Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: "It Wasn't a Kumbaya, Roast Marshmallows Off Week"
10/10/2016 3:59:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
The Wildcats did not play last Saturday. But to say they enjoyed an off-week, that ever-familiar phrase, would be very wrong. Instead, Pat Fitzgerald said Monday, "We worked very hard last week. It was not a Kumbaya, roast marshmallows practice week. Hopefully the guys took the fundamental work and bring it to this week. It's important we improve. Obviously it's critically important as we get to the meat of the Big Ten season. Every game is a one-game season. We've got to find a way to win and advance.
"What's happened in the past really has no bearing on what happens this week unless you repeat performances from the standpoint of consistency or lack thereof."
The 'Cats, 2-3, have not performed consistently this season, and now they are set to start the belly of their season with a Saturday visit to Michigan State. They next host Indiana and travel to Ohio State and host Wisconsin, and so there was a certain sense of urgency to that work they put in during their not-off-week. "We've got to do the things that winners do and it comes back to us preparing the right way this week. My hope is our leadership is where it needs to be starting tomorrow," Fitzgerald also said Monday.
"I know you guys want to talk about the game, but I'm so focused on tomorrow. With our lack of consistency, every rep of every day is really important to this team. We're playing a lot of young, inexperienced guys that need to stop playing that way. Our corners. Some of the guys in our D-line rotation. Young wide receivers. Johnny Moten, a young back. Obviously the kicking game. Those guys have got to stop playing young. That excuse that they maybe have in their own heads is that. It's an excuse. They've got to perform more consistently. We've got to coach them to do that for us to be successful moving forward."
The corners are true sophomore Montre Hartage and a pair of redshirt freshmen, Trae Williams and Alonzo Mayo. Their D-line rotation includes redshirt freshman Joe Gaziano and true freshman Alex Miller. Moten, a redshirt freshman, is Justin Jackson's backup with senior Warren Long out indefinitely with a broken hand, and among its wideouts are redshirt freshman Charlie Fessler and true sophomore Flynn Nagel (who missed the second half of last season with an injury). That provides the context for the belly of Fitzgerald's traditional Monday presser, where he offered up an autopsy of this season's first month.
That autopsy began when he was asked the aim, the thrust of that work they put in during their not-off-week.
"We're a two-and-three football team. The aim is to improve," he said reasonably enough.
Improve in what areas specifically?
"Every area," he said with a sense of urgency in his tone. "Let's see. Punt coverage. Kick coverage. Punt return technique. Kickoff return technique. O-line fundamentals. D-line gap integrity. Fundamentals with our hands shedding blocks. Linebackers, proper fit. Open field tackling. DBs with their eyes, understanding double moves, understanding where their help is. Timing and ball placement at the quarterback position. You want me to keep going? A lot (of areas). A lot.
"Again. Every team is different and I know who we are now. We're not very mature. We're a group that needs to be led by the coaches. I think our leadership has done a great job leading themselves. But I think there are guys who maybe going into the season thought they were going to be twos who are now thrust into some more critical roles, and last week was an opportunity (for them) to get better. We've got to do some, I wouldn't say emergency. But I would say we're doing some surgery on this team right now. We're not where we need to be and that's on me as the coach. We're going to get it fixed."
He said his young guys have to stop playing young. Is there any way to accelerate that process?
"Yeah. Just yell at 'em. Yeah. Just yell at 'em," he said. "It's like when you're teaching kids don't-touch-the-stove and they touch the stove. You can feel sorry for them or you can put their hand in cold water (and say), 'See, I told ya.' Every team's different. Every team's DNA is different. I think right now our older players are playing pretty well. It's everyone beneath them that's playing really inconsistent. But they don't have a choice. They're playing. It's on us. We've got to do a better job of coaching. That was last week. Details. The standard that we believe in. How we do things, the way we want things done. The attitude with which we want it done. If you're not doing it that way, it's not going to be tolerated, it's not going to be accepted. When you don't have competitive depth in some areas, you've got one of two choices. You can go harder or you can go home. Those guys stayed at practice. Nobody went home. That was good. That was positive. We got better."
He often says the hardest thing for young players to understand is just how hard it is to succeed at this level. Is that reflected in what we're seeing here with this team?
"Yeah. Absolutely," he finally said on Monday. "We've recruited a little better each year, but just because you have three stars (from some recruiting service) doesn't mean you're any good in college. Guys have got to learn to play at this level. Sometimes it takes a little longer and if you don't have the luxury, if time isn't on your side and you're thrust out there with the ones— if you're on the field, if you're in the arena, you're expected to play to the standard. We typically get most of the off-season to do that (to bring them up to that standard). Again. The older guys who've been part of it for awhile are playing pretty well. It's added a lot to their plate now to get guys who are not as experienced to where they need to be.
"So we've got to continue to help that older group out, and we've got to continue to accelerate with a tremendous sense of urgency the growth and development of our younger guys."
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