Badgers fire their OC

And that exactly is the problem.

Don't fire the coach unless you're pretty sure you can replace him with a better coach. ESPECIALLY if the coach you have fired has had some level of success... like Mason had, and like Chryst had.
Agree. It was the right decision, Maturi just f*cked up on Step #2. But then, a lot of that can be laid on the hands of the school administration/Board of Regents as well.
 

I'm trying to remember back in 06-07 & who the hot coaching names were.

I remember Charlie Strong being one of them.
 

If I'm an thletic director and I'm seriously considering firing a head coach who has had a decent record of success, I'm doing it because I already have a guy in mind who is:

— better than the guy I'm about to fire, and...

— available, and willing and maybe even eager to take over my specific program.

I would not put myself in a position in which I offer the job to 1, 2, 3 or more coaches only to watch in despair as one after the other they all turn it down. I do not want to go through that kind of agony, no matter what the Barreiros of the world have to say about my current, somewhat successful head coach. I wouldn't put my bosses or my school's fans and alums through that kind of hell either.
 

Barriero et al had been weighing in, loudly, long before that game. That was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

Mason had just been extended less than 12 months earlier.

If the Texas Tech kicker misses the 52 yd FG at the end of regulation, Mason is still the Gophers HC heading into 2007, regardless of whatever Barriero had been yapping about.
 

For sure - Maturi screwed up big time making a rash decision. He should have been figuring out the replacement for months prior to that.
exactly. The institutions that seem to get their hires right, seem to be decisive and have a list that they work through internally before the names begin to leak. The Brewster hire and even the Kill hire dragged around and didn't seem to have a rhyme or reason to it. As hind sight accumulates, the Brewster hire looks more and more ridiculous. And it was probably pretty lucky that someone like Kill could have been hired under one of Maturi's committee laden plodding searches. We talk a lot more about the Brewster hire as being a mess and far less about Kill that way (because he had success here), but when you consider Brewster was fired midseason and Kill wasn't announced as the next coach until nearly a week into December (after other names were leaked around as not wanting the job) - it seems now like there was more luck involved with that process than skill on the part of the AD at MN.
 


I'm trying to remember back in 06-07 & who the hot coaching names were.

I remember Charlie Strong being one of them.
I believe Charlie Strong was the official runner-up (I think the U required something like that at the time for some reason; I could be wrong). Lake Kiffin and Bo Pellini also reportedly were interested or interviewed.

The most interesting to me was Gary Patterson, who was at TCU. The Dallas-Fort Worth paper reported that he turned down $1.5 million, which sounds like nothing now but was market rate then. I can't find a link to that anymore. But I did find the link below. I don't know how good a source this is, but it does link to a Sid Hartman column (say what you want about him as a source by 2015). I also can't tell if Sid's column is the only source for the info at this link.

 

exactly. The institutions that seem to get their hires right, seem to be decisive and have a list that they work through internally before the names begin to leak. The Brewster hire and even the Kill hire dragged around and didn't seem to have a rhyme or reason to it. As hind sight accumulates, the Brewster hire looks more and more ridiculous. And it was probably pretty lucky that someone like Kill could have been hired under one of Maturi's committee laden plodding searches. We talk a lot more about the Brewster hire as being a mess and far less about Kill that way (because he had success here), but when you consider Brewster was fired midseason and Kill wasn't announced as the next coach until nearly a week into December (after other names were leaked around as not wanting the job) - it seems now like there was more luck involved with that process than skill on the part of the AD at MN.
For sure. I hope Coyle has a list of at least 4 coaches right now.
 






For sure - Maturi screwed up big time making a rash decision. He should have been figuring out the replacement for months prior to that.
Isn't the speculation that it wasn't his decision? That Bruininks was so appalled by the game and the aftermath that he demanded the firing and that's why Maturi was caught so flatfooted? He was left to start a coaching search in January for a middling Big Ten program with limited resources and little time to do it. Joel should absolutely have been more prepared to replace any coach in his department and he should have handled the search better, even under difficult circumstances. But I don't think it was him who made the rash decision.
 

Isn't the speculation that it wasn't his decision? That Bruininks was so appalled by the game and the aftermath that he demanded the firing and that's why Maturi was caught so flatfooted? He was left to start a coaching search in January for a middling Big Ten program with limited resources and little time to do it. Joel should absolutely have been more prepared to replace any coach in his department and he should have handled the search better, even under difficult circumstances. But I don't think it was him who made the rash decision.
I have no idea. Either way an AD should always have a list of coaches to replace every coach on their staff. I am not a Maturi hater (I think he gets more hate than he deserves) but he definitely screwed up the Mason hiring/Brewster hiring.
 




Agree. It was the right decision, Maturi just f*cked up on Step #2. But then, a lot of that can be laid on the hands of the school administration/Board of Regents as well.
It doesn’t work that way.
Step #2 is the only thing that matters.
 

Could have had Nick Saban
We should have made him an offer. I'm guessing we didn't because we are a fan base that accepts mediocrity.

I will go on record & say that back then, I did say we should have considered Lane Kiffin, with the local angle & an OC at the time. I'm not naive to think this would have been a dream destination, but I think it would have been a swing worth taking.
 

QB for Sconnie just entered the portal. They may have an active off season...
 



Wisconsin is in danger of entering a dark age if they can’t stabilize their coaching staff and roster to compete in the B18. If they decide to keep Fickell then he better lobby for a big budget to get the best OC they can as quickly as possible, and then said OC will need a good NIL budget to get a QB and a couple WR at least.
 



After this game, Fickell might decide to fire the DC soon.
Interesting, I just looked and Wisconsin is ranked 12th in the B1G in points allowed per game.

That's definitely a drop off from previous years where they were almost always in the top 6 and some years the very top.
 

Interesting, I just looked and Wisconsin is ranked 12th in the B1G in points allowed per game.

That's definitely a drop off from previous years where they were almost always in the top 6 and some years the very top.
If the gophers are sufficiently motivated, it should be a blowout like the Nebraska game. If they’re in letdown after the big game this week, it could go either way.
 

If the gophers are sufficiently motivated, it should be a blowout like the Nebraska game. If they’re in letdown after the big game this week, it could go either way.
Wisconsin just played Oregon to the wire a couple weeks ago

If both teams play their best game, it’s a close game
If one team doesn’t show up, the other will win
 

Wisconsin is in danger of entering a dark age if they can’t stabilize their coaching staff and roster to compete in the B18. If they decide to keep Fickell then he better lobby for a big budget to get the best OC they can as quickly as possible, and then said OC will need a good NIL budget to get a QB and a couple WR at least.
Paying for a big name OC/DC isn't always the answer. In this case, he doesn't have all the players for the style of offense he wants. Will be interesting next year for sure.
 

Paying for a big name OC/DC isn't always the answer. In this case, he doesn't have all the players for the style of offense he wants. Will be interesting next year for sure.
They are seriously lacking in depth. Fickell is going to have to hit a home run on an OC (or at least a double) and fire up their NIL base to get more and better transfers than he did this past year, in order to restore Wisconsin to respectability. I don’t know how they shut down and almost upset #1 Oregon and then get pasted by Nebraska who was continuing their typical 5-7 loss streak.
 

They are seriously lacking in depth. Fickell is going to have to hit a home run on an OC (or at least a double) and fire up their NIL base to get more and better transfers than he did this past year, in order to restore Wisconsin to respectability. I don’t know how they shut down and almost upset #1 Oregon and then get pasted by Nebraska who was continuing their typical 5-7 loss streak.
Probably because they are in transition.
 

Have we crowned Oregon. The Big Yen championship game still has to happen, I think. Not sure.
 





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