Stakes are too high. Braun/Lujan CANNOT lead us into the New Stadium world

[olsh]

Sadly, in the case of Braun, it's getting harder and harder to make the case that he deserves to usher in the new era of Northwestern football. The investment is too high and the cost to compete is too substantial to be left behind. The only thing worse than the high cost of competing is the complete waste of $ that leads to this substandard drivel.

As far as Lujan, I have to think if you're bringing in a young guy who IS NOT qualified for the job based on his resume, you're either getting a schematic edge that pushes us forward, or some sort of amazing recruiter. This guy is neither. We have no schematic edge, no recruiting edge, no experience edge, and no game management edge.

 

[TXnumbCAT]

He seems to be running the same boring *** offense that we had under McCall. Nothing innovative or interesting.

 

[CatManTrue]

He seems to be running the same boring *** offense that we had under McCall. Nothing innovative or interesting.

Yep. He had, for the FCS, superior talent due to both recruiting, system, and the development program in place.

Here he has inferior talent and no special offense to bridge the gap… even against Tulane

Lujan is no whiz kid. But he is cheap and, like Braun, he’ll be gone after the season.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

We’re not gonna fire him after one game and there is no need to make a final decision after a road loss to what is likely a top 25 team and playoff contender… but without substantial improvement in short order we can pivot all discussion to who we’ll get out of the carousel, because the constant lack of competitiveness and overmatched roster is unacceptable

 

[olsh]

Yep. He had, for the FCS, superior talent due to both recruiting, system, and the development program in place.

Here he has inferior talent and no special offense to bridge the gap… even against Tulane

Lujan is no whiz kid. But he is cheap and, like Braun, he’ll be gone after the season.

Makes you wonder if these two years with no stadium were punt years anyway. I guess we'll see when we see who the candidates for the HC and staff are this offseason?

 

[olsh]

We’re not gonna fire him after one game and there is no need to make a final decision after a road loss to what is likely a top 25 team and playoff contender… but without substantial improvement in short order we can pivot all discussion to who we’ll get out of the carousel, because the constant lack of competitiveness and overmatched roster is unacceptable

Of course not. There's no benefit to replacing him now. THAT would be embarrassing. There's no candidate to replace him on staff. But the bad decision making, terrible OC hire, lack of schematic ingenuity ...... it would take a near-impossible turnaround to think otherwise at the end of the season.

The $ spent on the program CANNOT lead to this brand of football. You can be boring. You can be 3-9. But you can't be boring AND 3-9 and hope to survive.

 

[DarthCat]

The lawsuits are over. The facilities are 12 months away from being among the best in the nation. The disadvantage we were at with NIL is largely mitigated now with team revenue sharing. The transfer rules have been relaxed.

Braun came in in impossible circumstances and earned a chance to show what he can do with the program. Didn’t hurt that nobody else wanted the job under Gragg, but the circumstances that caused that lack of interest have changed completely.

it’s time for the new AD and GM to rebuild the program under the new, vastly improved reality, we have now vs. 2+ years ago. No idea if they can. But what we’re seeing today is that this program is an absolute mess and the coaches on the field are not able to prepare the players they are able to land to even compete.

 

[olsh]

He seems to be running the same boring *** offense that we had under McCall. Nothing innovative or interesting.

Yep. Feel like making an FCS hire just makes no sense for someone who doesn't bring that much to the table.

 

[Curdog7]

Yep. He had, for the FCS, superior talent due to both recruiting, system, and the development program in place.

Here he has inferior talent and no special offense to bridge the gap… even against Tulane

Lujan is no whiz kid. But he is cheap and, like Braun, he’ll be gone after the season.

This is it. He had superior talent when he was at FCS. Obviously not the case at NU. No innovation I can see and I can’t imagine he brings a lot to the table from a recruiting standpoint. Just a terrible hire

 

[olsh]

The lawsuits are over. The facilities are 12 months away from being among the best in the nation. The disadvantage we were at with NIL is largely mitigated now with team revenue sharing. The transfer rules have been relaxed.

Braun came in in impossible circumstances and earned a chance to show what he can do with the program. Didn’t hurt that nobody else wanted the job under Bragg, but the circumstances that caused that lack of interest have changed completely.

it’s time for the new AD and GM to rebuild the program under the new, vastly improved reality, we have now vs. 2+ years ago. No idea if they can. But what we’re seeing today is that this program is an absolute mess and the coaches on the field are not able to prepare the players they are able to land to even compete.

Fair.
I mean, let's be realistic .... the fact we had one amazing season in the 3 after Schill and Gragg torched the program ... is probably amazing?

But we have to move forward and show SOME justification for the investment in the program. This is the type program you get when you're using your practice field to play Big Ten football.

 

[MCC_Cat]

Stone looks like a stone statue. I thought he could run a bit. If he can't throw or run find someone else.

 

[Jaguar 88]

He seems to be running the same boring *** offense that we had under McCall. Nothing innovative or interesting.

Thing is McCall had real talent to work with. We are talent deficient as well. We have been picking up other program's QB scraps since Thorson left. The overall talent isn't there either. We are supposed to be excited over these 3 star recruits, which just means they are decent enough to even make a team's roster? The NU administration and Ryan are coming off as idiots with regards to football. Nice, shiny new facilities rank real low on recruits' reasons for choosing the program that they did. We will have top notch facilities for a losing program. The kids don't care where they play, as long as the program can help land them a NFL contract. Hire a great coach and the program might be able to turn it around. The NU administration better wise up fast. Football yes or Football no. Football maybe, you get squashed like a grape.

 

[xxxbobxxx]

We’re not gonna fire him after one game and there is no need to make a final decision after a road loss to what is likely a top 25 team and playoff contender… but without substantial improvement in short order we can pivot all discussion to who we’ll get out of the carousel, because the constant lack of competitiveness and overmatched roster is unacceptable

I’m willing to be there will be plenty of reasons before the season ends. This will be tough for even the every graduates and gets a participation trophy crew.

we have terrible coaches recruiting and developing mostly terrible players while we spend lots of money. Give it to MBB and bring back the marshmallows for the new stadium.

and Pat Ryan, for all his business acumen, is terrible at getting his dollars’ worth in sports. He fits in perfect to become the next mccaskey like person to run the bears…

 

[MCC_Cat]

Covey has hands of Stone, and Preston throws a ball of Stone.

 

[CatManTrue]

Way to go Preston! Treat the football like a loat of bread.

When’s the last time we had a QB commit 5 Turnovers?

 

[AdamOnFirst]

I’m willing to be there will be plenty of reasons before the season ends. This will be tough for even the every graduates and gets a participation trophy crew.

we have terrible coaches recruiting and developing mostly terrible players while we spend lots of money. Give it to MBB and bring back the marshmallows for the new stadium.

and Pat Ryan, for all his business acumen, is terrible at getting his dollars’ worth in sports. He fits in perfect to become the next mccaskey like person to run the bears…

Pat Ryan has spent about $1.1 billion dollars building facilities that can’t equal what $20 million in NIL over that same time period would have accomplished.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Of course not. There's no benefit to replacing him now. THAT would be embarrassing. There's no candidate to replace him on staff. But the bad decision making, terrible OC hire, lack of schematic ingenuity ...... it would take a near-impossible turnaround to think otherwise at the end of the season.

The $ spent on the program CANNOT lead to this brand of football. You can be boring. You can be 3-9. But you can't be boring AND 3-9 and hope to survive.

I don’t disagree. I don’t accept being uncompetitive game after game, as they have been. Tulane may actually be quite good so perhaps we’ll be surprised between now and the end of the year… but that would require a major reversal of the existing trend. Without that reversal we need to clean house on the coaching staff and the new coach should clean house in several positions rooms.

 

[prez77]

I wasn't that impressed with Tulane. Lots of picks on weak throws. They got the long TD on the keeper when our D looked gassed. Their offense didn't have any other really long plays. We weren't good.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

I wasn't that impressed with Tulane. Lots of picks on weak throws. They got the long TD on the keeper when our D looked gassed. Their offense didn't have any other really long plays. We weren't good.

I am interested in their next few games. I’d agree their offense looked just fine. Definitely some quick guys with wiggle that are better than anybody we have, but I’m not sure if they’re incredible. I think our defense is halfway okay though, so still maybe decent, but not scary (vs the P4, in the AAC they might shred people).

their defense DID look impressive. Even though it’s hard to parse out what was because we are dreadful and what’s because they’re good, their DBs were impressive, even against our poor WRs. They consistently DONINATED our WRs like a good P4 player should against middling G5 talent. We definitely have bottom half G5 talent out there, which would lead me to believe Tulane may have good P5 level players on the outside.

 

[hdhntr1]

Yep. Feel like making an FCS hire just makes no sense for someone who doesn't bring that much to the table.

He was brought in to be DC and not HC

Pat Ryan has spent about $1.1 billion dollars building facilities that can’t equal what $20 million in NIL over that same time period would have accomplished.

The NIL would be gone while the facilities will be there for 50 years

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Fair.
I mean, let's be realistic .... the fact we had one amazing season in the 3 after Schill and Gragg torched the program ... is probably amazing?

But we have to move forward and show SOME justification for the investment in the program. This is the type program you get when you're using your practice field to play Big Ten football.

In retrospect, the good season after Fitz’s dismissal delayed the inevitable of finding a qualified Coaching staff.

I always felt it was the players “ use against the world” approach that drove that season.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

He was brought in to be DC and not HC

The NIL would be gone while the facilities will be there for 50 years

Im in favor of more money to deserving players and coaches and less on Edifice Rex.
Looks like we whiffed on coaches and players tho. Did any of the transfers stand out?

 

[AdamOnFirst]

He was brought in to be DC and not HC

The NIL would be gone while the facilities will be there for 50 years

He could have kept his cash and stuck it in a CD and the interest alone would fund a dominant war chest. There was no way to anticipate that the practice facility would sadly immediately become mostly useless, but the stadium was immediately mostly a waste from a player recruitment perspective. Yes, I get that the point of the stadium wasn’t to be a recruiting draw. I also understand our backers have gotten more serious about NIL… which makes the lack of talent even more damning to the coaches

 

[olsh]

He was brought in to be DC and not HC

The NIL would be gone while the facilities will be there for 50 years

Was referring to Lujan as OC in this case.
I think Braun would have been a good DC, but that's an alternate timeline we'll sadly never know.

 

[julescat]

There were plenty around who thought NU should not hire Braun after his first season. He did a nice job as an interim coach. There was not nearly enough reason to just hand him the job knowing what was planned in the program with the stadium, etc.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Kalen DeBoer is gonna be available, he might be a good get

 

[bringbacktherantboard]

In retrospect, the good season after Fitz’s dismissal delayed the inevitable of finding a qualified Coaching staff.

I always felt it was the players “ use against the world” approach that drove that season.

Another thing different about that season was Skip Holtz.

 

[Baz = Heisman]

Another thing different about that season was Skip Holtz.

My buddy brought this up today. Skip might have been the secret weapon, honestly.

 

[Fanaticat98]

Kalen DeBoer is gonna be available, he might be a good get

I don’t know taking about someone who seems to be driving the most dominant modern college football Dynasty into the Gulf of America.

 

[CatManTrue]

I don’t know taking about someone who seems to be driving the most dominant modern college football Dynasty into the Gulf of America.

Agreed. Plus he wouldn’t appreciate how difficult admissions would make his job.

NU made Tulane look like Michigan today. They dominated our boys. Imagine what will happen when we face the real deal.

 

[Curdog7]

There were plenty around who thought NU should not hire Braun after his first season. He did a nice job as an interim coach. There was not nearly enough reason to just hand him the job knowing what was planned in the program with the stadium, etc.

Braun was a nice stop gap for the stadium renovation period (he was cheap). Never having been a head coach is too big a detriment in football. I wish him well in his future endeavors.

 

[hdhntr1]

Was referring to Lujan as OC in this case.
I think Braun would have been a good DC, but that's an alternate timeline we'll sadly never know.

Same difference only different

 

[hdhntr1]

There were plenty around who thought NU should not hire Braun after his first season. He did a nice job as an interim coach. There was not nearly enough reason to just hand him the job knowing what was planned in the program with the stadium, etc.

I don't think that there was really any choice, They had made overatures at a lot of guys and were rebuffed

 

[hdhntr1]

My buddy brought this up today. Skip might have been the secret weapon, honestly.

He may have helped but the secret weapon was that Fitz had put things together to win, Got new DC, added a new QB and Henning as a WR. When he was dismissed things started to fall apart but there was still enough holding everything together to get the job done for one year,

 

[hdhntr1]

Agreed. Plus he wouldn’t appreciate how difficult admissions would make his job.

NU made Tulane look like Michigan today. They dominated our boys. Imagine what will happen when we face the real deal.

Glad I did not pony up for Wrigley tickets as well. Don't need to revisit that house of horrors again

 

[hdhntr1]

Braun was a nice stop gap for the stadium renovation period (he was cheap). Never having been a head coach is too big a detriment in football. I wish him well in his future endeavors.

It isn't just that he had never been a HC. Plenty of Coordinators make the step up to HC when they are ready. He really had not even had the chance to get acclimated to the role of DC at this level

 

[Jaguar 88]

He could have kept his cash and stuck it in a CD and the interest alone would fund a dominant war chest. There was no way to anticipate that the practice facility would sadly immediately become mostly useless, but the stadium was immediately mostly a waste from a player recruitment perspective. Yes, I get that the point of the stadium wasn’t to be a recruiting draw. I also understand our backers have gotten more serious about NIL… which makes the lack of talent even more damning to the coaches

Facilities rank low on why recruits choose the school they go to. Hiring a truly innovative coach would have gone a long way in building the program up. Unless NU hires a guy like Cignetti or Locksley from Maryland, they are going to be quintessential bottom dwellers for the foreseeable future. No kid worth a damn as a player will want to come here with such a vanilla offense. The administration really needs to think about lowering the academic requirements as well. There is no way this program will be competitive with this 3 star recruit garbage as things stand now.

 

[Jaguar 88]

I don't think that there was really any choice, They had made overatures at a lot of guys and were rebuffed

My uncle turned them down way back when. The issue was the academic standards. Earle knew those would be a major impediment in recruiting. I think that is the main reason they can't get top coaches in Evanston.

 

[hdhntr1]

My uncle turned them down way back when. The issue was the academic standards. Earle knew those would be a major impediment in recruiting. I think that is the main reason they can't get top coaches in Evanston.

That was a big reason Fitz was so important to the program, He stayed even when he supposedly had other opportunities and built a successful program in spit of those academic constraints

 

[CatManTrue]

Glad I did not pony up for Wrigley tickets as well. Don't need to revisit that house of horrors again

Hopefully we finally get an upset victory in Wrigley this year.