Blackshirts
- Thread starter Headcard
- Start date
Yeah, it's very cringy at this point, especially when the TV announcers talk about it. In the past 20 years, save for a couple of years like 2009/10, the blackshirts have existed in concept only.
I don't agree. Maybe useless to fans. But I guarantee players felt a uh oh moment and a hit to the pride when stripped of the blackshirts. I hope coach MJ is putting all starters on notice. Especially on defense.
It’s held tradition that the players deeply have worked for and feel the honor of receiving them..
I get it. It should mean something to the players. They way it's been treated for a long while, it's lost it's meaning. Same as the "fake" sellout streak everyone hates.
If the blackshirt motivates the players, it's worth it.
If the sellout streak impresses a recruit or potential fan, it's worth it.
Blackshirts-no matter how far we have slipped in defense should still mean something to the players, it represents a status of excellence that needs to be upheld. I wouldn't give them back until the defense as whole starts to improve and be consistent with contributing to wins. When we are, if ever, players better earn them. I am confident with Mickey that the best players are going to play from here on out and if they don't get it done in the game, he has nothing to lose by changing it up to find someone who will.
Like Mickey said in his after practice presser awhile back,
"I'm not gonna pretend like I didn't see it."
I'm guessing, without knowing, the NU players have heard more tough love truth from Mickey in the last 2 practices than they heard from Frost the previous 4+ years.
There is a blackshirt coffee mug in my cabinet. It has not been used in many years. Someday maybe....
For the players, it's a matter of pride. Perhaps they will be a little more cereal now that their blackshirts have been taken away.
It will be interesting to see how the team performs under Mickey. I've always thought for the years under Frost that the players were missing the mental drive to succeed. The problem wasn't lack of physical talent IMO but lack of mental toughness. We'll see if that changes with a new leader at the top.
Originally Black Shirts were awarded for making 1st string, although some coaches doinked with that tradition post-Solich.
I wish they would just go back to the original tradition. This game performance requirement is very subjective.
I wish they would just go back to the original tradition. This game performance requirement is very subjective.
Hang them up in the locker room with no names or numbers and make a player earn it as a thing it takes years to get and not just a participation award
College football is great in large measure because of the various traditions schools have. The sellout streak is an important one for NU football and I for one value it. I don't give a crap what people say about it being fake. It is important. I also value the Blackshirt tradition, but I do not mind at all that those shirts have been removed temporarily. This defense should be wearing pink jerseys in practice as a mark of shame.
I'm with you. At this point, I'd be good with the Blackshirts leaving for a few years until we have a D that can stop people. I agree with the poster who said that the D needs to be in like the Top 30 in D to earn them.
I have mixed feelings. The Blackshirts have played like anything other than what a Blackshirt is supposed to represent.
Even though the defense has been horseshit, some of the blame goes to the scheme being used which has been exploited.
Missed tackles have been a huge problem, yet, if this team has not practiced that rather important part of the game, I hesitate to punish a kid(s) who hasn't been properly taught.
That falls on the coaches, then once the tackling has been taught, if a kid continues to miss tackles, off the Blackshirt comes with the agreement he can re-earn it as soon as he elevates that part of his game.
But, I did say 2-3 days ago the Blackshirts should be withdrawn until they prove they actually earn them in game action. So I don't have an issue with the Blackshirts being withheld.
I don’t know how you can fix anything with Chinander… I’m not seeing the defensive position coaches demonstrate any competence, but hard to say how much might be linked to the DC.
I wish there could be a quick fix for defense, but every position group has been awful.
Hearing Chins talk about tackling makes me cringe. He admitted (not admitting any fault) that he is teaching them the technique that is causing half or more of our missed tackles.
I could go on about each position coach, but Mickey needs to find some adult in the room who has an actual solution that is not “keep practicing the same thing.”
I wish there could be a quick fix for defense, but every position group has been awful.
Hearing Chins talk about tackling makes me cringe. He admitted (not admitting any fault) that he is teaching them the technique that is causing half or more of our missed tackles.
I could go on about each position coach, but Mickey needs to find some adult in the room who has an actual solution that is not “keep practicing the same thing.”
Benning gave a nice explanation on Big Red Wrap Up essentially saying if you play soft box gotta play tighter coverage or vice versa stacked box with ‘loose’ coverage.
What we do is play soft box with soft coverage= recipe for disaster.
Jay Moore has given several breakdowns essentially showing how untrained/unaware our players are.
Our defensive coaches suck. Plain and simple.
I hope Mickey can make some tweaks.
What we do is play soft box with soft coverage= recipe for disaster.
Jay Moore has given several breakdowns essentially showing how untrained/unaware our players are.
Our defensive coaches suck. Plain and simple.
I hope Mickey can make some tweaks.
I have absolutely no idea of the inner workings, so just a perception here.
For the handful of players that have personally turned theirs in in the past for the horrid defense performance, I believe your statement above.
For a large percentage of the remainder, it just appears to be another steppingstone, I remember hearing stories back in the MacBride days where players cried and it was a solemn moment. Today it just appears like the players are, “oh, cool. That means I’m a starter now.”
I think you are correct. Part of the mystique surrounding getting a blackshirt back in the day was an extension of the quality of defense we once had. It was therefore more than just "yeah I am a starter" but also a sense that you were part of something bigger than yourself, something truly special, something that was a deep source of pride. The tradition therefore is deeply rooted in that overall sense of being part of a quality defense. Now? There is no sense of being part of something special, of a grand tradition of excellence, because the defense itself is subpar and no longer anything special. The blackshirt tradition will never be what it once was until the defense starts playing again like it once did.