Pat Fitz

I could see Fitz in a similar role that Chris Speilman has with the Lions. Speilman is a few years older, but they share the same football DNA on how they see the game.

Andrew Luck is the football GM at Stanford. Shaq is the freakin basketball GM at Sacramento St. As I stated in an earlier post, if Fitz wants back into football…he will have plenty of options. Anywhere from a DC in college to a role in management with an NFL team.
 


Fitz is an excellent football coach. I'm not sure the people doing the hiring at Iowa could look past what lead to his firing at Northwestern, fair or not. And, he is a defensive coach in an offensive world of college football. For that reason, I would not want him as our next head FB coach. I would take Tim Lester over him, at least as of right now.
 




haydensly said:
Fitz is an excellent football coach. I'm not sure the people doing the hiring at Iowa could look past what lead to his firing at Northwestern, fair or not. And, he is a defensive coach in an offensive world of college football. For that reason, I would not want him as our next head FB coach. I would take Tim Lester over him, at least as of right now.
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I love what Lester is doing but he probably wouldn't even be considered for a head coaching job in the MAC right now.
 






SwirlinLingerie said:
Agreed
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On the one hand, I hate Campbell because he is a good coach who has elevated one of our rivals and little brother in the state. On the other hand, stealing him away from ISU would strengthen us and weaken them and add juice to the rivalry. So, I guess I am in. That said, can't see it ever happening.
 


The real challenge for Fitz is how does one rehabilitate their reputation when you got fired for allowing hazing/bullying to take place under your watch. Esier said than done.

I know it's not the same deal but how fast did Chris Doyle get let go from Jascksonville after Urban Meyer hired him? Sometimes there is no rehabilitation. Sad but true.

Fitz would have to say and do all the right things.
 


Zstatman said:
The real challenge for Fitz is how does one rehabilitate their reputation when you got fired for allowing hazing/bullying to take place under your watch. Esier said than done.

I know it's not the same deal but how fast did Chris Doyle get let go from Jascksonville after Urban Meyer hired him? Sometimes there is no rehabilitation. Sad but true.

Fitz would have to say and do all the right things.
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By all accounts, Fitz had no knowledge at all about the hazing. He was terminated under the captain of the ship doctrine, and frankly, it was probably the right thing to do. The University had to take action, but again, there is no evidence he had any knowledge as to what some of his sicker players were doing.

Now, Art Briles is still coaching. He has had several jobs since the Baylor scandal and there is plenty of evidence he knew a lot of what his sick players were doing, and it was really bad.

Just sayin, I think he could get a second chance if he wants one.
 




I wouldn't be mad about Fitzgerald. As long as it's not Seth Wallace I'll learn to deal with whoever it is and have the added benefit that he'll likely send Wallace down the road and give me another team to hate wherever he ends up.
 


Fitz is obviously looking to get back out there. This is just a guess, but I don't think he'll get something as high profile as the Iowa job right out of the gate. If P4, I think it'd need to be a program facing a bit more up of an uphill climb these days. Or maybe a MAC job. Or maybe he takes a DC job at a higher profile program then shoots for a solid head job somewhere else.

All that said, if I'm Wisconsin or Michigan State, I'd be putting some serious thought into talking with him about the head job. Those programs are in free fall. He's a great pick to establish an identify and get some traction. He'd also be on my short list if I needed a new coach at Purdue, Minnesota or Nebraska.

Where do people think he coaches next?
 


As I noted above, there was no evidence that Fitz had any knowledge of the hazing, and that was confirmed by the investigation. I don't know that he has been fully exonerated, as some really bad shit happened within his program while he was HC, but I think he is definitely in a place where someone will and should give him another opportunity to coach CF. He also probably has 40 million in his bank account now.
 


SwirlinLingerie said:
Fitz is obviously looking to get back out there. This is just a guess, but I don't think he'll get something as high profile as the Iowa job right out of the gate. If P4, I think it'd need to be a program facing a bit more up of an uphill climb these days. Or maybe a MAC job. Or maybe he takes a DC job at a higher profile program then shoots for a solid head job somewhere else.

All that said, if I'm Wisconsin or Michigan State, I'd be putting some serious thought into talking with him about the head job. Those programs are in free fall. He's a great pick to establish an identify and get some traction. He'd also be on my short list if I needed a new coach at Purdue, Minnesota or Nebraska.

Where do people think he coaches next?
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Wisky announced yesterday that Fickel was coming back. So, that's a no.

Michigan State would be foolish to pull the trigger this quickly on Smith. Those kids are still fighting and playing hard.

But, I do agree that level of coaching position is probably the right fit for Fitz. Second or third tier team stuggling to hold its place. I don't see any of the Top openings even considering a guy like Fitz. He needs a more blue collar, underdog type of school to match his approach.
 


Maryland would be a good spot for Fitz. They need some toughness and discipline. And Locksley can't seem to get any wins after September.
 


NorthKCHawk said:
Wisky announced yesterday that Fickel was coming back. So, that's a no.

Michigan State would be foolish to pull the trigger this quickly on Smith. Those kids are still fighting and playing hard.

But, I do agree that level of coaching position is probably the right fit for Fitz. Second or third tier team stuggling to hold its place. I don't see any of the Top openings even considering a guy like Fitz. He needs a more blue collar, underdog type of school to match his approach.
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I haven't watched them much, but Glen Mason said this week that Michigan State looked like a very poorly coached football team to him with low morale on the sidelines.
 


SwirlinLingerie said:
I haven't watched them much, but Glen Mason said this week that Michigan State looked like a very poorly coached football team to him with low morale on the sidelines.
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He has watched different tape than I have. They gave Michigan a scare and then last week went into Minnesota and had The Goofers against the ropes and lost by a FG. Their record is bad, but they sure look like a team fighting for their coach.

If you cannot give a guy three years, you get what you deserve. I mean, I bet commentators said some unkind things about KF's team in 2000. Thank god we didn't fire KF for Mike Riley. And, it is not like Fitz is Urban Myers. Fitz is a good coach, but he has had ups and downs for sure.
 




NorthKCHawk said:
He has watched different tape than I have. They gave Michigan a scare and then last week went into Minnesota and had The Goofers against the ropes and lost by a FG. Their record is bad, but they sure look like a team fighting for their coach.

If you cannot give a guy three years, you get what you deserve. I mean, I bet commentators said some unkind things about KF's team in 2000. Thank god we didn't fire KF for Mike Riley. And, it is not like Fitz is Urban Myers. Fitz is a good coach, but he has had ups and downs for sure.
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Take it for what it's worth (probably not much), but Mason was at the game and watching intently.

I did see Michigan State is like 16th or 17th in the Big Ten with 54 total penalties. Iowa leads with only 19.

Reading a bit about it, sounds like Smith prefers to be West (maybe felt he had no choice to jump from Oregon State, and MSU was an open job), and that Michigan State is hoping he can land at UCLA, Colorado State, Stanford...and there can be a parting of the ways that doesn't cost the school too much.

Feels like the fit just isn't there.
 


Fitz "not knowing" is laugh out loud funny. He almost certainly knew about it, but if he somehow didn't, then he is a clown of a head coach. These guys control every tiny aspect of their player's lives, yet somehow he didn't know players were slapping younger players with their dicks in the locker room? COME ON.

The investigation found no evidence of a player notifying Fitz what was happening. Why would they notify Fitz? Every single person in the program -- players, coaches, and staffers -- knew it was happening.
 


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