Shoutout to Coach Braun

[eastbaycat99]

Two and a half years ago when the hazing stuff blew up, I figured NU football was a dead issue for at least five years. Since then, NU has had 2 of 3 winning years (one in theB1G) and hired a high profile assistant. While I am sure the AD hire helped, the way Braun has navigated the changed college football landscape has been remarkable. The Cats May yet fall apart, but Coach Braun should get a lot of credit for holding things together. There has been a lot of criticism of him on this board. In contrast, I am really appreciative of his skill and basic decency.

 

[zeek55]

I've mostly ignored the criticism because the results speak for themselves: 2 winning seasons in 3 years with 2 bowl wins. That's a solid start given the mess he walked into where a team with 4 wins in the prior 2 seasons combined was dumped on his lap amid the completely botched Fitz firing with a stadium rebuild pending and knowing the president/AD were lame ducks after that fiasco.

He's keeping the program on a solid trajectory while learning on the job (much as Fitz did early in his tenure); that's incredibly hard to do at this level, especially when the Big Ten is much tougher in 2025 than it was in the mid-00s, arguably the toughest the Big Ten has ever been top to bottom.

Hard to believe we're entering the new stadium era with the program in arguably the best shape it's been in... in a while...

Also like that he understands the stakes and is willing to put his ego to the side to bring in a huge name like Kelly. There's upside in it for him too in terms of taking advantage of the longer runway he'll have to put this together, but it's pretty clear that he wants to aim higher.

I think Braun will be here for a while with potentially great results; that's about all you can hope for in this day and age of CFB.

 

[Rodenthater]

Two and a half years ago when the hazing stuff blew up, I figured NU football was a dead issue for at least five years. Since then, NU has had 2 of 3 winning years (one in theB1G) and hired a high profile assistant. While I am sure the AD hire helped, the way Braun has navigated the changed college football landscape has been remarkable. The Cats May yet fall apart, but Coach Braun should get a lot of credit for holding things together. There has been a lot of criticism of him on this board. In contrast, I am really appreciative of his skill and basic decenc.

I believe he’s really grown as a head coach. It was baptism by fire and he handled it well. I believe he’s going to grow in this position even more! He looked adversity in the eye and met it head on!

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Two and a half years ago when the hazing stuff blew up, I figured NU football was a dead issue for at least five years. Since then, NU has had 2 of 3 winning years (one in theB1G) and hired a high profile assistant. While I am sure the AD hire helped, the way Braun has navigated the changed college football landscape has been remarkable. The Cats May yet fall apart, but Coach Braun should get a lot of credit for holding things together. There has been a lot of criticism of him on this board. In contrast, I am really appreciative of his skill and basic decenc.

There is a major difference between concern and criticism. First of all, I can’t think of a single poster on this board that doesn’t think Braun is fine leader of these young men. I don’t think there are any that don’t belive he is passionate about the players and the program. None.

Braun took over an impossible situation and is learning on the job. He still has some head scratching in game decisions. It’s ok to point this out and not lose your fan card. His recruiting up to this point isn’t close to where it needs to be if he really is serious about a goal to win the B1G and make the playoffs. That’s always been my biggest concern. Again, I don’t think that makes me a negative Nancy at all, but at times it seems like some get offended to hear that opinion because Braun is such a decent human being. I get that, the P4 HC population is littered with douche bags. Braun is the exact opposite of this.

The best news for Braun is the program just made the biggest hire in forever with Kelly. If they follow through with more $$$ for players, the outlook is bright. Without better players Don Shula wouldn’t win the B1G. These resources should help Braun immensely to upgrade the roster. I feel 10x better about where we are today than I did a week ago.

 

[Gatabowl]

He and Fitz both had 19 wins in their first 3 years. Fitz had 19 losses; Braun 20. Here is the breakdown.

Fitz Wins
2006
1. @miami-OH
2. Eastern Michigan
3. @Iowa
4. Illinois
2007
5. Northeastern
6. Nevada
7. @Michigan State
8. Minnesota
9. @eastern Michigan
10. Indiana
2008
11. Syracuse
12. @Duke
13. Southern Illinois
14. Ohio
15. @Iowa
16. Purdue
17. @minnesota
18. @Michigan
19. Illinois

Fitz Losses
2006
1. New Hampshire (hi Chip!)
2. @Nevada
3. @penn state
4. @Wisconsin
5. Purdue
6. Michigan State
7. @Michigan
8. @Ohio State
2007
9. Duke
10. @Ohio State
11. Michigan
12. @purdue
13. Iowa
14. @Illinois
2008
15. @Michigan State
16. @Indiana
17. @Ohio State
18. Missouri (bowl)

Braun Wins
2023
1. UTEP
2. Minnesota
3. Howard
4. Maryland
5. @Wisconsin
6. Purdue
7. @Illinois
8. Utah (bowl)
2024
9. Miami-OH
10. Eastern Illinois
11. @Maryland
12. @purdue
2025
13. Western Illinois
14. UCLA
15. Louisiana-Monroe
16. @penn state
17. Purdue
18. Minnesota
19. Central Michigan (bowl)

Braun Losses
2023
1. @Rutgers
2. @Duke
3. @penn state
4. @Nebraska
5. Iowa
2024
6. Duke
7. @Washington
8. @Indiana
9. Wisconsin
10. @Iowa
11. @Ohio State
12. @Michigan
13. @Ilinois
2025
14. @Tulane
15. Oregon
16. @Nebraska
17. @USC
18. Michigan
19. @Illinois

 

[its_the_sauce]

That 2008 SIU game was a wet one.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

He and Fitz both had 19 wins in their first 3 years. Fitz had 19 losses; Braun 20. Here is the breakdown.

Fitz Wins
2006
1. @miami-OH
2. Eastern Michigan
3. @Iowa
4. Illinois
2007
5. Northeastern
6. Nevada
7. @Michigan State
8. Minnesota
9. @eastern Michigan
10. Indiana
2008
11. Syracuse
12. @Duke
13. Southern Illinois
14. Ohio
15. @Iowa
16. Purdue
17. @minnesota
18. @Michigan
19. Illinois

Fitz Losses
2006
1. New Hampshire (hi Chip!)
2. @Nevada
3. @penn state
4. @Wisconsin
5. Purdue
6. Michigan State
7. @Michigan
8. @Ohio State
2007
9. Duke
10. @Ohio State
11. Michigan
12. @purdue
13. Iowa
14. @Illinois
2008
15. @Michigan State
16. @Indiana
17. @Ohio State
18. Missouri (bowl)

Braun Wins
2023
1. UTEP
2. Minnesota
3. Howard
4. Maryland
5. @Wisconsin
6. Purdue
7. @Illinois
8. Utah (bowl)
2024
9. Miami-OH
10. Eastern Illinois
11. @Maryland
12. @purdue
2025
13. Western Illinois
14. UCLA
15. Louisiana-Monroe
16. @penn state
17. Purdue
18. Minnesota
19. Central Michigan (bowl)

Braun Losses
2023
1. @Rutgers
2. @Duke
3. @penn state
4. @Nebraska
5. Iowa
2024
6. Duke
7. @Washington
8. @Indiana
9. Wisconsin
10. @Iowa
11. @Ohio State
12. @Michigan
13. @Ilinois
2025
14. @Tulane
15. Oregon
16. @Nebraska
17. @USC
18. Michigan
19. @Illinois

What’s your point?

 

[1949mcd]

Two and a half years ago when the hazing stuff blew up, I figured NU football was a dead issue for at least five years. Since then, NU has had 2 of 3 winning years (one in theB1G) and hired a high profile assistant. While I am sure the AD hire helped, the way Braun has navigated the changed college football landscape has been remarkable. The Cats May yet fall apart, but Coach Braun should get a lot of credit for holding things together. There has been a lot of criticism of him on this board. In contrast, I am really appreciative of his skill and basic decency.

Spot on.

 

[Gatabowl]

What’s your point?

Just thought it was interesting to see how it shook out. Feel free to draw your own conclusions. There are plenty to be had.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

What’s your point?

More like, who cares?

 

[HKKJB]

I've mostly ignored the criticism because the results speak for themselves: 2 winning seasons in 3 years with 2 bowl wins. That's a solid start given the mess he walked into where a team with 4 wins in the prior 2 seasons combined was dumped on his lap amid the completely botched Fitz firing with a stadium rebuild pending and knowing the president/AD were lame ducks after that fiasco.

He's keeping the program on a solid trajectory while learning on the job (much as Fitz did early in his tenure); that's incredibly hard to do at this level, especially when the Big Ten is much tougher in 2025 than it was in the mid-00s, arguably the toughest the Big Ten has ever been top to bottom.

Hard to believe we're entering the new stadium era with the program in arguably the best shape it's been in... in a while...

Also like that he understands the stakes and is willing to put his ego to the side to bring in a huge name like Kelly. There's upside in it for him too in terms of taking advantage of the longer runway he'll have to put this together, but it's pretty clear that he wants to aim higher.

I think Braun will be here for a while with potentially great results; that's about all you can hope for in this day and age of CFB.

This is so well said. Your points about learning on the job and putting ego aside both stand out for me. Braun seems like a sober, systematic decision maker - His decision on splitting the OL coaching is one example that paid dividends this year. It's early days but my sense is that - unlike Fitz - he won't be letting his ego cloud his decisions.

 

[zeek55]

This is so well said. Your points about learning on the job and putting ego aside both stand out for me. Braun seems like a sober, systematic decision maker - His decision on splitting the OL coaching is one example that paid dividends this year. It's early days but my sense is that - unlike Fitz - he won't be letting his ego cloud his decisions.

It's not just Fitz, I think most assistants once they become HCs view themselves as having "arrived", especially after a couple years of being HC. I get why; they face tons of (in many cases unwarranted, though some justified) criticism from fans and even media, and so they build a sort of defensive coachspeak shell to explain why their decisions are always correct. It sort of gets harder on coaches to continually adjust and change their mindset and succeed in multiple decades, which is probably why a lot bounce back down to being coordinators or fail to be able to stay at the highest level as HC. I also think for many, identifying good staff/assistants is where they trip up, and staff quality is so important to being able to succeed.

Braun strikes me as somebody extremely willing to learn/adjust/adapt at this phase of his career; he also understands and is willing to make tough decisions knowing how difficult staff/personnel decisions are due to the human cost..., but ultimately this is now becoming a business. He's already becoming what appears to be a solid head of program as HC.

It's a bold and aggressive and quite frankly smart move for him to bring on Chip Kelly even knowing that Kelly is a big name OC to the point of the news of his hire being discussed on ESPN and podcasts that follow CFB, and that he's basically ceding control of the offense to Kelly but also going to likely be able to learn from him. It's going big to try and solve what has been the biggest problem with the program over the past 5 years: lack of quality offensive output/scoring.

Braun has basically done everything right to this point, and he's earned at least a few years to try and make this work especially if we see signs over the next 2 years that Kelly is able to lift the offense.

It feels like we're in a very fortunate position to have the program where it is as we enter new RF. Hard to believe we're in such a great setup given the upheaval 3 years ago.

 

[Eurocat]

First of all, I can’t think of a single poster on this board that doesn’t think Braun is fine leader of these young men. I don’t think there are any that don’t belive he is passionate about the players and the program. None.

Is David Braun Bill Carmody? - Forums

Kind of get that impression. His team can punch above its weight class at times, but I don’t see Northwestern ever being anything more than after thought/joke in the overall CFB landscape under his stewardship. Every second this guy is at the helm the program falls deeper into despair

www.on3.com

"Every second this guy is at the helm the program falls deeper into despair"

Is David Braun Bill Carmody? - Forums

Kind of get that impression. His team can punch above its weight class at times, but I don’t see Northwestern ever being anything more than after thought/joke in the overall CFB landscape under his stewardship. Every second this guy is at the helm the program falls deeper into despair

www.on3.com

"This team and program is absolutely heading in the WRONG direction. He can’t recruit, he can’t get his team ready play against good competition, and he’s incompetent as game manager."

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Is David Braun Bill Carmody? - Forums

Kind of get that impression. His team can punch above its weight class at times, but I don’t see Northwestern ever being anything more than after thought/joke in the overall CFB landscape under his stewardship. Every second this guy is at the helm the program falls deeper into despair

www.on3.com

"Every second this guy is at the helm the program falls deeper into despair"

Is David Braun Bill Carmody? - Forums

Kind of get that impression. His team can punch above its weight class at times, but I don’t see Northwestern ever being anything more than after thought/joke in the overall CFB landscape under his stewardship. Every second this guy is at the helm the program falls deeper into despair

www.on3.com

"This team and program is absolutely heading in the WRONG direction. He can’t recruit, he can’t get his team ready play against good competition, and he’s incompetent as game manager."

So what? It’s his opinion. Where did he say Braun was not a good leader of young men or didn’t care about the program? No, not having them ready to play is NOT the same thing.

Re-posting’s from a guy who hasn’t been seen in a month and has a grand total of 2 months on this board is the best you can do? So silly!

 

[hdhntr1]

That 2008 SIU game was a wet one.

There were not many of us in the stands that day. Hard to get there with all the flooding. I was there but could not get anyone else to go

 

[prez77]

That 2008 SIU game was a wet one.

Noah's Ark territory

 

[hdhntr1]

I've mostly ignored the criticism because the results speak for themselves: 2 winning seasons in 3 years with 2 bowl wins. That's a solid start given the mess he walked into where a team with 4 wins in the prior 2 seasons combined was dumped on his lap amid the completely botched Fitz firing with a stadium rebuild pending and knowing the president/AD were lame ducks after that fiasco.

He's keeping the program on a solid trajectory while learning on the job (much as Fitz did early in his tenure); that's incredibly hard to do at this level, especially when the Big Ten is much tougher in 2025 than it was in the mid-00s, arguably the toughest the Big Ten has ever been top to bottom.

Hard to believe we're entering the new stadium era with the program in arguably the best shape it's been in... in a while...

Also like that he understands the stakes and is willing to put his ego to the side to bring in a huge name like Kelly. There's upside in it for him too in terms of taking advantage of the longer runway he'll have to put this together, but it's pretty clear that he wants to aim higher.

I think Braun will be here for a while with potentially great results; that's about all you can hope for in this day and age of CFB.

Sorry but stop this garbage about FItz's last couple years as if that what was handed over to him is not accurate, . Fitz made a big mistake in the hiring of JON and he corrected that error. He and the staff had also had brought in their starting QB on which the O of that team was built. The 23 team was built to win. Braun deserves a lot of credit for holding it together but not for building it,

It was Fitz's team. So it is sort of a 25 Braun/75 Fitz credit. split Even this last year, the vast majority of the impact players were still guys Fitz and company put in place. This year credit spit was now more like 75/25. Though the portal he has brought in som good to very good and some so so.to bad Braun definitely deserves credit for what he has done but not the over the top praise that you seem to want to give him, especially for that first year. Fitz guys are moving through and out of the system and we will have to see how his (Braun's) ability to bring in the guys he and the program needs shakes out, So far his pick of portal QBs has been pretty bad last year and OK but not great this year. Lujan was not an improvement from Jake.

That all said, he is definitely improving overall and his moving on from Lujan and being able to bring in Chip Kelly is a big indicator and could be huge in the future of the program. Hopefully that will also help with the talent acquisition and Braun can exceed what Fitz was able to accomplish

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

Sorry but stop this garbage about FItz's last couple years as if that what was handed over to him is not accurate, . Fitz made a big mistake in the hiring of JON and he corrected that error. He and the staff had also had brought in their starting QB on which the O of that team was built. The 23 team was built to win. Braun deserves a lot of credit for holding it together but not for building it,

It was Fitz's team. So it is sort of a 25 Braun/75 Fitz credit. split Even this last year, the vast majority of the impact players were still guys Fitz and company put in place. This year credit spit was now more like 75/25. Though the portal he has brought in som good to very good and some so so.to bad Braun definitely deserves credit for what he has done but not the over the top praise that you seem to want to give him, especially for that first year. Fitz guys are moving through and out of the system and we will have to see how his (Braun's) ability to bring in the guys he and the program needs shakes out, So far his pick of portal QBs has been pretty bad last year and OK but not great this year. Lujan was not an improvement from Jake.

That all said, he is definitely improving overall and his moving on from Lujan and being able to bring in Chip Kelly is a big indicator and could be huge in the future of the program. Hopefully that will also help with the talent acquisition and Braun can exceed what Fitz was able to accomplish

I am so sick of people genuflecting to the Shrine of St Patrick. He caused more harm to the athletic program AND the university than anyone in its history. I bet you all will be rooting for Michigan State against NU.

He deserves a statue, but turn it around so he can "look the other way" like he did for 15+ years.

 

[zeek55]

Sorry but stop this garbage about FItz's last couple years as if that what was handed over to him is not accurate, . Fitz made a big mistake in the hiring of JON and he corrected that error. He and the staff had also had brought in their starting QB on which the O of that team was built. The 23 team was built to win. Braun deserves a lot of credit for holding it together but not for building it,

It was Fitz's team. So it is sort of a 25 Braun/75 Fitz credit. split Even this last year, the vast majority of the impact players were still guys Fitz and company put in place. This year credit spit was now more like 75/25. Though the portal he has brought in som good to very good and some so so.to bad Braun definitely deserves credit for what he has done but not the over the top praise that you seem to want to give him, especially for that first year. Fitz guys are moving through and out of the system and we will have to see how his (Braun's) ability to bring in the guys he and the program needs shakes out, So far his pick of portal QBs has been pretty bad last year and OK but not great this year. Lujan was not an improvement from Jake.

That all said, he is definitely improving overall and his moving on from Lujan and being able to bring in Chip Kelly is a big indicator and could be huge in the future of the program. Hopefully that will also help with the talent acquisition and Braun can exceed what Fitz was able to accomplish

This is just not how football works. Nobody thought this when Fitz took over and nobody thinks it when Braun took over.

The team could have all bolted or fallen apart after Fitz got fired (like a lot of the fans did). I think the firing was wrong and handled poorly, but it doesn't change the fact that the team rallied in part due to Braun being there and doing a solid job.

The team was 1-11 in 2022.

We started the 2023 campaign with a 7-24 loss to a mediocre Rutgers team. Team rallied during the Minnesota game and several times later in the season.

Could have lost to Howard as well btw; the team was living on a knife edge and yet ended up 8-5 as opposed to a couple of bad bounces towards a 5-7 or 4-8 finish.

There were a bunch of 50-50 games that we ended up winning; there's just no guarantees we win them in a different scenario.

 

[UpsetAlert]

I am so sick of people genuflecting to the Shrine of St Patrick. He caused more harm to the athletic program AND the university than anyone in its history. I bet you all will be rooting for Michigan State against NU.

He deserves a statue, but turn it around so he can "look the other way" like he did for 15+ years.

Huh?

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Huh?

He gets worked up anytime someone defends Fitz. They never learn, if he isn’t brought up, no one will talk about him until the MSU game. Yet, throw out **** and they expect it to go unanswered.

 

[DaCat]

It's pretty obvious that the majority of the players really like and respect Braun. He's genuine and a good human being, but is not afraid to make tough decisions. Now he needs to deliver on his talk about competing for championships. It's going to be a fun ride.

 

[katatonic2]

While Braun certainly has made some mistakea, difference is that he doesn't keep making the same one/isn't agonizingly slow in making the proper change/adjustment and certainly isn't afraid to be decisive and make a major change.

And oh, we've already seen the O-line improve to average and here's hoping it keeps improving.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

While Braun certainly has made some mistakea, difference is that he doesn't keep making the same one/isn't agonizingly slow in making the proper change/adjustment and certainly isn't afraid to be decisive and make a major change.

And oh, we've already seen the O-line improve to average and here's hoping it keeps improving.

Ok, the end of half stuff he kind of keeps making over and over tbh

 

[bringbacktherantboard]

I am so sick of people genuflecting to the Shrine of St Patrick. He caused more harm to the athletic program AND the university than anyone in its history. I bet you all will be rooting for Michigan State against NU.

He deserves a statue, but turn it around so he can "look the other way" like he did for 15+ years.

Hmm, that's not what NU's statement from the Fitz settlement said.

 

[Gatabowl]

Sorry but stop this garbage about FItz's last couple years as if that what was handed over to him is not accurate, . Fitz made a big mistake in the hiring of JON and he corrected that error. He and the staff had also had brought in their starting QB on which the O of that team was built. The 23 team was built to win. Braun deserves a lot of credit for holding it together but not for building it,

It was Fitz's team. So it is sort of a 25 Braun/75 Fitz credit. split Even this last year, the vast majority of the impact players were still guys Fitz and company put in place. This year credit spit was now more like 75/25. Though the portal he has brought in som good to very good and some so so.to bad Braun definitely deserves credit for what he has done but not the over the top praise that you seem to want to give him, especially for that first year. Fitz guys are moving through and out of the system and we will have to see how his (Braun's) ability to bring in the guys he and the program needs shakes out, So far his pick of portal QBs has been pretty bad last year and OK but not great this year. Lujan was not an improvement from Jake.

That all said, he is definitely improving overall and his moving on from Lujan and being able to bring in Chip Kelly is a big indicator and could be huge in the future of the program. Hopefully that will also help with the talent acquisition and Braun can exceed what Fitz was able to accomplish

Dude come on. He hired TWO bad coordinators. JON was more obvious because of how good Hank was, but Jake was worse than the guy he replaced, too, and from a much lower baseline.

Moreover, Jake’s offenses were putrid and worse than Lujan, who wasn’t blowing anyone away. We scored under 14 points per game in 2022. Under 14! And after NU, Jake left and led the worse offense in college football. He was a terrible, terrible OC hire and he’s been a bad O. But hey he’s a good QB developer?

The collective amnesia around the horrible state our program was in is just wild. Pat Fitzgerald in no way gets the majority of credit for Braun’s success here, especially after back to back humiliating seasons. He is the best coach we’ve ever had, a great guy on a personal level, and maybe our greatest player, too, but let’s be honest about what was happening on the field.

Braun might not end up taking us to where we need to go but he’s done a damn good job and he deserves credit.

 

[hdhntr1]

While Braun certainly has made some mistakea, difference is that he doesn't keep making the same one/isn't agonizingly slow in making the proper change/adjustment and certainly isn't afraid to be decisive and make a major change.

And oh, we've already seen the O-line improve to average and here's hoping it keeps improving.

Took him same amount of time as it took Fitz to move on from JON.

OL was a strength this year so I would say beyond average

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Dude come on. He hired TWO bad coordinators. JON was more obvious because of how good Hank was, but Jake was worse than the guy he replaced, too, and from a much lower baseline.

Moreover, Jake’s offenses were putrid and worse than Lujan, who wasn’t blowing anyone away. We scored under 14 points per game in 2022. Under 14! And after NU, Jake left and led the worse offense in college football. He was a terrible, terrible OC hire and he’s been a bad O. But hey he’s a good QB developer?

The collective amnesia around the horrible state our program was in is just wild. Pat Fitzgerald in no way gets the majority of credit for Braun’s success here, especially after back to back humiliating seasons. He is the best coach we’ve ever had, a great guy on a personal level, and maybe our greatest player, too, but let’s be honest about what was happening on the field.

Braun might not end up taking us to where we need to go but he’s done a damn good job and he deserves credit.

Giving JON two entire seasons to single handedly tank the entire program when it was obvious he was a singular disaster like three weeks in was a frankly unforgivable sin. Almost no other programs would have allowed him to finish the first season, none whatsoever would have allowed him to be retained.

 

[Eurocat]

Goodness gracious why are people still talking about Fitz and his poor DC hire? People are people and coaches are people. Coaches make mistakes and usually give the mistakes more than a year to show they were not mistakes. Happens in everything from College Football to Major League Baseball. Bad hire. Two years. Fired. Sh*t happens.

Our coach is now Braun (who most of I think like....who found him and hired him? Were his initials PF perchance?)
Our OC is now Chip Kelly
Neuheisel Jr. on staff.
New OL coach is very experienced and a peek at message boards for fans of teams where he has been reveal they are sad he is gone.
Remaining coaches said to be good recruiters.

New coaches, former NFL coach, new ultra cool stadium all this could lead to big things in recruiting, portal, tv attention, etc. Also hiring of Kelly means maybe a new willingness to spend. Could there be a willingness to be more amenable to Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Rice and Military Academy standards for sports admissions? Here's hoping.

GO CATS

 

[ricko6543211]

That 2008 SIU game was a wet one.

That SIU game in 2008 was “football weather” at its finest. Anyone who was in NUMB with me that day remembers that well haha. All the fans retreated beneath the overhang. We were there to enjoy the (all too close) W.

 

[ricko6543211]

That SIU game in 2008 was “football weather” at its finest. Anyone who was in NUMB with me that day remembers that well haha. All the fans retreated beneath the overhang. We were there to enjoy the (all too close) W.

In terms of bad weather games, it was only second to the Northwestern Michigan game later that year. Where it was a mix of rain snow sleet and everything else. And by the end of the game all the NU fans were still there and 95% of the soft Wolverine fans had left so we basically had the majority of the crowd to enjoy the win. We were late to get down to the field for the halftime show because it was taking too long to flip around our capes bc everyone’s hands were too cold. And when we were marching out of the stadium back to the buses I yelled to Jin “play the (cadence) sequence again” and he says back to me “Rick we can’t feel our hands” - stoic guy and the best drummer I played with, it was the only time in 4 years he ever gave something resembling a complaint. When I woke up the next morning I had scratches all over my hands (from drumming with frozen hands) but didn’t care one bit. Was lots of fun to beat them in the Big House.

 

[Eurocat]

I am so sick of people genuflecting to the Shrine of St Patrick. He caused more harm to the athletic program AND the university than anyone in its history.

Ridiculous. He hired the guy who replaced him who then took us to two bowls (both victories) in three years and just hired Chip Kelly and Ricky Neuheisel.

More harm than anyone? Dennis Lundy?

 

[Fanaticat98]

In terms of bad weather games, it was only second to the Northwestern Michigan game later that year. Where it was a mix of rain snow sleet and everything else. And by the end of the game all the NU fans were still there and 95% of the soft Wolverine fans had left so we basically had the majority of the crowd to enjoy the win. We were late to get down to the field for the halftime show because it was taking too long to flip around our capes bc everyone’s hands were too cold. And when we were marching out of the stadium back to the buses I yelled to Jin “play the (cadence) sequence again” and he says back to me “Rick we can’t feel our hands” - stoic guy and the best drummer I played with, it was the only time in 4 years he ever gave something resembling a complaint. When I woke up the next morning I had scratches all over my hands (from drumming with frozen hands) but didn’t care one bit. Was lots of fun to beat them in the Big House.

NU Michigan 1998 was probably the worst weather game I’ve been to (not to mention the very forgettable result). Monsoon level rainfall of the sort where the stadium steps were like cascading waterfalls.

 

[docrugby1]

NU Michigan 1998 was probably the worst weather game I’ve been to (not to mention the very forgettable result). Monsoon level rainfall of the sort where the stadium steps were like cascading waterfalls.

I believe that was the game where the playing surface held up extremely well.NU,at the urging of GB , installed a new turf design that had grass growing through a "synthetic mesh". A friend of mine owned the patent and almost all NFL teams contacted him after that NU game. The Baltimore Ravens installed the turf but their field superintendent demanded a huge pay off or he would warn all other teams to avoid the product. He essentially killed the product with his claim of increased injuries My golf course installed the turf at the high traffic areas around the end of cart paths and we did not have bare spots in those problematic areas. My friend , now deceased, also owned the patent to "SoftSpikes" but his revolutionary hybrid turf (.natural grass secured through a deep synthetic layer) failed. I am not sure how long NU used the hybrid field, maybe some insider old guys can give more information

 

[zeek55]

As far as Fitz goes, I have 0 ill will towards him, and I do think that the hiring of Braun saved the program, so Fitz deserves full credit for firing JON and hiring what ended up being his own successor.

On balance, of course Fitz's contributions to NU football vastly outweigh the 2 year JON mistake because it's hopefully just a negative 2 year blip on Northwestern football and Fitz himself came on and stabilized what Barnett/Walk had started and made it last multiple decades as he ended the bowl losses and got 100+ wins and a bowl winning streak going. Fitz's tenure made Barnett's resurrection not just a short explosion before a return to the Big Ten basement; we needed that to deliver a 30+ year period of relative success and enable us to catch up on facilities given we were so far behind.

Hopefully, the past 3 years and what appears to be a Braun/Chip Kelly partnership now signal we're firmly on our trajectory of being a solid middle to upper tier Big Ten program as we've been for much of the past 3 decades.

Our program is a dumpster fire if Braun isn't here to take it over; I don't know that McGarigle could have pulled off what Braun did; not sure many HCs could have quite frankly if we had tried to grab some random available HC that didn't have a job. And this would have been one of the worst times to have a dumpster fire of a program given NIL changes and the stadium rebuild and having a Prez/AD who were incompetent.

So yeah, the future is as bright as it's ever been if Braun/Chip Kelly can make this work in the new stadium and deliver balanced competitive teams at the highest level. Also Mark Jackson might end up being as important as Phillips was to our program if he can deliver the NIL resources and enable talent acquisition that's needed to be a middle to upper tier Big Ten program consistently; Phillips helped deliver the facilities, now we need Mark Jackson to come through on NIL with our biggest donors. Big Ten revenue share is not enough to compete with how many Big Ten/SEC and a few other programs are adding outside donor resources to talent acquisition.

 

[Hungry Jack]

There is a major difference between concern and criticism. First of all, I can’t think of a single poster on this board that doesn’t think Braun is fine leader of these young men. I don’t think there are any that don’t belive he is passionate about the players and the program. None.

Braun took over an impossible situation and is learning on the job. He still has some head scratching in game decisions. It’s ok to point this out and not lose your fan card. His recruiting up to this point isn’t close to where it needs to be if he really is serious about a goal to win the B1G and make the playoffs. That’s always been my biggest concern. Again, I don’t think that makes me a negative Nancy at all, but at times it seems like some get offended to hear that opinion because Braun is such a decent human being. I get that, the P4 HC population is littered with douche bags. Braun is the exact opposite of this.

The best news for Braun is the program just made the biggest hire in forever with Kelly. If they follow through with more $$$ for players, the outlook is bright. Without better players Don Shula wouldn’t win the B1G. These resources should help Braun immensely to upgrade the roster. I feel 10x better about where we are today than I did a week ago.

Isn’t Shula deceased?

 

[Curdog7]

He gets worked up anytime someone defends Fitz. They never learn, if he isn’t brought up, no one will talk about him until the MSU game. Yet, throw out **** and they expect it to go unanswered.

This is the same moron who compared the Fitz “scandal” to what happened at ped state. I think Fitz ran over his puppy. Just ignore.

 

[Eurocat]

I am big on free speech and I think until threats or completely crazy things start "anything goes" so I am not suggesting anything be done but he seems overwhelmingly anti-Fitz for some reason. Sure Fitz f*cked up two of his last seasons, he also took us to a Big Ten Championship game and took us to four bowls in a rown that we won (and some we lost but that was earlier).

Jeez, move on, I will be rooting for Fitz in every game apart from ours next year and I will always be happy that he - XCoach Pat Fitzgerald - Hired Dave Braun, who will take us to the next level of football dominance and a national championship in the next few years.

GO CATS!

 

[Gatabowl]

As far as Fitz goes, I have 0 ill will towards him, and I do think that the hiring of Braun saved the program, so Fitz deserves full credit for firing JON and hiring what ended up being his own successor.

On balance, of course Fitz's contributions to NU football vastly outweigh the 2 year JON mistake because it's hopefully just a negative 2 year blip on Northwestern football and Fitz himself came on and stabilized what Barnett/Walk had started and made it last multiple decades as he ended the bowl losses and got 100+ wins and a bowl winning streak going. Fitz's tenure made Barnett's resurrection not just a short explosion before a return to the Big Ten basement; we needed that to deliver a 30+ year period of relative success and enable us to catch up on facilities given we were so far behind.

Hopefully, the past 3 years and what appears to be a Braun/Chip Kelly partnership now signal we're firmly on our trajectory of being a solid middle to upper tier Big Ten program as we've been for much of the past 3 decades.

Our program is a dumpster fire if Braun isn't here to take it over; I don't know that McGarigle could have pulled off what Braun did; not sure many HCs could have quite frankly if we had tried to grab some random available HC that didn't have a job. And this would have been one of the worst times to have a dumpster fire of a program given NIL changes and the stadium rebuild and having a Prez/AD who were incompetent.

So yeah, the future is as bright as it's ever been if Braun/Chip Kelly can make this work in the new stadium and deliver balanced competitive teams at the highest level. Also Mark Jackson might end up being as important as Phillips was to our program if he can deliver the NIL resources and enable talent acquisition that's needed to be a middle to upper tier Big Ten program consistently; Phillips helped deliver the facilities, now we need Mark Jackson to come through on NIL with our biggest donors. Big Ten revenue share is not enough to compete with how many Big Ten/SEC and a few other programs are adding outside donor resources to talent acquisition.

Great post.

All of this can be true (and for the record, I largely agree with this entire post) with the following added:
1. Fitz didn't adapt to the need for offense in modern college football (and retaining and later rehiring Bajakian supports this further)
2. Fitz's (public at least) commentary on NIL philosophy was behind the times while he was at NU
3. Fitz's best years were behind him, and 4-20 concluding with 0-10 should be a fireable offense at NU

He's allowed to be a legend and our best coach ever and also not the best coach for us anymore (note: it also might not be Braun).

 

[NU Houston]

That SIU game in 2008 was “football weather” at its finest. Anyone who was in NUMB with me that day remembers that well haha. All the fans retreated beneath the overhang. We were there to enjoy the (all too close) W.

I was there, and I did not retreat beneath the overhang!

The saving grace that day was that the temperature was not cold. Sure, the game was played in an monsoon, but at least it wasn't cold.