Northwestern University Athletics
Murphy's Mark: New School Year Underway
8/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
Aug. 30, 2005
Opening Day
For the first time in five years, our football team will open the season with a home game -- Ohio University on September 3 at 11 a.m. The start of the season is always a very exciting time, and there is a lot of anticipation for this year's team because we will have so many new people in key positions. While we will have a number of new starters, the strength of the team will be our senior leadership -- Brett Basanez, Tim McGarigle, Mark Philmore, Barry Cofield and Zach Strief, all proven performers.
I was very pleased with our team's performance at home last year -- 5-1 with three Big Ten overtime wins -- and hope that our team will continue to play with great confidence at home. With four of our first five games at home, we have a chance to get off to a good start and build momentum as we head into the tough part of our schedule.
Power Rating
Our athletic department received some great news last week when we learned that the National Collegiate Scouting Service rated Northwestern sixth in NCAA Division I schools (fourth in Division I-A behind Stanford, Duke, and Notre Dame) in its power rating based on Northwestern's ranking in the U.S. News & World Report, our athletic department's finish in the Director's Cup and the graduation rate of our student athletes. We are obviously in great company with these schools, and this power rating will help our coaches in recruiting -- it confirms that we offer a unique opportunity for student-athletes who want to receive a first-class education and challenge themselves at the highest level athletically.
Summer Golf
Members of our men's golf team have had a very busy and productive summer. Last week, senior Dillon Dougherty had a great run in the U.S. Amateur Championship, getting all the way to the championship match before losing to Edoardo Molinaro. His matches on both Saturday and Sunday (36-hole match) were on NBC, and provided great publicity for Northwestern and our golf program. In addition, two other golfers, Chris Wilson and Kyle Moore, had great performances in amateur championships earlier this summer. Chris won the Ohio Amateur, and was runner-up in the Western Amateur. Kyle won the Eastern Amateur with a record-breaking score. The performances of these golfers bode well for the chances of our golf team this year. Also, incoming freshman women's golfer Jennifer Hong won the WWGA's National Amateur Championship.
Football Scheduling
There have been a number of changes to our future football schedules in recent weeks, and I wanted to update our fans on these changes. While scheduling for most sports is typically done one year in advance, football games are usually scheduled five to ten years in advance. A number of recent events and NCAA changes, though, have caused us to make changes in the schedules for the next few years. Two schools, SMU and Air Force, contacted us and said that they were backing out of games with us. We were scheduled to play SMU in a four-game series from 2006 through 2009, and we were going to play a home-and-home series with Air Force in 2006 and 2007. This left us with a number of holes in our schedule, and given the long-term nature of football scheduling, it was going to be challenging to fill the 2006 and 2007 dates. At the same time, the NCAA passed two pieces of legislation that impacted our scheduling. Beginning in 2006, NCAA I-A schools will be allowed to play 12 games every year and to count one win over a I-AA opponent toward bowl eligibility every year (the rule had been that schools could count a win over a I-AA opponent once every four years.)
Given these changes, we had a lot of work to do to complete our 2006 through 2009 schedules. First, with the addition of the 12th game, we wanted to ensure that we had at least six home games every year. We were successful in finding at least six home games every year, and will have seven home games in 2007 and 2009. I think these changes will help us in building our season ticket base, as well as improve our chances of having a winning record and participating in a bowl. We also have scheduled a number of I-AA opponents.Since the Big Ten has decided to end the Big Ten schedule on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, we will play our 12 games on 12 straight weekends. I think adding a home I-AA game in the middle of this stretch should add some variety to the schedule and be helpful to the team. In addition, we added new series with Eastern Michigan, Nevada and Army (in 2010 and 2011). Eastern Michigan head coach (and former Northwestern assistant) Jeff Genyk deserves special mention. He was very instrumental in helping us after Air Force dropped us this summer. We will play Eastern Michigan at home in 2006, at Ford Field in 2007, and at home in 2009. Also, associate AD Brad Hurlbut was very helpful in putting together these schedules.
Departures
This summer, two of our assistant coaches left Northwestern for opportunities to serve as head coaches. One of the most rewarding parts of my job as an athletic director is to see young coaches develop and mature and to move on to great opportunities. Erik Ronning's move to become head men's soccer coach at Colgate is a particularly sentimental one for me. I first met Erik when he was a freshman soccer player in 1993. After graduating, Erik became Colgate's assistant coach, and he and I worked closely for the next four years. In 2001, Erik left Colgate to become the top assistant at Northwestern. Little did I know that Erik and I would be reunited two years later when I took the position at Northwestern. He was instrumental in the remarkable turnaround of our men's soccer program. The Colgate position is a dream job for Erik and a great opportunity. Similarly, our women's soccer assistant, Stephanie Erickson, left earlier this summer to become the head coach at Harvard. With her experience at Northwestern, Stanford and Harvard, Stephanie is a perfect fit for the Harvard job. Finally, Mike Mahoney, associate director of media services, will start next week as the University of Pennsylvania's new sports information director. Best of luck to Erik, Stephanie and Mike in their new positions.
Hurricane Katrina
Our thoughts and prayers are with those people who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina, truly one of the most devastating storms to ever hit this country. I know there are plenty of people at Northwestern who have been affected personally, or have family who have been affected, by this tragedy. Please keep these individuals in your thoughts.
