Willie Fritz to GaSo

[CatBlitz22]

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GREAT hire, in my opinion. Fritz is one of the best coaches in the country.

[Grizalltheway]

We'll be seeing them in the whogivesaflyingfuck.com Bowl in no time.

Also, shitty luck for SHSU. He builds their best-ever teams, they run into a steamroller two years in a row, and now he bolts. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of douchebags.

[AZGrizFan]

And the rest of the Southland just breathed a huge sigh of relief.

[Bison56]

And the rest of the Southland just breathed a huge sigh of relief.

I think you mean the Big Sky.

[CatBlitz22]

And the rest of the Southland just breathed a huge sigh of relief.

I think you mean the Big Sky.

[AZGrizFan]

And the rest of the Southland just breathed a huge sigh of relief.

I think you mean the Big Sky.

Those days are over.

[bearkat91]

I'll be curious to see who we get to replace him. I'm guessing our former DC, Scott Stoker, who's now the DC at UTEP will be high on the list. Shitty timing, but good luck to Fritz and GSU.

[JohnStOnge]

And the rest of the Southland just breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Now think about it. Sam Houston State got exactly one automatic bid to the playoffs while Willie Fritz was there. He was 2-2 against McNeese and 2-2 against Central Arkansas. He did have a really good nucleus of players that got to the national championship game twice in a row. But once he lost a substantial number of them he finished 3rd in the Southland with a 4-3 conference record.

Yes, it probably hurts Sam Houston State that he is leaving and he brought Sam Houston to the highest point it's ever been at as a I-AA/FCS program. But it's not like everybody in the Southland is saying, "Whew. No way we could beat Sam Houston State while he's there."

[JohnStOnge]

BTW I think this is a mistake for Georgia Southern. We've been through this before. What made Georgia Southern great was sticking to its system. Unless Fritz plans to stick to that system, and I doubt that's going to happen, this is a mistake.

[htownbearkat]

BTW I think this is a mistake for Georgia Southern. We've been through this before. What made Georgia Southern great was sticking to its system. Unless Fritz plans to stick to that system, and I doubt that's going to happen, this is a mistake.

disband the team

[JohnStOnge]

BTW I think this is a mistake for Georgia Southern. We've been through this before. What made Georgia Southern great was sticking to its system. Unless Fritz plans to stick to that system, and I doubt that's going to happen, this is a mistake.

disband the team

The Georgia Southern system is what made Georgia Southern the most successful I-AA/FCS program in terms of national titles of all time. I think they'd have made the playoffs again this year had they been eligible with a 7-4 record that included a win over Florida.

They went away from the system once before with disasterous results. It's their identify. It's what makes them special.

In a way it reminds me of Nebraska going away from its system and never being the same since. Nebraska had gone for 41 years without a losing season as of the end of the 2003/2004 season. They had only won fewer than 9 games twice during that period. They'd just finished a 10-3 season with a 17-3 bowl win over Michigan State.

And they fired their coach in order to completely change their system. In the 10 seasons since they've had two losing seasons and 3 seasons where they won fewer than 9 games. In terms of winning percentage, they have yet to achieve as good a season SINCE they fired Frank Solich and changed their system then they did during Solich and their system's final year.

Nebraska was never near the top in terms of producing NFL players. But they were certainly near the top in terms of winning consistently and winning national titles because they had a SYSTEM that worked for the kinds of players they were able to obtain. They had what I think was the most dominant football team of my college football watching lifetime running that system (1995/1996 team).

But they saw the shiny thing and felt they had to go for it. Their program has declined since.

[CID1990]

I thought this was a message board for FCS teams.

[CatBlitz22]

I thought this was a message board for FCS teams.

This doesn't concern SHSU?

[UNI88]

Nebraska was never near the top in terms of producing NFL players. But they were certainly near the top in terms of winning consistently and winning national titles because they had a SYSTEM that worked for the kinds of players they were able to obtain. They had what I think was the most dominant football team of my college football watching lifetime running that system (1995/1996 team).

But they saw the shiny thing and felt they had to go for it. Their program has declined since.

Arguing that Nebraska declined because they went away from their system is a huge reach that someone who required rigorous scientific proof such as yourself should never make. Have you seen a study that accounts for all of the variables and can prove it without a doubt?

Nebraska was beginning to decline under Solich. The college football landscape changed around Nebraska and they felt they were falling behind and tried to change with it. No one will ever be able to know for sure what impact changing their system would have had on their decline. I would guess that Callahan was a disaster not because his system didn't fit but because he didn't fit.

[clenz]

Yep

[JohnStOnge]

Arguing that Nebraska declined because they went away from their system is a huge reach that someone who required rigorous scientific proof such as yourself should never make. Have you seen a study that accounts for all of the variables and can prove it without a doubt?

Nebraska was beginning to decline under Solich. The college football landscape changed around Nebraska and they felt they were falling behind and tried to change with it. No one will ever be able to know for sure what impact changing their system would have had on their decline. I would guess that Callahan was a disaster not because his system didn't fit but because he didn't fit.

You're right about the "scientific proof" thing but that's how it is with football. One thing's for sure though:

Nebraska has not done as well since ditching its system. I don't think the system and Solich are synonymous but let's use Solich because I think Nebraska letting him go was associated with the Administration wanting to get away from the historical system. Solich won 75% of his games at Nebraska. Since he left Nebraska has won 65 percent of its games. It's been better under Pelini than it was at first but Pelini has won 71% of games; which is still a lower winning percentage than Solich had.

Nebraska had a conference championship during six years under Solich. It's got zero in 10 years since he left. From the time when the Big 8 Conference started in 1960 through the end of Frank Solich's last year Nebraska never went more than 4 years without a conference championship. It's now gone 10 years without one since Solich was fired.

Now, we can never know that Nebraska has a lower winning percentage and fewer conference championships than it did under Solich because it ditched its system. But we do know that it does have a lower winning percentage and has won fewer conference championships since it ditched its system.

[UNI88]

Arguing that Nebraska declined because they went away from their system is a huge reach that someone who required rigorous scientific proof such as yourself should never make. Have you seen a study that accounts for all of the variables and can prove it without a doubt?

Nebraska was beginning to decline under Solich. The college football landscape changed around Nebraska and they felt they were falling behind and tried to change with it. No one will ever be able to know for sure what impact changing their system would have had on their decline. I would guess that Callahan was a disaster not because his system didn't fit but because he didn't fit.

You're right about the "scientific proof" thing but that's how it is with football. One thing's for sure though:

Nebraska has not done as well since ditching its system. I don't think the system and Solich are synonymous but let's use Solich because I think Nebraska letting him go was associated with the Administration wanting to get away from the historical system. Solich won 75% of his games at Nebraska. Since he left Nebraska has won 65 percent of its games. It's been better under Pelini than it was at first but Pelini has won 71% of games; which is still a lower winning percentage than Solich had.

Nebraska had a conference championship during six years under Solich. It's got zero in 10 years since he left. From the time when the Big 8 Conference started in 1960 through the end of Frank Solich's last year Nebraska never went more than 4 years without a conference championship. It's now gone 10 years without one since Solich was fired.

Now, we can never know that Nebraska has a lower winning percentage and fewer conference championships than it did under Solich because it ditched its system. But we do know that it does have a lower winning percentage and has won fewer conference championships since it ditched its system.

I'm pretty sure that Solich's winning percentage wasn't as good as Osborne's so maybe the program was already on a downward slope before they changed systems. Sitting here in the Midwest, it sure seemed at the time like the program was about to slide into mediocrity under Solich. I think Solich is a good coach but I don't think he was the right guy for Nebraska.

Other possible reasons Nebraska has declined besides changing their offensive system:

1) Defense. The option offense was only 1/2 of Nebraska's identity. The other 1/2 was their black shirt defense and the recent defenses haven't come anywhere near living up to those lofty standards.

2) Recruiting. As I mentioned earlier the college football landscape has changed considerably. Nebraska recruited nationally and the improvement of programs around the country has probably impacted Nebraska's recruiting. Have Wisconsin, Northwestern, etc. put a dent in Nebraska's Chicago recruiting? Has Rutgers improvement hurt their New Jersey recruiting? They were also known for producing great lineman (Dave Rimington, Will Shields, Dean Steinkuhler etc.) but do high school lineman with professional aspirations want to play in an option offense or do they want to develop their pass blocking skills as well?

IMO a school like Nebraska or Georgia Southern could adopt a Malzahn style offense that keeps them relevant in today's college football world while not straying too far from their roots.

[Pigskin Steve]

Evidently AD at SHSU wanted a different head coach than Keeler.

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