Coach Green essentially coached without any administrative support. He was on an island within the university. He not only improved recruiting and preparation, but began necessary changes in the culture at NU. In 1982, he pulled about 10 of us together to start the Gridiron Network, designed to raise money for football projects outside of his budget and to form a pressure group of concerned alumni to address the administration's neglect of football. That was the beginning of real change at NU - though it took years to bear fruit. I will always consider Dennis a godsend for NU at that time - a great guy and a great coach. Yet, what Gary accomplished surpasses everything else. The way he built those back-to-back Big Ten champs and coached them to the top is nothing short of amazing. No matter what you hear from folks, Gary is also a class act and acted honorably. Do not blame him for leaving when he did; there is more to that story than people know - not his fault.
Agree about Coach Green. I taught in the Cherub program the summer after graduating in 1985. I called Coach Green to ask whether he would speak to my sports reporting class. I got right through to him despite not knowing him at all, and he readily agreed. He spent about an hour with the high school kids and was just fantastic. Could not have been nicer or more informative. A great representative of the university.
There were a few Peay holdovers that were instrumental in 1995. Off the top of my head, I believe they included Rodney Ray, Geoff Shine, Brian Kardos and Rob Johnson. Were Mike Warren and Joe Rieff Peay recruits?
Kardos and Reiff were Barnett recruits. Ray was changed from a running back to a cornerback by Barnett. Geoff Shein played for Peay; Rob Johnson was a Frosh in '92 so I assume Barnett recruited him. Peay's regime really had almost nothing to do with the '95 success.
