More on the Fitzgerald Hiring.
Posted: July 7th, 2006, 3:35 pm
After thinking about this some more, I dunno if I agree with Northwestern hiring Pat Fitzgerald. I would say that he is probably in the top 5-10 Big Ten defensive players in the past 15 years, but that doesn't really qualify a guy for a head coaching job. Neither does spending a year as a def. graduate assistant at Colorado and Maryland, and then a season as LB's and Special Teams coach at Idaho. After that, since 01 he was d-backs coach and then in 04 became LB's coach and recruiting coordinator. That hardly qualifies anyone for any major coordinator position (OC / DC), let alone head coach.
In 2004, NU's recruiting class boasted 2 3-star players. In 2005, they got 10 3-star players, one of which was Tyrell Sutton. The 06 class brought in 4 3-star recruits. Nothing better than that in any of the classes.
I was not able to find game stats, but since Fitzgerald took over the d-backs and then the LB's jobs, NU has given up some pretty big points against teams that from my seat seem to pass the ball more than other teams do. Northwestern's defenses have not been good in awhile, since Fitzgerald played under Barnett, but even then NU only had 2 decent seasons (10-2 and 9-3). In fact last season, NU gave up more points than they had since 2002. 52 to pass-happy Arizona State, and 50 to a pass-oriented UCLA.
Unfortunately, I was not able to find a listing of the other coaches at NU. I was curious as to who was overlooked when they made this hiring. It seems to be that with this tragic death of Randy Walker, Northwestern went the route of hiring a huge Northwestern alumnist and favorite in Pat Fitzgerald. What better way to turn people's frowns upside down than to give it to Fitzgerald, whom everyone loves? Unfortunately for NU, they really jumped the gun with this instead of giving the reigns to the O-Coor. or D-Coor. as interim coach. In this upcoming seasons recruiting war, NU right now boasts a 2-star RB and has not even made an offer to a 5 star player.
Calmer heads prevail after everything dies down. Unfortunately for NU, who is already on the verge of a down season (from 7-5 in 05) with the loss of Basanez, they will learn this lesson the hard way.
In 2004, NU's recruiting class boasted 2 3-star players. In 2005, they got 10 3-star players, one of which was Tyrell Sutton. The 06 class brought in 4 3-star recruits. Nothing better than that in any of the classes.
I was not able to find game stats, but since Fitzgerald took over the d-backs and then the LB's jobs, NU has given up some pretty big points against teams that from my seat seem to pass the ball more than other teams do. Northwestern's defenses have not been good in awhile, since Fitzgerald played under Barnett, but even then NU only had 2 decent seasons (10-2 and 9-3). In fact last season, NU gave up more points than they had since 2002. 52 to pass-happy Arizona State, and 50 to a pass-oriented UCLA.
Unfortunately, I was not able to find a listing of the other coaches at NU. I was curious as to who was overlooked when they made this hiring. It seems to be that with this tragic death of Randy Walker, Northwestern went the route of hiring a huge Northwestern alumnist and favorite in Pat Fitzgerald. What better way to turn people's frowns upside down than to give it to Fitzgerald, whom everyone loves? Unfortunately for NU, they really jumped the gun with this instead of giving the reigns to the O-Coor. or D-Coor. as interim coach. In this upcoming seasons recruiting war, NU right now boasts a 2-star RB and has not even made an offer to a 5 star player.
Calmer heads prevail after everything dies down. Unfortunately for NU, who is already on the verge of a down season (from 7-5 in 05) with the loss of Basanez, they will learn this lesson the hard way.