talent or coaching

[inWV]

Looked at the starters line for NU's last published depth chart and compared to Iowa's. Numbers are below. An extra TE were listed for each so I took the highest rated one. Note that the score of the November game was 56-14. I would say the conclusion is that Iowa has enough talent to match their investment in development and coaching to scheme. NU had more than enough talent to win or at least compete in that game, but lacked the preparation to compete. I think if you were to do the same for Minnesota, you would see a bigger disparity between putative talent and performance.
RR NU Iowa
5.9 1 0
5.8 3 4
5.7 6 1
5.6 5 7
5.5 2 3
5.4 1 2
5.3 1 0
5.2 0 4
NR 3 1

 

[CatColumbia]

Looked at the starters line for NU's last published depth chart and compared to Iowa's. Numbers are below. An extra TE were listed for each so I took the highest rated one. Note that the score of the November game was 56-14. I would say the conclusion is that Iowa has enough talent to match their investment in development and coaching to scheme. NU had more than enough talent to win or at least compete in that game, but lacked the preparation to compete. I think if you were to do the same for Minnesota, you would see a bigger disparity between putative talent and performance.
RR NU Iowa
5.9 1 0
5.8 3 4
5.7 6 1
5.6 5 7
5.5 2 3
5.4 1 2
5.3 1 0
5.2 0 4
NR 3 1

Our guys were led by a staff that had been checked out after the Arky St. game. So there was no motivation or accountability from our side. Iowa has had the same philosophy going on for almost 20 years (it's like plug and play). I believe that once we get our system down, we will begin beating the Hawkeyes regularly, much like we did Colorado in the 90s. The talent and speed that we are getting is projected to be of higher caliber but as we all know, things don't always go the way it's planned.

 

[tone1017]

I get the sentiment but I don't want to be Iowa so I don't really care how we compare to them. I don't think anyone thinks we've played up to our talent level, but even if we had we would not be competing for titles. It's both and we've been lacking in both, the hope and belief is the coaching is now at a level where we can compete for championships, now we need to work on acquiring the talent to match that.

 

[FeelingFrosty]

Looked at the starters line for NU's last published depth chart and compared to Iowa's. Numbers are below. An extra TE were listed for each so I took the highest rated one. Note that the score of the November game was 56-14. I would say the conclusion is that Iowa has enough talent to match their investment in development and coaching to scheme. NU had more than enough talent to win or at least compete in that game, but lacked the preparation to compete. I think if you were to do the same for Minnesota, you would see a bigger disparity between putative talent and performance.
RR NU Iowa
5.9 1 0
5.8 3 4
5.7 6 1
5.6 5 7
5.5 2 3
5.4 1 2
5.3 1 0
5.2 0 4
NR 3 1

You're only counting starters and star rating isn't a very good indicator of talent to begin with. How many 4 stars do we have riding the bench? Stars aren't a good indicator of talent because young men that age can mature a tremendous amount both mentally and physically and become completely different players than they were in high school.

 

[TheBeav815]

For the LOVE OF GOD IT'S BOTH. YOU NEED TOP-10 CLASSES AND ELITE COACHING IF YOU WANT RINGS.

 

[inWV]

For the LOVE OF GOD IT'S BOTH. YOU NEED TOP-10 CLASSES AND ELITE COACHING IF YOU WANT RINGS.

Just to be clear, NU needs to add difference makers are both sides of the ball if the program wants to compete for B1G hardware. It's possible that some of those difference makers will be on our roster this fall. Certainly there is enough talent on the roster now to compete for a West title. What's the difference between NU and the Badgers? They have more well developed mid-level talent. The offensive side of the top line of their depth chart is younger and talented and the defensive side is more seasoned.
Wisconsin won all of their games but one and went down swinging in that one. One game away from the playoff. If Frost's performance as a coach at UCF isn't a one-off and he gets buy-in from the present roster, NU may be a lot closer to a title ready team than we think.
RR NU Wisco
5.9 1 2
5.8 3 1
5.7 6 3
5.6 5 6
5.5 2 6
5.4 1 3
5.3 1 0
5.2 0 1
NR 3 1