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Which Big 10 coaches are primed to move on to bigger and better things?

19333lion

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Jan 30, 2016
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USC should court Broehm or Fitzgerald. Broehm will be a winner at a place where winning on a regular basis is possible. I just can't see it at Purdue, although I generally root for them. I'd actually love to see Fitzgerald at PSU under very different circumstances. He is a winner. I root for NW too.

If Dom Brown weren't 63, he would get consideration for some pretty good gigs. Instead, he will be around for a while to make life difficult for Big 10 offenses.

Assistant coaches, other than Brown, are beyond my scope, but maybe you have a candidate (other than a PSU whipping boy: I don't go for snark). Serious answers are always appreciated.
 
USC should court Broehm or Fitzgerald. Broehm will be a winner at a place where winning on a regular basis is possible. I just can't see it at Purdue, although I generally root for them. I'd actually love to see Fitzgerald at PSU under very different circumstances. He is a winner. I root for NW too.

If Dom Brown weren't 63, he would get consideration for some pretty good gigs. Instead, he will be around for a while to make life difficult for Big 10 offenses.

Assistant coaches, other than Brown, are beyond my scope, but maybe you have a candidate (other than a PSU whipping boy: I don't go for snark). Serious answers are always appreciated.

Fitz is not leaving Northwestern.

Don Brown is never going to be a head coach again. He's been there, done that, and has no interest.
 
USC should court Broehm or Fitzgerald. Broehm will be a winner at a place where winning on a regular basis is possible. I just can't see it at Purdue, although I generally root for them. I'd actually love to see Fitzgerald at PSU under very different circumstances. He is a winner. I root for NW too.

If Dom Brown weren't 63, he would get consideration for some pretty good gigs. Instead, he will be around for a while to make life difficult for Big 10 offenses.

Assistant coaches, other than Brown, are beyond my scope, but maybe you have a candidate (other than a PSU whipping boy: I don't go for snark). Serious answers are always appreciated.
Brohm is going to Louisville....Fitz isn’t going anywhere.
 
USC should court Broehm or Fitzgerald. Broehm will be a winner at a place where winning on a regular basis is possible. I just can't see it at Purdue, although I generally root for them. I'd actually love to see Fitzgerald at PSU under very different circumstances. He is a winner. I root for NW too.

If Dom Brown weren't 63, he would get consideration for some pretty good gigs. Instead, he will be around for a while to make life difficult for Big 10 offenses.

Assistant coaches, other than Brown, are beyond my scope, but maybe you have a candidate (other than a PSU whipping boy: I don't go for snark). Serious answers are always appreciated.

It seems like Fitz should be a wildcat for life.
 
I see bigger things for Franklin. He is a hot commodity and should leverage his moment of fame...elsewhere.
 
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USC should court Broehm or Fitzgerald. Broehm will be a winner at a place where winning on a regular basis is possible. I just can't see it at Purdue, although I generally root for them. I'd actually love to see Fitzgerald at PSU under very different circumstances. He is a winner. I root for NW too.

If Dom Brown weren't 63, he would get consideration for some pretty good gigs. Instead, he will be around for a while to make life difficult for Big 10 offenses.

Assistant coaches, other than Brown, are beyond my scope, but maybe you have a candidate (other than a PSU whipping boy: I don't go for snark). Serious answers are always appreciated.
Any assistant NFL job would be a step up for Lovie Smith.
 
If Brohm goes anywhere it will be back to his alma mater. Schiano may get some calls about head coaching jobs.
 
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I would say from OSU staff:
Schiano will likely get a few calls for somewhere maybe even back to Rutgers
Day if is not picked to be Urban successor
Studrawa is Bowling Green connections and could be candidate there
Wilson i dont know if he has burned his bridges as a head coach but a MAC or AAC team could come calling

Michigan Staff probably has 3 guys who could be looked at for head jobs.
Chris Partridge, Jim McElwain and Ed Warinner
 
Anyone who thinks Fitz would EVER leave NW for another coaching position ANYWHERE knows NOTHING about CFB.

Shocked if Fitz left NW .... That is his lifetime gig

The one gig Fitz may leave for is to coach da Bears.

But more likely, he'll coach at NU for several decades more and become to NU what Paterno, Beamer and Bowden are to their respective schools.
 
The one gig Fitz may leave for is to coach da Bears.

But more likely, he'll coach at NU for several decades more and become to NU what Paterno, Beamer and Bowden are to their respective schools.

this may be true as he can have off years and will not be fired. he is playing a very weak division right now, which helps. he may feel different if Nebraska grows teeth. the only reason he is in the BIG Championship is that Wisky had a series of injuries that reduced them to ordinary. The West is normally weak but this year it is especially bad. NW will not likley do this again.
 
Chris Ash. Where ever he moves to is guaranteed to be better.
He's not a very good coach. When he was defensive coordinator at Arkansas a Kyle Flood led Rutgers team made his defense look pedestrian. At Ohio State Luke Fickell ran the defense on that championship team. Today L. Fickell coaches a 9-2 Cincinnati team that would thoroughly dismantle a Chris Ash Rutgers team. Chris Ash is not head coaching material. An early Christmas Present for us would be a team that's interested in him and picks up a portion of his contract, an ill advised contract which gives Ash 9.5 million guaranteed over the next 6 years. Why our AD (Pat Hobbs) would have drafted such a contract without performance incentives or an escape clause is laughable.
 
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this may be true as he can have off years and will not be fired. he is playing a very weak division right now, which helps. he may feel different if Nebraska grows teeth. the only reason he is in the BIG Championship is that Wisky had a series of injuries that reduced them to ordinary. The West is normally weak but this year it is especially bad. NW will not likley do this again.

Since Fitz's tenure, the 'Cats have a winning record against every program in the West aside from Wisky and NEB - where they are .500.

In fact, for the past 28 games w/ Wisky, the series is tied at 14-14 (so the 'Cats are the program that have given Wisky the most trouble, not Iowa or NEB).

So don't give me the B1G W is weak this season thing.

Sure, Wisky had to deal w/ injuries (including to their QB), but that's the breaks.

NU had to deal w/ an inordinate amount of injuries during the 2013 and 2014 seasons (which otherwise would have been at the minimum bowl-eligible seasons); and they still had their fair share of injuries this season.

QB coming off of ACL surgery, starting RB having to retire (as well as both back-ups getting hurt, so had to play a true frosh), missing 3 starting DBs, as well as a star LBer, fastest receiver didn't play a snap all season, both kickers hurt so punter has to assume kicking duty, etc.

The majority of NU's talent on D is young and next year, Hunter Johnson (transfer from Clemson) will take over for Thorson.

Bowser is only a frosh and the 'Cats are finally getting some play-makers at the WR position.

The only real question is if the O-line will ever take the next step up (from mediocrity), but Fitz is to loyal (to a fault) to his assistants (would also like to see a change at OC, but that's not going to happen).

W/ NEB on the upswing under Frost and PU continuing to improve (assuming Brohm stays), the W should be more competitive than ever, but don't see why NU can't be in the rotation.

As for all the talk about how weak the W is compared to the E; the last 2 teams to beat dOSU (and beat them handily) have come from the W.
 
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Since Fitz's tenure, the 'Cats have a winning record against every program in the West aside from Wisky and NEB - where they are .500.

In fact, for the past 28 games w/ Wisky, the series is tied at 14-14 (so the 'Cats are the program that have given Wisky the most trouble, not Iowa or NEB).

So don't give me the B1G W is weak this season thing.

Sure, Wisky had to deal w/ injuries (including to their QB), but that's the breaks.

NU had to deal w/ an inordinate amount of injuries during the 2013 and 2014 seasons (which otherwise would have been at the minimum bowl-eligible seasons); and they still had their fair share of injuries this season.

QB coming off of ACL surgery, starting RB having to retire (as well as both back-ups getting hurt, so had to play a true frosh), missing 3 starting DBs, as well as a star LBer, fastest receiver didn't play a snap all season, both kickers hurt so punter has to assume kicking duty, etc.

The majority of NU's talent on D is young and next year, Hunter Johnson (transfer from Clemson) will take over for Thorson.

Bowser is only a frosh and the 'Cats are finally getting some play-makers at the WR position.

The only real question is if the O-line will ever take the next step up (from mediocrity), but Fitz is to loyal (to a fault) to his assistants (would also like to see a change at OC, but that's not going to happen).

W/ NEB on the upswing under Frost and PU continuing to improve (assuming Brohm stays), the W should be more competitive than ever, but don't see why NU can't be in the rotation.

As for all the talk about how weak the W is compared to the E; the last 2 teams to beat dOSU (and beat them handily) have come from the W.
And I hope the NEXT team to beat them comes from the West, in the Big 10 championship. Good luck! I bet most people who replied to this thread will be pulling hard for NW! Go Fitz. Go 'cats!
 
this may be true as he can have off years and will not be fired. he is playing a very weak division right now, which helps. he may feel different if Nebraska grows teeth. the only reason he is in the BIG Championship is that Wisky had a series of injuries that reduced them to ordinary. The West is normally weak but this year it is especially bad. NW will not likley do this again.

The West? Nobody in the B1G was that scary this year. Off Saturday's results, maybe Ohio State has finally caught fire, which might be just in time for the championship game unfortunately for NU. They were not impressive for most of the season. Michigan played well most of the season, but crapped out Saturday. Everyone else in the league was very beatable this year.
 
Fitzgerald has been and will continue to be the least likely coach to leave.

generally nobody considers NW a destination school for up and coming coaches. if he could get to higher level, why wouldn't he take a USC or Alabama job? more $$$ and more prestige. the only destination jobs in BIG are PSU, tOSU and UMich.
 
generally nobody considers NW a destination school for up and coming coaches. if he could get to higher level, why wouldn't he take a USC or Alabama job? more $$$ and more prestige. the only destination jobs in BIG are PSU, tOSU and UMich.

Fitz has zero interest in leaving NW. None.

He’s had big time interest and feelers for years (probably by PSU already as well). Zero interest. His family is from Chicago and he played at NW and basically has a lifetime contract at this point.
 
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So.........
NW has a winning record against Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa.


Wow.

There ought to be a trophy for that.


:rolleyes:

What's Franklin's record against dOSU, UM and MSU?


Fitz is making approx $4 mill per year - - - - with a TEN YEAR deal.


I think Fitz is a good college football coach....... but a “7-5” coach ain’t gonna’ touch that anywhere else.

A 7-5 coach doesn't have a winning or a .500 record against everyone in his division, much less 15-1 against the conference in the last 16 games, w/ the sole loss being a tight game to UM.

Or for that matter, winning at least 8 games in 6 out of 13 seasons.

That being said, am fully aware that Fitz is hardly perfect and that he does several things that drives me nuts.
 
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generally nobody considers NW a destination school for up and coming coaches. if he could get to higher level, why wouldn't he take a USC or Alabama job? more $$$ and more prestige. the only destination jobs in BIG are PSU, tOSU and UMich.

Why wouldn't he take a USC job? USC fans want to run clay helton out of town for a 5-7 season after a 10 win season where he won the rose bowl and an 11 win season where he won the pac 12 the last 2 years. Pat could go 5-7 for the next 3 or 4 seasons at NW and wouldn't come close to the hot seat.

It's his alma mater, he's basically an institution there by now and he has almost unlimited job security for achieving results that would put him on the hot seat at any school that genuinely aspires to win national titles. He basically has the job for life if that's what he wants. He might value that more than the opportunity to win national titles.
 
Quit speculation! Coach Franklin should have sufficiently above-average market compensation so that he stays Penn State for rest of his coaching career. Set up the contract so poachers stay away.
 
Fitz Career Record (all at NW):
95-69..... win pct = 57.9%

7-5 = win pct of 58.3%


Ok...... I admit it, I gave him a bit more credit than he was due - I rounded up :)


I think Fitz is a good college FB coach - and from what I can see he is a decent human being (which is far more important, IMO).
But, as a football coach, it is what it is.

Since his first year (4-8), he has been 5 losses +/- 2 in EVERY season.
Incredibly consistently “middle of the road” for a P5 program.

You obviously don't realize how difficult it is to be "middle of the road" at Northwestern. There have been three Hall of Fame coaches at NU, including Ara Parseghian, who haven't won with Fitz's consistency. He just got a $270 million practice facility built at a place that is about as far from Football U. as you can get. He's not going anywhere.
 
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