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Fitzgerald and the NFL

You can blame it on a kid named Grant Perry.
Perry was originally committed to NU. At the last minute he flipped to Michigan. Thus creating an opening for the wildcats which allowed Fitz to flip Nagle who I believe was from lemont.
W/O Perry flipping none of this happens

Grant Perry was a stud from Brother Rice(MI). NIU didn’t want to offer him (so dumb-those are the kids NIU needs to build that program w...studs from the Midwest).

FWIW-if a coach loses a kid like Perry and it opens up a spot....there’s nothing wrong w the coach going after a kid who is verbally committed elsewhere. If the program he’s committed to loses him...that’s on them.
 
You can’t say you are committed to the sanctity of marriage and then go steal your neighbor’s wife.

this is exactly the point. It’s not that it was wrong for him to flip a kid from another school. It’s that he had spent half a decade pontificating about how NU did things differently than all others and how they had a true belief in a verbal commitment as an engagement.

Nothing more, nothing less. He is a college FB coach and acts the same way all other college FB coaches do. He just likes to put some pretension and fake bravado about how his program actuallly operates differently and , based on all the defenses you just came up with (which I agree with) prove northwestern muddles in the same waters as just about every other FBS school.

that’s it. He’s doing nothing wrong. He is just doing what everyone else does. I just shake my head when I hear people say that they think he is fundamentally different than others. He is not and he should not be.


If he is not fundamentally different than the others, why is he winning awards like this?

https://wgntv.com/sports/northwestern-head-coach-pat-fitzgerald-wins-2020-dodd-trophy/

If the program he runs is not fundamentally different than the others, shouldn't it be in the middle third of the pack in terms of graduation rate and not at the very top...especially relative to recruiting and the academic rigor at a school like Northwestern compared to most other schools?

https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/northwestern-and-duke-lead-football-schools-in-graduation-rate
 
Please tell me you are not using the Dodd award as proof he is different. Look at the list of previous recipients. Paterno a multi time winner. O’Leary. Barnett. Brian Kelly. Tressel.

rather than differentiate him, getting your name on that list proves you are just one of the good ol boys Club who can talk a good game and play the same slimy games everyone else does. It reads like a list of those who excel at talking out of both sides of their mouth, which is probably a good place for him to be.

I’m excited to see Art Briles claim the prize next year.
 
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Please tell me you are not using the Dodd award as proof he is different. Look at the list of previous recipients. Paterno a multi time winner. O’Leary. Barnett. Brian Kelly. Tressel.

rather than differentiate him, getting your name on that list proves you are just one of the good ol boys Club who can talk a good game and play the same slimy games everyone else does. It reads like a list of those who excel at talking out of both sides of their mouth, which is probably a good place for him to be.

I’m excited to see Art Briles claim the prize next year.

No comment at all on Fitz's teams' graduation rate? Or do you concede that point?
 
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No comment at all on Fitz's teams' graduation rate? Or do you concede that point?
Yes NU graduates a huge share of their student athletes. He is not a bad guy. This is not an attack on him, just an attack on the Teddy Greenstein narrative that he is above the fray and somehow above the nastiness of major college football. He is not.

I believe the Dodd list serves as a great example of what is happening now. For decades, Joe Paterno was celebrated as doing things a different way. Sweater vest Jim Tressel the same. Win games but doing so with expectations that were fundamentally different than their peers. Now these guys ended up having dramatic events that finally reversed that narrative. I obviously don’t foresee anything like that happening here. But the lesson of not buying the hype of “this guy does things different” is still there.

there is the persona and then there is reality. I don’t think the narrative on fitz is polar opposite of his personality, just exaggerated. He is a decent person who does a nice job at NU. If he was truly as different and principled as Shannon Ryan and teddy G want you to believe, then he would have told Flynn nagel not to visit until he de commited. He did not. That does not make him a bad guy. That makes him a normal college coach doing what anyone would expect him to. He showed that his principled stands don’t always apply when you can do something that is beneficial to you that can help your program and your kids.

again. Not a bad thing. It is what he should be doing. But the minute you abandon principled ideals, it is hard to take any of the other “we’re different” bravado seriously.

just my two cents. Once again, not a bad guy. Just one willing to bend principle to further his program. Those who digest and regurgitate the media narrative of “he IS different” are entitled to their opinion. I choose to look at the totality of his acts that make him a darn decent person, but not operating on some fundamentally different playing field from 80 percent of his peers.
 
JChillmen, are you saying that bc Fitz had a verbally committed kid visit NW, that it can’t be said that his program is run more ethically than others?

The above mentioned isn’t illegal, Mis-leading, a gray area, etc. It’s black and white completely acceptable and fine.
 
JChillmen, are you saying that bc Fitz had a verbally committed kid visit NW, that it can’t be said that his program is run more ethically than others?

The above mentioned isn’t illegal, Mis-leading, a gray area, etc. It’s black and white completely acceptable and fine.
Totally allowed. Just hypocritical when you tell kids they can’t visit elsewhere after committing because it violates your principles of “commitment” while encouraging others to visit you while committed elsewhere.

Again, the issue isn’t with him doing it. He should be doing that. That’s how you play the game. The issue is with him spending years talking down at kids for doing the same saying “they maybe just don’t share our principles of commitment.”

again, principles are only principles if they are lasting and always consistent. That means sticking to them even when it is not convenient or helpful to you. If you espouse your principles for years to hold others to a standard and then take full advantage of the same behavior when it can benefit you it was never a principled stand, but rather grandstanding to pretend like he has different and higher standards. He doesn’t.

so the argument is not that he is a bad person or immoral. Far from it. Just a regular coach who will take advantage of the rules. The only criticism is the hypocrisy of spending years railing against the behavior of kids who “fake commit” and then fully embracing it when he can get the pendulum to swing in his direction. So I am totally cool with him taking part in theshady business of recruiting. It’s the hypocrisy part of some of his media pals and himself advertising himself as something different which is funny to me. Seems to be working though. Seems to be nearly as beloved as JoePa before his downfall. And I am not predicting a downfall. Just a reckoning with reality that he is a normal coach now that Teddy G isn’t there to cheerlead every step of the way.
 
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Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) Tweeted:
B1G coaching update...

Northwestern HC Pat Fitzgerald is open to taking NFL HC interviews; Ohio State HC Ryan Day is not, per sources.

Link
 
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) Tweeted:
Multiple NFL teams have inquired about Northwestern HC Pat Fitzgerald and, to date, as of right now, he has not agreed to any of the interviews, per source.

 
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Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) Tweeted:
Multiple NFL teams have inquired about Northwestern HC Pat Fitzgerald and, to date, as of right now, he has not agreed to any of the interviews, per source.


Well, if it’s gonna happen....it’s gonna be w the bears. Well find out if that job is gonna open up sooner rather than later here.
 
You can blame it on a kid named Grant Perry.
Perry was originally committed to NU. At the last minute he flipped to Michigan. Thus creating an opening for the wildcats which allowed Fitz to flip Nagle who I believe was from lemont.
W/O Perry flipping none of this happens
Yeah, that's right. Blame the kid. Not a good idea to excuse bad behavior by pointing out other bad behavior. It's like the guy who cheats on his wife then blames her because she cheated first.
 
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The Bears have reshuffled the deck more often than a blackjack dealer, but they keep getting the same hand. It doesn't matter what they do--stand pat or go all in--the cards are stacked against them.
 
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The Bears have reshuffled the deck more often than a blackjack dealer, but they keep getting the same hand. It doesn't matter what they do--stand pat or go all in--the cards are stacked against them.

Ownership. It’s where it starts. When you see repetitive occurrences you need not look any further than the top. Truly they are making poor decisions by hiring people that make poor decisions. Nothing changes until you cut off the head of the snake. Unfortunately we have ownership that won’t go away.
 
Yeah, that's right. Blame the kid. Not a good idea to excuse bad behavior by pointing out other bad behavior. It's like the guy who cheats on his wife then blames her because she cheated first.

“If we made a point scale with AP Football Poll + USNews undergrad ranking, it would go like this:

1. Northwestern (10+9=19)
2. ND (5+19=24)
3. Florida (13+30=43)
4. Southern Cal (21+24=45)
5. UNC (18+28=46)
6. Georgia (7+47=54)
7. Ohio St (2+53=55)
8. Texas (19+42=61)
9. Texas A&M (4+66=70)
10. Miami (22+49=71)
11. Clemson (3+74=77)
12. Indiana (12+76=88)
13. BYU (11+80=91)
14. Iowa (16+88=104)
15. Iowa St (9+118=127)
16. Oklahoma (6+133=139)
17. Alabama (144)
18. Cincinnati (8+143=151)”
 
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“If we made a point scale with AP Football Poll + USNews undergrad ranking, it would go like this:

1. Northwestern (10+9=19)
2. ND (5+19=24)
3. Florida (13+30=43)
4. Southern Cal (21+24=45)
5. UNC (18+28=46)
6. Georgia (7+47=54)
7. Ohio St (2+53=55)
8. Texas (19+42=61)
9. Texas A&M (4+66=70)
10. Miami (22+49=71)
11. Clemson (3+74=77)
12. Indiana (12+76=88)
13. BYU (11+80=91)
14. Iowa (16+88=104)
15. Iowa St (9+118=127)
16. Oklahoma (6+133=139)
17. Alabama (144)
18. Cincinnati (8+143=151)”
I would have thought Indiana would be higher.
 
W the Bears staying put- I believe the discussion w Fitz is gone.

Fitz seems to be a fit w the Bears and no where else in regards to the NFL. Not sure where all this discussion comes from.
 
W the Bears staying put- I believe the discussion w Fitz is gone.

Fitz seems to be a fit w the Bears and no where else in regards to the NFL. Not sure where all this discussion comes from.
I get a Ryne Sandberg vibe from Fitz.
 
Why would he leave? Great salary, security, low pressure.

I’m positive he’s be great in the NFL, but why put up with the hassle?
 
Why would he leave? Great salary, security, low pressure.

I’m positive he’s be great in the NFL, but why put up with the hassle?
Right. Look at Belichick. He’s been deemed a genius for many years and now Brady taking TB to the SB has people second guessing his smarts after all. Fitz has a pretty good gig and he seems happy. The NFL wouldn’t be so kind.
 
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Right. Look at Belichick. He’s been deemed a genius for many years and now Brady taking TB to the SB has people second guessing his smarts after all. Fitz has a pretty good gig and he seems happy. The NFL wouldn’t be so kind.

Those people are called morons. Patriots' had 8 players opt out of the year and had to break in a new QB without the benefit of an off season yet were still in playoff contention with 4 weeks left in the season. Tom Brady is the best QB ever but at least two of the Pats SB were won because of their defense. If the Pats suck for years to come then he is over rated but I would bet BB has them near the top of the AFC again soon.
 
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Those people are called morons. Patriots' had 8 players opt out of the year and had to break in a new QB without the benefit of an off season yet were still in playoff contention with 4 weeks left in the season. Tom Brady is the best QB ever but at least two of the Pats SB were won because of their defense. If the Pats suck for years to come then he is over rated but I would bet BB has them near the top of the AFC again soon.
Oh I would agree. I’m just saying that head coaching in the NFL is a thankless job. Fitz should stay put.
 
This year, on January 10th, the Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the playoffs by a score of 48-37. It was the first time the Browns won a playoff game since 1994 and only their second playoff appearance since then. Do you know who the head coach of that team was and what team they beat in 1994?

Wait for it...the head coach was Bill Belichick and they beat the New England Patriots.

Anyone, and I mean anyone, who thinks Belichick is overrated in any way needs his or her head examined. That kind of talk is about as uninformed about Belichick as it gets.
 
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This year, on January 10th, the Cleveland Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the playoffs by a score of 48-37. It was the first time the Browns won a playoff game since 1994 and only their second playoff appearance since then. Do you know who the head coach of that team was and what team they beat in 1994?

Wait for it...the head coach was Bill Belichick and they beat the New England Patriots.

Anyone, and I mean anyone, who thinks Belichick is overrated in any way needs his or her head examined. That kind of talk is about as uninformed about Belichick as it gets.
From me it was a statement of how little head coaches are appreciated and why Fitz should stay away.
 
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