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Pat Fitzgerald (HC Northwestern Wildcats, Forever)

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Dryden said:
Christ almighty, Mildcats, get over it already!

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post...he-big-time-northwestern-fighting-to-get-back

Once on the brink of the big time, Northwestern fighting to get back

CHICAGO -- The signs all along pointed to a potential tipping point for Northwestern.

The buzz had reached a fever pitch on campus with the Wildcats unbeaten and ranked No. 16 in the nation heading into October of 2013. College GameDay was coming to campus to set the scene ahead of a showdown against No. 4 Ohio State that marked one of the biggest home games in recent history for the program. And with a win, Pat Fitzgerald's club would not only claim a signature victory, at a minimum it could have stamped itself as a legitimate threat to capture a Big Ten crown -- and it was well on its way to doing so in the fourth quarter on a rainy night at Ryan Field.

In heartbreaking fashion for the Wildcats, it all slipped away from them down the stretch. Even worse for Northwestern, that loss did go down as a turning point for the program, just not the kind it envisioned and one that in some ways it is still trying to recover from nearly two years later.

"Ohio State was a huge game and after we lost, it basically just took the wind out of our sails," senior Nick VanHoose said. "It hurt. You can tell from watching our next game against Wisconsin [in a 35-6 loss], I mean it looked like we didn't even show up.

"We tried to be us, but I felt like a little bit of a piece of us, who we are, was kind of lost after that game. Players start having doubts about the season, having doubts about play calling and coaches, and once you get any of that into your locker room, it becomes a cancer and it spreads from player to player. It was bad."

Cont'd ...
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Given the division they're in... it's there for the taking.
Well 9-10 win seasons that is.
Wisconsin and Nebraska just shot themselves in the foot with coaching hires in my imo.
Minnesota is in a similar situation to NW, and probably in for a down year.
Ferentz is just trying to enjoy the spoils of milking that contract while not drawing too much attention to himself.
And then there's Purdue and Illinois
 
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Pat Fitzgerald: 'Society has taken away the ability for kids to learn from failure'

While much of today’s world is about instant gratification, it’s also about instant reaction, and Pat Fitzgerald says kids are afraid to fail.

At the AFCA Convention in San Antonio earlier this month, Fitzgerald spoke about the pillars of his program and the importance of character — and how he had to learn from his mistakes.

“We define that as who you are when no one’s watching. I failed at that miserably when I was a kid,” Fitzgerald said. “I was awesome around mom and dad, I was spectacular around my girlfriend’s mom and dad — now my wife — I knew how to play the game around coaches, but I was (a jerk). The minute you turned your back, you’d better look out.”

But Fitzgerald learned and improved on and off the field. He admitted to mistakes, and he says kids today are too afraid to make them, and it’s harder to learn. Blow one coverage or drop one ball, players are blasted on social media.

“Kids can’t do that today. It’s gone. Society has taken it away from them,” he said. “Phones, internet, blog sites. You can’t make a mistake as a kid anymore. You can’t learn. You can’t grow. You can’t make mistakes. It makes it incredibly challenging for us as teachers to help kids learn from failure. That’s a great lesson to learn. Especially not to be afraid of it.

“I think it’s pretty debilitating to watch kids who won’t cut it loose because they’re afraid of failure, because they’re afraid they’ll make a mistake and not get another opportunity.”

Along with the character comes the attitude and the willingness to learn. Fitzgerald said he and his five strength coaches are the first to meet players when they walk into the building. If they don’t have a smile or “swagger,” Fitzgerald tells them to come back when they do.

The players have to be excited to learn and understand the process.

“How many of your kids want instant gratification? ‘Coach, I was on time. Where’s a sticker for my helmet?’” Fitzgerald said. “How about the parents? ‘Joey’s a good player.’ Kids don’t understand it takes time. It’s a process. I was a 2-time All-American, and I have the pain of regret because I should have been a 3-time All-American. It was my fault. I wasn’t mature enough to know it at that age, but I didn’t know what consistent hard work looked like day-in and day-out, choice after choice. If you couple that with a great attitude, you’ve got a chance. But it’s not easy.”
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Pat Fitzgerald compares RPOs to communism

gettyimages-848109892-e1527183866164.jpg


RPOs are the latest toy in every offensive coordinator’s toy chest these days and Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald, a College Football Hall of Fame linebacker, hates them, like all dogs naturally hate any advancements in the cat industry that tip the scales from canines to felines.

Asked about them on Tuesday, Fitzgerald compared them, jokingly, to communism.

“It’s communism,” he said. “RPO is the purest form of communism.”

Fitzgerald expanded on his line of thinking, explaining that RPOs allow offenses to bend the rules by getting linemen further down the field than they technically were allowed to and got away with it anyway. And, thus, they were bad.

“I don’t understand how offensive linemen can be downfield. It used to be when [an offensive lineman] tripped and fell down, it was illegal man downfield. Now if it’s just an uncovered lineman and you go 2.3 yards downfield, it’s not a penalty. But if you go three yards it is and nobody can see it until after the ball is thrown,” he said.

“It’s the rules. You can complain all you want. If I want to get it fixed I guess I can beg to get on the rules committee. It’s the most en vogue change, I think, in football. If you’re a purist of football, it’s not the game. It’s not. People downfield blocking and the ball being thrown should be illegal.”



Entire article: https://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/09/11/pat-fitzgerald-compares-rpos-to-communism/

Re: Considering that the Wildcats have ranked in the top 50 nationally in scoring once in the past decade (42nd in 2012) while placing 83rd or lower four times, and rank 111th in this young season, perhaps Fitzgerald should instruct his offensive staff to crack open some Karl Marx.

:slappy:
 
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NFBuck said:
Yep. He pretty much has a statue going up there. Just keep winning 7-9 games most years and he’s there as long as he wants. Will always be curious what he could do with more resources, though.
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Sure. That’s always the rub.

But to resist that, to avoid the elusive next step can lead to happiness for some. Just ask the guy in Iowa City.
 
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ShowMeBuck said:
Sure. That’s always the rub.

But to resist that, to avoid the elusive next step can lead to happiness for some. Just ask the guy in Iowa City.
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I'm honestly surprised more coaches don't follow the Bill Snyder/Kirk Ferentz path. One route earns you statues, stadium naming rights, and legend status, the other... if you fail hard then you're in the spot Schiano is in -- your best friends' DC until somebody deems your career rehabilitated.

The grass ain't always greener on the other side.
 
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