Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Northwestern vs. Purdue Preview
11/21/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
With another 'playoff' game looming for the Wildcats at Purdue (11 a.m. CT, ESPNU), Skip Myslenski sets the stage with a big-picture evaluation of the progress NU has made this season.
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On Monday, at his weekly presser following the `Cats upset of Notre Dame, Pat Fitzgerald said he was curious to see how they responded to success. On Wednesday, at his final presser before their Saturday visit to Purdue, he was asked, "How did they respond?"
"Energy level's been really, really, really good. It's been really good. It's been surprisingly good," he said. "Finally a breath of fresh air with this group. See us have something go right and handle it the right way. So I'm very proud of our seniors. They're the ones who've led it. Our captains and Leadership Council. We've got one more meeting tonight and then practice tomorrow, getting things cleaned up, especially in the kicking game. I think Purdue's outstanding in the kicking game, very talented. So get all those things corrected and see if we can take it with us to West Lafayette."
But can he be sure that that high energy level will translate into a good performance come Saturday?
He chuckled and then said, "I was born at night, but not last night."
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That exchange came at the very end of Fitzgerald's 10 minutes with the microphones, minutes that not once considered the Xs and Os of the imminent Boilermaker game. This was no surprise. By now all know that, for the `Cats to succeed, the offensive line must block and the receivers must catch and the defense must not surrender explosion plays.
So those minutes were, instead, used to gaze upon the big picture.
"I don't think we've had a preparation problem. I think our guys have prepared well," Fitzgerald would explain. "We've had a performance problem on Saturday. We've been way too inconsistent throughout the whole course of the year. Even on Saturday (at Notre Dame), we made a lot of mistakes ... Again, it's carrying over what we work on in practice into the game. It's a sign of an immature team. We've got some guys growing up. But there's a lot of issues we have that we can't fix until the offseason. We're not going to use that as a crutch or as an excuse. But it is what it is. The guys who are playing pretty consistent are. They guys who aren't, we're going to continue to develop them and help them grow."
A point Fitzgerald has reiterated over the years is that one of the toughest things for a young player to realize is just how tough it is to succeed at this level. Is that part of this team's immaturity, which he has mentioned often this season.
"Just because you had someone write articles about you on a dot-com site when you were in high school doesn't mean you're going to be a good college player. I'm tired of it, quite frankly. But it's nothing new for me. It's getting worse every year. I talk to guys all over the country, it's the same problem. These guys are getting so much smoke blown up their rear ends they don't understand how hard it is to work, to win, to be successful on an every-play basis.
"I mean, it's hard to win. Everybody's equal talent. It comes down to fundo (fundamentals) and technique and knowing your job and playing fast, and when you think because you don't know your job inside and out, because you haven't had the experience, because you don't trust yourself and play with fundo and technique every play, you get inconsistent. When you get inconsistent, you're typically an average football team. We're a below average football team right now."
Coming out of high schools those players are Al- Everything with a bunch of recruiting stars next to their names. Is that a factor here?
"They're unbelievable. Best things ever. Just read the articles about them. I think it's a product of society right now, you know. It is what it is. Guys get told how good they are, and we don't coach that way. I don't care how good you are. You can always get better. I don't care how long you've been coaching. You can always coach guys better. It's been ingrained in me since I started not only in football, but in sports.
"We're a work in progress there, and a lot of it you can't fix until you can really get after it and grind it up in the winter and spring ball. We'll be a different team next year, there's no doubt about that, and a major (reason for that) is the experience a lot of these guys are gaining. Maybe they'll start to listen a little bit more consistently. It's the same problem parents have. It's no different. Football. Life. Same thing."
Do they push back against coaching?
"No. I don't let them. I don't care. It's my way or the highway. I'm not going to listen to it. It's the same thing with (his sons) Jack, Ryan and Brendan at home. I can't say shut up at home. So I have to tell them to be quiet. I can say shut up here."
He is reeling in higher-level recruits than before. Has that created this issue or has he always dealt with it?
"I've dealt with it throughout. I think it's more a societal issue than it is a Northwestern problem. Again, talking to a bunch of colleagues, they're dealing with the same problems. These guys go around to all these combines and play football in shorts and that's not reality. Now you've got to come play football and, at this level, people punch back. When you're young and you think you're better than you are, you don't know how to handle that...
"A big part that handles that is competition. If I've got to be the one that has to motivate you every down, there's typically going to be a little bit of complacency. `Coach, you can drive me all you want, but no one's going to beat me out because you don't have anybody else to put in.' That's a bad place to be in and we've been in that place for probably about two months for this team in particular, and probably for four months with the last two teams.
"Frankly, our depth isn't where it needs to be. When we've been really good here, we've had really competitive practices. And what you do every day, every practice, every rep is significant. We'll get back to that. We'll get back to that. Not these next two weeks. But we'll get back to that."
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The Boilermakers are 3-7 overall, 1-5 in the Big Ten. But they will be at home on Saturday, and they will be celebrating Senior Day, and they will be coming off a bye week, which is always an advantage. Still, Fitzgerald would conclude, "It goes back to preparation. It goes back to what you do to get ready, then how you play. If we choose to play the way we did against Iowa, we'll get our fannies whipped. If we choose the way we did against Notre Dame at times, and Wisconsin at times, and Penn State, we can beat anybody we play.
"So guys have got to figure out what they want to do on Saturday."
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