Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report - All in This Together
9/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Skip Myslenski caught up with head coach Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern Leadership Council members Brandon Vitabile and Dan Vitale Wednesday to dicuss what the Wildcats need to do moving forward in order to right the ship.
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By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Last Sunday, less than 24 hours after the `Cats fell to 0-2 with their loss to Northern Illinois, Brandon Vitabile and some of his teammates met with Pat Fitzgerald and made a request. "We asked for his help, more help than we've been asking for. Trying to share the burden," the center recalled late Wednesday morning. "So if I'm not being as physical as I need to be, (tackle) Paul (Jorgensen's) going to get on me, and (quarterback) Trevor (Siemian's) going to get on me, and he's going to get on me. We're all trying to work toward winning, so it's a group effort definitely. But we asked him to ride us, that's what we asked for."
"For sure that's (an) unusual (request)," superback Dan Vitale later said. He was not part of that Sunday meeting, but is a member of the team's Leadership Council, and here he continued, "We think we have a lot of strong leaders on our Leadership Council, in our room. But what we want is our coaches to be as hard as possible on us because we know we can handle it. Something's got to get this fixed, so we're going to try that out. So far, I think it's holding people a lot more accountable to themselves and to each other. It's something I think we need. . .
"That doesn't mean it shouldn't come from us too, holding people accountable. But it's nice to have coach doing what he does best for us. It's awesome to have that."
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Early Wednesday morning, in a steady rain and a gusting breeze, the `Cats practiced outside. This itself was unexpected. They traditionally move indoors when the weather is inclement. "We're going to play in something like this," Fitzgerald would say, explaining the switch. "So today was a perfect, perfect opportunity to get out and get used to something we're going to see at least once, I would assume."
Even more unexpected were the participants in this practice. On Saturday, after his team fell to the Huskies, Fitzgerald had said the rotation players would be off until Thursday, but here they were hard at work (as they had been on Tuesday in a practice not open to the media). "You don't play the way we're playing right now and think we're in any way, shape or form prepared to win a football game by taking some time off," he would say of this switch. "We've got a lot of work to do and I think the guys are embracing this week and working hard to get better."
But most unexpected were the up-and-downs that punctuated this practice, punctuated it every time a `Cat dropped a pass or blew a block or missed an assignment or made any kind of error. "It's not something we (usually) do," Vitale would say of this drill that is normally used for conditioning. "But it's part of holding each other accountable for mistakes. Even if it's the littlest mistake, it's got to be corrected. We've got to execute on a consistent basis, and that's helping us get there.That's how we need it to be right now. That's what we need to keep people in check and keep people accountable. So it's good."
"I think it's awesome. That's football," Vitabile would add. "When it's going on, it kinda stinks. But at the end of the day, like right now, I feel great that I just went out there and got better. So it's very positive."
"What we're trying to do is get the guys to understand that every mistake is costing us a football game," Fitzgerald would conclude. "It's some things I've talked to the Leadership Council about and they were the ones with a lot of the ideas and a lot of the thoughts about some tweaks and changes we needed to do. . .
"We're not successful right now and to continue to do the same things would be, I think, the definition of insanity, expecting a different outcome."
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No matter the circumstance, Pat Fitzgerald normally reflects a not-uncertain calm. That was not the case on this Wednesday. On this Wednesday, there was a frankness about him that let all listeners know he was one, very (ticked) off football coach. "My job is to coach our football team and when we're not doing very well, it's my responsibility. So the person I'm mad at the most is myself," he would say, very much reflecting his mood. "I'm the leader of the ship and I'm the one who's going to get it fixed. I played on two championships teams here because we had a hard edge and we were tough, and I coached five bowl teams here in a row, and multiple guys that have played at an All Big Ten level, and they were all tough.
"Right now, our football team's not very tough. That's an embarrassment from my standpoint. It's an embarrassment to anyone who's put on the purple and white. . . Our former players are calling our guys and challenging their (butt). That's what needs to be done. We're an embarrassment right now to anyone who's put on the purple and white, and we've got to get it fixed. That's what we'll do."
"It's what we need," Vitabile will say when asked what he thinks of his coach being so (ticked) off. "That's the way we all should feel. We haven't played to our potential. We've let each other down, we've let our coaches down, we've let our fans down. It's not what we expect of ourselves and not what they expect of us. That's what this week has been about. Us getting back our edge, getting back our toughness, and just playing football."
"Probably not," says Vitale when asked if he has ever seen his coach so (ticked) off. "But we're all embarrassed at this point. I know deep down I'm (ticked) off too. I don't show it as much as him right now. But everybody's (ticked) off and we've got to use that anger and turn it into something good. That's why we're having these hard practices and these grueling days. We need to get better. So, yeah. We should be (ticked) off. Everybody should. If you're not, there's something wrong with you right now. So I like seeing it. I love to see the fire in his eyes and seeing that he cares.
"I like to see that everybody's (ticked) off and embarrassed about the way we've played so far. It shows me that people care on this team, that people want to win. If I don't see someone (ticked) off, the Leadership Council's not afraid to tell him to hang up his cleats and get out. We're all in this together right now."
NOTE: Quarterback Trevor Siemian, who injured his right leg late in the Northern game, did not practice Wednesday. But, said Fitzgerald, "We expect Trevor to be back next week (before the Sept. 20 game against Western Illinois). If that's the case, Trevor's our starting quarterback."
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