When does it stop
- Thread starter Catslash
- Start date
If a NU coach is getting hired by Alabama, it probably means we made a couple of playoff runs...
In 2033 Fitz will be 59. In your scenario if Braun is leaving because of success, I wouldn’t see NU going for Fitz, I’d see them trying to promote from within or find the next young long term coach. If it’s a tough situation where there’s not a good choice then I could see them going for Fitz in like a Greg Schiano type scenario
It’s time for a bit of sanity:
1. Pat Fitzgerald will never coach Northwestern football again. And that’s OK.
2. The day Michigan State hired Fitzgerald is not the saddest day in Northwestern football history. Not even close.
3. We have nothing in common with Coastal Carolina football. WTF
4. Fitzgerald is not coming to pillage the Northwestern roster. He will have plenty of recruiting options in the portal.
1. Pat Fitzgerald will never coach Northwestern football again. And that’s OK.
2. The day Michigan State hired Fitzgerald is not the saddest day in Northwestern football history. Not even close.
3. We have nothing in common with Coastal Carolina football. WTF
4. Fitzgerald is not coming to pillage the Northwestern roster. He will have plenty of recruiting options in the portal.
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Question was not whether Fitz would pillage the roster but whether he could potentially pick off the best of the upperclassmen whom he may have had some hand in recruiting. I don’t even know who that could be other than say Komo but poaching 2-3 of the best seniors would be a big effect on our depth.
Amuses me that when it comes to Fitz poaching talent from Northwestern, we suddenly become Schröedinger's Cats. Both unable to recruit under Braun and dripping with talent that Fitz is going to come steal...
Komo would be insane to trade an NU degree for a Michigan State one. He's obviously getting sufficient exposure and opportunity for the NFL right where he is - it was good enough for Evan Hull, and his teams didn't win much.
I think that ship sailed. Perhaps there will be a grad transfer, but why would a player with one more year of eligibility go to a program that needs a massive rebuild?
Kalen Deboer came from a school in the Dakotas…and 15 years later became HC at Bama. Never know!
I think the answer is probably obvious there as well; if we make a couple of playoff runs and Braun gets hired by one of the biggest brands, then you promote from within and choose the coordinator on the stronger side of the ball to be HC to maintain continuity and try to keep playing at that high level.
Sorta similar to what Ole Miss is doing by keeping much of their defensive staff in place.
Especially helps if it's a NU guy to promote like McGarigle (though I doubt he'd still be here if we're making playoff runs, he'd probably get nabbed to be HC or a super high paid DC somewhere else if we have great defenses while he's here).
In this scenario, my hope would be that McGarigle fancies himself a Fitz 2.0 to stay put at his alma mater, where he will be a folk hero, a multi-millionaire, and enjoy a certain degree of job security that won't exist for him literally anywhere else. Obviously Fitz's final chapter and departure went sideways but 1-11 didn't put him in the hot seat.
I think in some sense, there's a great deal of value to be had from the fact that NU has been loyal to coaches for so long...
Just look at the mess of Penn State to see the opposite short-term-ism in effect. Or Michigan State, or any of the SEC programs that fired head coaches. Some of these guys barely got a year or two to try to build a program.
Mike Gundy had 1 bad season (and he's a former player) after 18 winning seasons and he was fired a couple games later...
I don't know if Jackson will be as patient as former ADs here, but anybody who's HC here should understand that they'll get more rope than at virtually any other place as long as they show promise towards being a respectable middle of the road program at the worst.
Eh...Gundy peaked in 2011 when he went 12-1 and finished #3. Fell to 6-6 by 2014, but then had two more successful cycles - one with Mason Rudolph from 2015-2017 and another with Spencer Sanders from 2019-2021 ending in a Fiesta Bowl win. Lost his last 9 in a row and missed a bowl game for the first time in his career last year in the worst season since his first one, then began this year losing 69-3 at Oregon and losing at home to Tulsa for the first time since 1951. Not surprised he was fired at that point.
Because he believes in Fitz and wants another chance to play for him? Once these guys have the NU undergrad degree, our hold on them is not as great. If they want grad school depends on what they want
He was openly completely mystified and frustrated by the portal and NIL. Guy had his era and it was time to move on, he was cooked.