Do you mean to say that I could be right? Mark it on your calendars. October 10, 2022.
You're both in agreement. Astrocat's saying he could accept an occasional stinker of a season, but follows that 3 out of 4 is a pattern of failure. For me, a concurrent issue is losing to run-of-the-mill FCS and MAC-like schools (e.g.., Southern Illinois, Miami (OH), Akron, Illinois State, Northern Illinois, Army). The Wildcat's talent is not at Ohio State or Michigan's level, but it is better than the mid-majors. With all the success and recent and ongoing investments in the program, the Wildcats shouldn't be a consistently losing or struggling to put away these mid-majors. I'm concerned that the lack of innovation is going to leave the Wildcats lost in the Bigger Ten.
Yes. I remember the dark ages. Guys who were game enough. (I knew a few.), but nowhere near today's talent. I remember several walk-ons who did not play high school football. (To be truthful, I don't think these guys made it out of summer camp) And I remember the weight room. Again, different ball game today. But clearly something is wrong today, and I believe it starts with cultivating a quarterback who is mobile enough and accurate enough to keep the defense honest.
I think it would make a very interesting case study on leadership. I know Fitz has read a lot on the subject. Is there a point when any organization needs fresh leadership? Fitz is not old but he has been head coach for a long time. Who on the staff challenges him? With very little turnover, who is bringing energy and new ideas? To whom is he accountable with Phillips gone and Morty retiring? It would be very understandable if he were not receptive to change given his success and the low expectations for the program. I am guessing if he had to start over at a new program, there would be a different energy and focus. Awful seasons are not tolerated at top programs but he has faced almost no scrutiny. If nobody you respect is telling you things have to change, does the program have to hit rock bottom before changes are made? Shocking and really sad for us hard core fans.
Great post. Lack of accountability has to be a factor. I have seen it in other settings. When a leader of an organization either creates a hierarchy where they aren’t accountable for bad behavior or performance, or if the organization creates a structure that does not foster accountability, then bad things eventually happen for both the leader and the organization. It’s not that nefarious in this situation, as Fitz would certainly be held accountable for academic or regulatory transgressions, but he seems to have virtually no consequences for poor performance.
This year: Ryan Smith (new CB coach) is the first, as far as I'm concerned. A guy with no *obvious* ties to Fitz, with at least one degree of separation. Everyone else on the staff were referrals with a clear connection to Fitz himself or one of his assistants, i.e. "I know a guy..."
Thanks for providing more color. And I agree that by all accounts Fitz is a man of high integrity and is an excellent leader of young men. It’s just very clear that with our talent (which is very average at best most years compared to our football peer schools like Wisconsin and Iowa) and lack of explosive playmakers (almost every year), we have to play and coach at a very high level to be successful. It’s why we lose to inferior teams even in good years. We cannot let up at all, even for a game against Illinois State. And it looks like that is what has happened programmatically. Our players appear poorly coached and unprepared and our offensive and defensive schemes are only magnifying the deficiencies. I don’t think the talent is dramatically different than in seasons where we were competitive. And if it is, than our coaching staff has failed at evaluating and developing players.
This point is spot-on. The glamor program jock sniffer analysts that make up the college football media universe are stuck in the past and this helps Fitz. Even when Northwestern wins the division, they dismiss it as the little program that could. We fans actually have higher expectations.
Since you are a Rev, cat, I think we can agree that a good QB can make up for a lot of sins.
Persa wasn't a dark ages denizen. We actually had some good players- Greg Boykin, Pete Shaw, Tony Ardizzone, Chris Hinton, Steve Tasker, Mike Adamle. Just no depth. And some really bad coach hires.
I regret not seeing Chuck Kern. He got hurt my Freshman year, before school started. I hear he was really good.
Is he though? I don't see former players under him coming back. They all seem to be tight lipped. I don't think Fitz IS open to new ideas. I doubt he asks advice or seeks to improve. I see few former players defending or endorsing him. Their silence is loud. Kyle Queiro a few years back crapped on him on Twitter a few years back but it looked petty.
I can't remember verbatim but alluded to Fitz being kind of a fraud in 2019 following the 2018 season. @Kyles_Style It was the first instance I ever saw of a former player alluding to Fitz not being a "great guy".
OK. You definitely have some issues with Fitz.
Persa was a winner. And fun to watch. One wonders what would have happened to him if he hadn't gotten hurt against Iowa.
Shocking NU fun fact. There were more future NFL players of Dennis Green's " 0-11 outscored by over 5 to 1 1981 team" than on the '95 Rose Bowl team. Rob Taylor was a diamond in the rough on the '81 team. I remember lifting next to Ardizzone in the Patten basement after his brief NFL stint. Beast.
I saw Ardizzone in the library one night and asked him what he was doing there. "I wanted to see what it looked like before I graduated" he told me. Funny guy.
Bednarik was a star at Penn, back when the Ivy League played big time college football. I yearn for those days, even though I wasn't there, then
Yep, it was Penn's last national hurrah. Although I knew a couple of guys who saw Penn tie Notyre Dame at Franklin Field in '52.
Yep. Hopefully, he will regain his explosiveness and confidence by next season. It’s only been a little more than a year since the injury. He was really good as a freshman.
can't think of the name of that kid from Io-a but used to tailgate with his dad in the west lot regularly. Uber...help!