Fitz In The Pitz

Woods is in the drivers seat. If a younger guy looking to become a first time HC is serious about having a HC coaching career you don't take that job. KF and anyone that's anyone would advise him as such too. Yeah if you wanna get paid like Frost did and that be the end of your HC road then go for it. But Woods doesn't strike me as that type at all.

That job needs another hometown hero like Fitz was or an out of work older guy that can right the ship. I lean towards the older guy preferably that has no ties to the program at all. I'd seen Shaw mentioned and I doubt he'd take it but he'd be my first call. He'd probably rather keep cashing checks doing TV instead of taking on a dumpster fire like that but make him say no. Maybe Paul Chryst or someone like that
Ed Orgeron has been mentioned. Also a couple of O coordinators, including an NFL guy. I agree that Woods can do better down the road, maybe at Iowa.
 
Ed Orgeron has been mentioned. Also a couple of O coordinators, including an NFL guy. I agree that Woods can do better down the road, maybe at Iowa.
I've heard Ed's name mentioned as well. Whether it's in jest or not is debatable. His bayou swamptown act would go over real well with the stuffy country clubbers and champagne and caviars at a place like Evanston. It would be like Al Czervik buying Bushwood country club.

Oh, wait....
 
I've heard Ed's name mentioned as well. Whether it's in jest or not is debatable. His bayou swamptown act would go over real well with the stuffy country clubbers and champagne and caviars at a place like Evanston. It would be like Al Czervik buying Bushwood country club.

Oh, wait....

Sir, can I buy the film rights to this story?
 
I don't pretend to know anything about Woods. Sounds like some on here know him and don't think this is the right fit for him. I get it. But, if Woods is holding onto the narrow dream of being Iowa's next HC, with respect, he should cast a wider net. That is a narrow dream.

If he wants to be a HC in general then taking the NW job is a smart move financially and career wise. To go from a position coach in college directly to a HC at a Power 5 school would be incredibly rare. I don't care if it is not a great job, its a Power 5 head coaching job. You can parlay that into better jobs down the road. But, the acceleration to his career by getting a Power 5 HC job right now cannot be undersold. And, if and when KF retires, his resume from the NW HC job would dictate he would be a front runner for the Iowa job.

Toiling as a position coach at Iowa with the hopes you will get the nod in a few years when KF hangs them up is a risky strategy. But, if he and his family are happy at Iowa, that is great. We are lucky to have him. Personally, I would take the promotion and SIGNIFICANT pay raise. I mean, it is generational wealth if you hold a Big 10 HC position for a couple contracts.
 
WSCR, the main sports radio station out of Chicago that's been all over this, is mixed on whether the Cats will punt 2023.

It has to be on the table. Or the possibility of forfeiting their games. The legal battle has just begun to begin and could take months or years. A powerful lawyer or lawyers could force the school to put Fitz back in the saddle until a verdict. Players by the dozen could transfer out of there or decommit. A plaintiff group led by at least one former player is expected to go public tomorrow with God knows what.

Meanwhile there is defeaning silence, for now, from the defendant's side of this.
Yea, this may be a legit possibility if massive transfers happen and they aren't able to field a team.
 
I've heard Ed's name mentioned as well. Whether it's in jest or not is debatable. His bayou swamptown act would go over real well with the stuffy country clubbers and champagne and caviars at a place like Evanston. It would be like Al Czervik buying Bushwood country club.

Oh, wait....

Now I have to Google Al Czervik.........................rabbit hole.

Damn you!

Well, chit, I guess I didn't realize he character name in Caddyshack.
 
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Toiling as a position coach at Iowa with the hopes you will get the nod in a few years when KF hangs them up is a risky strategy. But, if he and his family are happy at Iowa, that is great. We are lucky to have him. Personally, I would take the promotion and SIGNIFICANT pay raise. I mean, it is generational wealth if you hold a Big 10 HC position for a couple contracts.

Dude might love Iowa. I personally like Evanston and would take that specific job if I were him, but if it were any other Big Ten head job and I was in Woods' spot I don't know if I would take it. The guy sees the light at the end of the tunnel with Ferentz and he will be the leader in the clubhouse to replace him. That would bring with it generational wealth. The legacy that a guy like Woods could build at Iowa is huge and at some point if you get the $100 million in career earnings maybe you want to leave something bigger.
 
I don't pretend to know anything about Woods. Sounds like some on here know him and don't think this is the right fit for him. I get it. But, if Woods is holding onto the narrow dream of being Iowa's next HC, with respect, he should cast a wider net. That is a narrow dream.

If he wants to be a HC in general then taking the NW job is a smart move financially and career wise. To go from a position coach in college directly to a HC at a Power 5 school would be incredibly rare. I don't care if it is not a great job, its a Power 5 head coaching job. You can parlay that into better jobs down the road. But, the acceleration to his career by getting a Power 5 HC job right now cannot be undersold. And, if and when KF retires, his resume from the NW HC job would dictate he would be a front runner for the Iowa job.

Toiling as a position coach at Iowa with the hopes you will get the nod in a few years when KF hangs them up is a risky strategy. But, if he and his family are happy at Iowa, that is great. We are lucky to have him. Personally, I would take the promotion and SIGNIFICANT pay raise. I mean, it is generational wealth if you hold a Big 10 HC position for a couple contracts.
This is the part I don't think is possible with Northwestern now.... You don't see Scott Frost parlaying his tenure at Nebraska into another gig of any kind do you? Well his tenure there was better then whatever the next 4 yrs of Northwestern is about to have. Granted way different expectations but lack of success nonetheless. Using Northwestern as a stepping stone job would be wildly risky. It would most likely set his career back not springboard it. The cash grab of it is the only thing enticing about that gig and anyone taking it has to be ok with that.
 
This is the part I don't think is possible with Northwestern now.... You don't see Scott Frost parlaying his tenure at Nebraska into another gig of any kind do you? Well his tenure there was better then whatever the next 4 yrs of Northwestern is about to have. Granted way different expectations but lack of success nonetheless. Using Northwestern as a stepping stone job would be wildly risky. It would most likely set his career back not springboard it. The cash grab of it is the only thing enticing about that gig and anyone taking it has to be ok with that.

I don't know how much of a cash grab there will even be. Management is sitting there wondering if they'll have to pay Fitz to go away, which will be several million per annum, then they have to wonder about potential litigation that has been or may be filed. I wouldn't be surprised if they totally cheap out on a coach and offer absolute bottom of P5 pricing and will pay less than some of the southern schools are paying for coordinators. Such a move would not surprise me and would on some level be rational on their end.
 
I don't know how much of a cash grab there will even be. Management is sitting there wondering if they'll have to pay Fitz to go away, which will be several million per annum, then they have to wonder about potential litigation that has been or may be filed. I wouldn't be surprised if they totally cheap out on a coach and offer absolute bottom of P5 pricing and will pay less than some of the southern schools are paying for coordinators. Such a move would not surprise me and would on some level be rational on their end.
That's an angle they could choose to go. Which would totally be them just going all in on knowing they are going to suck for the foreseeable future too. Along with alleviating all the other costs you mentioned they'll be having. So why overpay for a coach that probably wouldn't make much of a difference in the win/loss column. Unless they can get a guy like David Shaw I don't think it'd be remotely worth it for them to pay a lot for a coach.

They should be striving to get to 6 wins and make a bowl game any bowl game. Just for some of that extra cash that'd bring in. But that's going to be one really high goal that I don't think they can get to for awhile....
 
I don't think anyone is going to take that Northwestern job right now. It's just a hot mess:

1. Former players will sue over hazing.
2. Former players will sue over "racism" allegations.
3. Fitz will sue the University alleging wrongful termination/breach of contract.
4. Top recruits and players starting to transfer.

Am I leaving anyone out?

And now the University is announcing TWO independent investigations to cover their rears. And that will result in assistants being terminated. Which will result in more lawsuits.
 
I don't think anyone is going to take that Northwestern job right now. It's just a hot mess:

1. Former players will sue over hazing.
2. Former players will sue over "racism" allegations.
3. Fitz will sue the University alleging wrongful termination/breach of contract.
4. Top recruits and players starting to transfer.

Am I leaving anyone out?

And now the University is announcing TWO independent investigations to cover their rears. And that will result in assistants being terminated. Which will result in more lawsuits.

Other issue - stadium revamp may be in jeopardy. They are going to do a lot of institutional navel gazing over this and their athletic department will look radically different.
 
Other issue - stadium revamp may be in jeopardy. They are going to do a lot of institutional navel gazing over this and their athletic department will look radically different.
Yep, I think the uncertainty about commitment at the administrative level for the foreseeable future will be the biggest obstacle in hiring the next coach. Maybe they offer market rate for a head coach, but then immediately hamstring him with a D2 budget for assistants (as an example).

Glen Mason has talked about this often. The administration that recruited him and made certain commitments to the football program got unfairly caught up in the Clem Haskins scandal a short time later and were forced out. He was left with a weak administration that had no commitment to athletics. He always says he never would have taken the job had he known the folks who hired him would be gone a year later.
 
I don't think anyone is going to take that Northwestern job right now. It's just a hot mess:

1. Former players will sue over hazing.
2. Former players will sue over "racism" allegations.
3. Fitz will sue the University alleging wrongful termination/breach of contract.
4. Top recruits and players starting to transfer.

Am I leaving anyone out?

And now the University is announcing TWO independent investigations to cover their rears. And that will result in assistants being terminated. Which will result in more lawsuits.
Someone still needs to explain to me how none of his assistants lost their jobs (yet anyway) I get the DC getting the interim tag. He had only been there since January and hadn't coached a game yet as DC. Safest easiest choice for it they coulda hoped for. But the rest of em.... I'm sure Fitz has some guys that had been there quite awhile on his staff. For him to be the only one scape goated doesn't pass the smell test either. That's a clean house situation if ever there was one.
 
This is the part I don't think is possible with Northwestern now.... You don't see Scott Frost parlaying his tenure at Nebraska into another gig of any kind do you? Well his tenure there was better then whatever the next 4 yrs of Northwestern is about to have. Granted way different expectations but lack of success nonetheless. Using Northwestern as a stepping stone job would be wildly risky. It would most likely set his career back not springboard it. The cash grab of it is the only thing enticing about that gig and anyone taking it has to be ok with that.
Scott Frost got somewhere around 35 mill coaching his alma mater for 4.3 years and winning 16 total games. He took a year off, but there has been scuttle about him landing an OC job somewhere. If he wants to coach again he will. He was snake bit at Nebbie and was a total tool personally, but the guy can run an offense.

I think anyone who takes over the trainwreck NW program will get a pass if they don't light the world on fire. It is a shit job at a shit school. If you go .500 in 4 seasons, you might be considered a minor miracle worker. Frost took over a dumpster fire too, but with a big name and all the resources in the world. He stunk it up, but he will get more shots if he wants them.

Again, I would take the money and the challenge. If you succeed, you can write your ticket. If not, you will find another gig and start climbing again. Give NW 3-5 years, cash the checks, and likely move on to something better.
 
Yea, this may be a legit possibility if massive transfers happen and they aren't able to field a team.
No way Fitz gets his job back. He might get a payday, but no lawyer is getting him his job back.

If NW cancels 2023 football, they might have a Big10 size problem. Might be the opening needed to boot NW and trade them in for Stanford.
 
Other issue - stadium revamp may be in jeopardy. They are going to do a lot of institutional navel gazing over this and their athletic department will look radically different.
I think it’s safe to say it’s definitely in jeopardy. I don’t see any viable contractors lifting a shovel on that thing without some money piled up in an escrow account.
 
No way Fitz gets his job back. He might get a payday, but no lawyer is getting him his job back.

If NW cancels 2023 football, they might have a Big10 size problem. Might be the opening needed to boot NW and trade them in for Stanford.

They won't cancel football, they'll field a team that would lose by 56 to UNI before they'd concede the season. The financial ramifications of failing to field a team would be disastrous.
 
Someone still needs to explain to me how none of his assistants lost their jobs (yet anyway) I get the DC getting the interim tag. He had only been there since January and hadn't coached a game yet as DC. Safest easiest choice for it they coulda hoped for. But the rest of em.... I'm sure Fitz has some guys that had been there quite awhile on his staff. For him to be the only one scape goated doesn't pass the smell test either. That's a clean house situation if ever there was one.
This may change soon. Former players are coming out saying not only were assistants aware, some may have been actively participating.

I say better than 50/50 they don't have a season. Assistant coaches are going to get terminated. Plus it's been reported that football revenue is a small sliver of that Univerity's cash flow.

They wouldn't miss it. The money they have flowing in from medical patents alone is mind boggling.
 
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