Jaguars HC Liam Coen is now the only first-year head coach in NFL history to win 12-plus games after taking over a team that had four or fewer wins in the prior season.
People need to understand coaching is just one piece of the pie. More times than not, it’s a huge factor because talent & resources are usually close. But at Northwestern, it’s not even in the same ballpark as the rest of the conference. The academic standards make recruiting damn near impossible. The administration doesn’t care about winning. It’s basically an Ivy League school in the Big Ten. Pointing to a couple bad seasons (from a record standpoint) is lazy.
Speaking from personal experience (yes, at a much different scale): I coached at Mumford HS in Detroit as the DC for a few months. We had 3 coaches & 18 total players in the program with a team-wide average GPA of a 0.9 when we arrived in the summer, and had to play JV & Varsity games with those 18 players (do the math on that). We somehow won a game. But of course we lost to Cass Tech 70-0. Went to Belleville right after the regular season as the OC and won 70-0 first game in the playoffs. Do you think I didn’t know how to coach then all the sudden learned in one week for a 140-point turnaround? No… We won at Belleville because we had Bryce Underwood, Elijah Dotson, etc. We lost at Mumford because we didn’t (and played against CJ Sadler, Don Tabron, etc.).
While talent gaps are much greater in high school, I’m explaining the point that coaching only matters when the talent gap is manageable. At Northwestern, there’s a decent gap and Pat Fitz closed it and won division titles. At MSU, he’ll have a much smaller gap to close. I’m not saying he’ll definitely win and be a top 10 team. But he’s definitely the guy who gives you the best chance.
(Unfortunately) Michigan State made the best hire of this cycle. Pat Fitzgerald is the only available head coach who’s done more with significantly less on a relatively consistent basis.
Nick Saban: "When you were at Saint Frances, I never saw you coach a down... You were Jerry Jones. You paid the players and all that... Are you using the same philosophy at Michigan now?"
Biff Poggi: "Yeah, and I learned all that from you." #CFB
We should all feel a deep sense of grief and outrage at the terrible violence that took place in Utah today. Charlie Kirk's murder is sick and reprehensible, and our thoughts are with his family, children, and loved ones.
I knew Charlie, and I admired his passion and commitment to debate. His senseless murder is a reminder of how important it is for all of us, across the political spectrum, to foster genuine discourse on issues that deeply affect us all without resorting to political violence.
The best way to honor Charlie's memory is to continue his work: engage with each other, across ideology, through spirited discourse. In a democracy, ideas are tested through words and good-faith debate — never through violence.
Honest disagreement makes us stronger; violence only drives us further apart and corrodes the values at the heart of this nation.
@TheDogeLegend@ManagingBarca Two different styles tbf… inters defense would get roasted if they had our style. And we would get molested if we ran their style. Trust me we don’t need acerbi in a high line😂
@MySportsUpdate@MarkMaske The offense should start at the 20 yard line like it originally was years ago… this would also induce the special teams to wanna return more since there’s more incentive to returning! Moving the touchback yardage to the 35 will want to make teams wanna take the safe side often!