We've learned a lot from this exercise. The Big Ten, a great Stadium and cash were not enough to enable Maturi to entice a "Tubby Smith" like coach. Maturi once again confirmed what an idiot he is. He over promised when this process began five weeks ago and clearly he under delivered on the promises made. Finally, he went with a marginally experienced coach with a questionable recruiting record because he lacked the self-confidence to even interview a proven super star that campaigned for the job.
Jerry Kill had a good W-L record in his few years at NIU, but his recruiting seems to have been an embarrassment. Brewster had no record at all but was known for his recruiting. Brewster did the second but was unable to do the first. If kill is as good a coach as he seems to have been, he should have a few very good years because we flat out have more talent right now than NIU has ever had. This will give him the opportunity to become a good recruiter. Time will tell if he can rise to the level we need.
The true key will be his ability to hire a great supporting team of coordinators and assistant coaches and to do it quickly. Clearly there are few on the current staff who should be retained.
Finally there are a few open questions. How is his health? I assume it is fine now and he deserves some level of privacy and one would assume that Maturi got satisfactory answers to the question. Of course you could go broke betting that Maturi has done what was needed. Finally, what are we paying him. Getting past all of Maturi's Bull sh*t, I'm assuming that he again went on the cheap. This should mean that we have a huge budget for Kill's staff.
I'm not distraught over this hiring, I'm a little disappointed because Maturi set our sights so high. I do think that Kill's a good coach, however. The next few weeks will tell. How does he move forward with his staff and how many of our current team and recruits does he retain? I'm a loyal fan and I'll always be one. Kill, best of luck and git 'er done!
Jerry Kill had a good W-L record in his few years at NIU, but his recruiting seems to have been an embarrassment. Brewster had no record at all but was known for his recruiting. Brewster did the second but was unable to do the first. If kill is as good a coach as he seems to have been, he should have a few very good years because we flat out have more talent right now than NIU has ever had. This will give him the opportunity to become a good recruiter. Time will tell if he can rise to the level we need.
The true key will be his ability to hire a great supporting team of coordinators and assistant coaches and to do it quickly. Clearly there are few on the current staff who should be retained.
Finally there are a few open questions. How is his health? I assume it is fine now and he deserves some level of privacy and one would assume that Maturi got satisfactory answers to the question. Of course you could go broke betting that Maturi has done what was needed. Finally, what are we paying him. Getting past all of Maturi's Bull sh*t, I'm assuming that he again went on the cheap. This should mean that we have a huge budget for Kill's staff.
I'm not distraught over this hiring, I'm a little disappointed because Maturi set our sights so high. I do think that Kill's a good coach, however. The next few weeks will tell. How does he move forward with his staff and how many of our current team and recruits does he retain? I'm a loyal fan and I'll always be one. Kill, best of luck and git 'er done!
