Whoops! My mental geography was using a bad compass. Let's just write it off to poetic license. :lol:
I can tell you that if Charlie fails and the AD hires Pat Fitzgerald as his replacement there will be an explosion in the NDNation. Pat might be a great coach with a terrific future, but he's just too young for a job the magnitude of ND.
Sorry, Terry. It's just that the mention of NDNation to me is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Leave it to Whobe to do his usual driveby stirring of the pot. :lol: I would agree that Fitzgerald's body of work does not warrant such a quantum leap, but stranger things have happened in the past at ND re: hiring of coaches whose resumes as college head coaches would have seemed to disqualify them.....Faust, Terry Brennan, Davie, Charlie, etc. I hope the issue never comes to pass because I hope Charlie is successful this year and for many years to come, in which case we would know a heck of a lot more about Fitzgerald if and when the time comes down the road to search for a new coach.
I always hoped that Ron Zook made us forget all about Steve Spurrier and I think that is always the attitude you want to have as a fan. It's never pretty or fun for the fans to need a change at HC because of lack of performance on the field. So....the #1 wish for ND fans should be that Weis is an all-timer and time will tell. What you don't want though is a 12 year trial period of it never quite working out.
TOK, Fitzgerald did not do well his first two season at NW. He walked into a horrible situation taking over the program after Walker's death. The general consensus of the NW fans was that his problems were attributable to his youth and inexperience and deferential attitude to several older assistants who were sub par coaches. He finally made some tough choices before last season by cleaning out the deadwood coaches and hiring of Hankawicz, the former DC at Colo & Wisconsin.. NW looked like a very well coached team last year so I think he has grown into the job. NW's academic standards, underfunded athletic department, and poor fan support--they averaging less than 25K for most games- make his job the toughest in the B10 considering that his competition are state schools with lower academic standards, much bigger budgets, and far better fan support. The only comparable situation to NW would be Vanderbilt who only recently has been able to field respectable teams under Bobby Johnson. To me, Barnett's resurrection of the program was a miracle of the fishes and loaves order. His leaving could have devastated the program for years but NW was fortunate or astute enough to hire Walker who kept the program at a competitive level and was someone committed to the program, not using it as a utensil to secure a higher paying job with a school with an established football program. Fitzgerald has now been able to sustain what Walker built and has the potential to take the program to even higher levels. Fitzgerald was a great college player whose brains and toughness rather than athletic skills made him an All American. He has coached both in the pros and college and comes across as intelligent, earnest, personable and honest. He is an excellent recruiter. He may not be another Ara in terms of coaching acumen but that is an almost insurmountable standard as Ara was one of the greatest coaches ever. But, I think that Fitzgerald has many of the personal qualities that caused even ND haters to grudgingly admire Ara. It would not be welcome news for me if Fitzgerald ended up at ND.
I wouldn't argue any of your points Bobda, but given the frustrations of the last 14 years since Lou left with the hires, he wouldn't be the big name that many would desire.
I agree in terms of his personality. If NW continues to make the kind of progress they showed last season, he will become a hot commodity in a few years. Maybe not as hot as Gary Barnett, but then who is? :twisted: Speaking of "NW", does anyone remember a poster from the old Prodigy days who was connected with Northwestern who did not like the "NW" reference and always insisted it should be expressed as "NU"? I remember it because I used to write NW just to needle him, but I don't remember his name.
Wanda vs Todd now that was some high drama. But of course Wanda bled Scarlet and Gray, not the Purple of the Wildcats.
Yes, Wanda was a die-hard Buckeye for sure, but my goodness, what an extraordinary character! She was not particularly fond of me either..... :wink:
What I remember most about Wanda is the 1998 season, Buckeyes were undefeated headed for the Rose Bowl and Nat'l Championship...but Nick Saban and the Sparty's derailed that, she couldn't post for a month after that she was truly crushed by the upset. I think (stu or whobe would know) had tickets and airfare all set for a trip to Pasdena.