anyone is arguing that there isn't a drop-off in talent. I won't name names because others have here and elsewhere; however, there is enough returning talent/incoming transfers that we shouldn't have gone from first to worst. Worse than worst. The last time I can remember a 3 game P5 stretch of defense this bad was after Persa went down in 2010.

Doc - here is a list of guys that we know have talent based on past performance: Bergin, Joseph, Miller, Tomi, Hampton, Mitchell. Not a long list but not zero. Let's limit it to these guys for now. As I see it, only Tomi has made any real impact. Bergin has a bunch of tackles but hasn't really impacted any of these (P5) games. These guys are good players. Did they forget how to play? I don't blame depth because we are getting crushed early - before they are worn down. Our P5 opponents are averaging nearly 30 points per first HALF.

Also - consider that two of the three teams that clobbered our defense are mediocre to poor teams. Michigan State appears to be legit. But...Duke?? Nebraska??

I don't believe any rational fan (are there any?) would say the defense should be as good as the last year(s). It just shouldn't be the absolute worst.