I'm not sure what I think about his hiring. Being out of the game for the amount of years he has been could be a significant issue. He has ZERO experience in the current CFB climate. I don't think that should be overlooked.

His teams also struggled his last three seasons at NW.

This could be a fantastic hire, but it could also be a complete failure.

Also, his guys won't always be the smartest on the field at MSU. Basically, he will have no advantages there whatsoever. Will be tough.

alt f4 said:

In in final 2 seasons he tied Nebraska at 1-8 in conference and 3-9 overall. And his final 1-11 season, his lone win was vs Nebraska.

Sure he struggled his last 2 years, but Nebraska fans would build him a statue if he did this at Nebraska.

2006	Northwestern	4–8	2–6	T–8th
2007	Northwestern	6–6	3–5	T–7th
2008	Northwestern	9–4	5–3	T–4th	L Alamo
2009	Northwestern	8–5	5–3	T–4th	L Outback
2010	Northwestern	7–6	3–5	T–7th	L TicketCity
2011	Northwestern	6–7	3–5	5th (Legends)	L Meineke Car Care
2012	Northwestern	10–3	5–3	3rd (Legends)	W Gaytor
2013	Northwestern	5–7	1–7	6th (Legends)
2014	Northwestern	5–7	3–5	6th (West)
2015	Northwestern	10–3	6–2	T–2nd (West)	L Outback
2016	Northwestern	7–6	5–4	T–4th (West)	W Pinstripe
2017	Northwestern	10–3	7–2	2nd (West)	W Music City
2018	Northwestern	9–5	8–1	1st (West)	W Holiday
2019	Northwestern	3–9	1–8	7th (West)
2020	Northwestern	7–2	6–1	1st (West)	W Citrus

​

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9 or 10 wins. Hell yes he would be proclaimed the savior. Of course 9-10 wins got us in this situation in the first place. Remember that whole mediocrity thing? Anyway I digress... I didn't realize he had been out for 5 years. Time flys.

alt f4 said:

In in final 2 seasons he tied Nebraska at 1-8 in conference and 3-9 overall. And his final 1-11 season, his lone win was vs Nebraska.

Sure he struggled his last 2 years, but Nebraska fans would build him a statue if he did this at Nebraska.

2006	Northwestern	4–8	2–6	T–8th
2007	Northwestern	6–6	3–5	T–7th
2008	Northwestern	9–4	5–3	T–4th	L Alamo
2009	Northwestern	8–5	5–3	T–4th	L Outback
2010	Northwestern	7–6	3–5	T–7th	L TicketCity
2011	Northwestern	6–7	3–5	5th (Legends)	L Meineke Car Care
2012	Northwestern	10–3	5–3	3rd (Legends)	W Gaytor
2013	Northwestern	5–7	1–7	6th (Legends)
2014	Northwestern	5–7	3–5	6th (West)
2015	Northwestern	10–3	6–2	T–2nd (West)	L Outback
2016	Northwestern	7–6	5–4	T–4th (West)	W Pinstripe
2017	Northwestern	10–3	7–2	2nd (West)	W Music City
2018	Northwestern	9–5	8–1	1st (West)	W Holiday
2019	Northwestern	3–9	1–8	7th (West)
2020	Northwestern	7–2	6–1	1st (West)	W Citrus

​

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Stop.

Fitz is a loser get off his dick

realbp said:

I'm not sure what I think about his hiring. Being out of the game for the amount of years he has been could be a significant issue. He has ZERO experience in the current CFB climate. I don't think that should be overlooked.

His teams also struggled his last three seasons at NW.

This could be a fantastic hire, but it could also be a complete failure.

Click to expand...

I also think you’re running a huge risk hiring anyone that isn’t currently a coach, given the portal.

7-29 in his last three non-Covid seasons. We all should be terrified.

And if you look at Fitz's resume, the number of total wins he accumulated during the years vs some of the worst Illinois, Purdue, Nebraska, and Minnesota teams of all time is staggering. Hell, let's look at his really good 2017 season, a 10-3 team, and probably his best. Let's look 7 of their wins that season:

Nevada
Bowling Green
A terrible Maryland team in Locksley's first season
Mike Riley's last Nebraska team
Jeff Brohm's first Purdue Team
Fleck's first Minnesota team
Lovie Smith's first Illinois team

The Big Ten was terrible back then. A lot of programs with stability and senior laden teams, like what Fitz had back then, could roll out of bed and win 7 or 8 games because so many of the teams in the league were in shambles.

I know people are enamored with his "toughness" act, but he's really one of the most overrated coaches in Big Ten history. I honestly think what David Braun has done during the NIL and transfer portal era is a LOT more impressive at Northwestern.

alt f4 said:

Nebraska fans would build him a statue if he did this at Nebraska.

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No

I am interested to see how it works, but its a risky hire. Maybe if the Big Ten West existed he could muck about there, but I have my doubts about the current Big Ten. NW is also such an outlier that it tough seeing that plan work somewhere else, espeically in the portal and NIL era. NW was never really good, but the ultimate annoying team.

I’m guessing the same people who love this hire also loved the Jonathan Smith hire

Seems like a hire that msu fans would say “let’s see what he can do with more resources”. Problem for Fitz is he won’t get any leniency on a couple of rebuild years.

I think Jonathan smith is a good coach & their donors bailed on supporting him when Oregon state took him some time to get it going. Don’t think Fitz is going to accelerate the process, especially since he’s not a transfer portal guy

CornFed Gregger said:

Seems like a hire that msu fans would say “let’s see what he can do with more resources”. Problem for Fitz is he won’t get any leniency on a couple of rebuild years.

I think Jonathan smith is a good coach & their donors bailed on supporting him when Oregon state took him some time to get it going. Don’t think Fitz is going to accelerate the process, especially since he’s not a transfer portal guy

Click to expand...

Jonathan Smith might have been a good coach when he arrived at Michigan State, and his resume says that's the case. But in 2025, Michigan State was one of the worst coached teams in the country. I often think its foolish to fire a coach after only two seasons, but the Spartans looked like an absolute clusterfuck this season. And they had one of the oldest rosters in the country.