Vigen will be promoted

[Kermit]

and Scott Fuchs returns!
http://www.areavoices.com/bisonmedia/?blog=40072

[SamsRams]

Bison blood, ya gotta love it!!!

[Scooter1]

Congrats to Vigen. Please throw this playbook away.

Running plays
1. Vanilla dive up the middle
2. Vanilla sweep to the right
3. Immitation vanilla sweep to the left.
4. Vanilla with sprinkles dive up the middle
5. New York vanilla dive up the middle

Passing plays

From under center...
1. Vanilla easy to cover pass play to the flats right.
2. Vanilla easy to cover pass play to the flats left.
3. New york Vanilla easy to cover three reciever down middle tripple covered heave.
4. Vanilla max protect one guy tripple covered down sideline at 3/4 speed.

From shotgun formation
1. ????
2. ????
3. Birds chirping
4. ????
5. Desperation 4th quarter Vanilla easy to cover, 2 guys in same area interception

[KTF]

Interesting that they split Pat Perles's old position. I suppose one could argue that Perles had to much on his hands to be effective at both positions?

[steelbison]

Congrats to Brent and Scott!!!

PS-Brent, let's get AJ signed this weekend!!!

[HandoEX]

Congrats to both! Great moves for the Bison!!!

[Gully]

Great moves! Vigen will be excellent, no more arguing with someone else about calling plays, he'll be able to call plays and get in a groove.

[Wacker_in_the_Hall]

Congrats to Vigen. Please throw this playbook away.

Running plays
1. Vanilla dive up the middle
2. Vanilla sweep to the right
3. Immitation vanilla sweep to the left.
4. Vanilla with sprinkles dive up the middle
5. New York vanilla dive up the middle

Passing plays

From under center...
1. Vanilla easy to cover pass play to the flats right.
2. Vanilla easy to cover pass play to the flats left.
3. New york Vanilla easy to cover three reciever down middle tripple covered heave.
4. Vanilla max protect one guy tripple covered down sideline at 3/4 speed.

From shotgun formation
1. ????
2. ????
3. Birds chirping
4. ????
5. Desperation 4th quarter Vanilla easy to cover, 2 guys in same area interception


Good Players make bad plays great. The same plays won 20 games in the prior 2 years.

[Bison_Backer]

Just spoke to the man himself. Its official. I can say this he is beaming from ear to ear and so glad to be a bison again. As for the offense. It doesn't matter what you run good athletes plus these two great coaches will make it work.


FYI: both played for Rocky in the split back veer, we could have a return ;)

[SDbison]

Guess I am a little more skeptical than you guys in the know. Would have been nice to get someone with more experience with coordinating offenses, but as always, just because they were former Bison they must be great. Not bashing here, just wonder what details make these guys so awesome. OK, so just because Bohl picked them does not mean they will turn out......look what happened to Perles. The offense struggled. And as QB coach Vigen seemed to think that it was OK to put everything on Mertens being successful and look how that turned out. Take off the Green and Gold glasses for a moment fans, the glass is not always full. Lets discuss this with facts and some well based opinion.

[99Bison]

Guess I am a little more skeptical than you guys in the know. Would have been nice to get someone with more experience with coordinating offenses, but as always, just because they were former Bison they must be great. Not bashing here, just wonder what details make these guys so awesome. OK, so just because Bohl picked them does not mean they will turn out......look what happened to Perles. The offense struggled. And as QB coach Vigen seemed to think that it was OK to put everything on Mertens being successful and look how that turned out. Take off the Green and Gold glasses for a moment fans, the glass is not always full. Lets discuss this with facts and some well based opinion.

Well, the OL coach having been at 4 good offensive teams as a line coach... and arguably line play seems to back up the arguement.

[tony]

Guess I am a little more skeptical than you guys in the know. Would have been nice to get someone with more experience with coordinating offenses, but as always, just because they were former Bison they must be great. Not bashing here, just wonder what details make these guys so awesome. OK, so just because Bohl picked them does not mean they will turn out......look what happened to Perles. The offense struggled. And as QB coach Vigen seemed to think that it was OK to put everything on Mertens being successful and look how that turned out. Take off the Green and Gold glasses for a moment fans, the glass is not always full. Lets discuss this with facts and some well based opinion.

Meh. One month Bohl is a genius. The next month NDSU is underrated at #2. The next month Bohl is average-at-best and now, despite having a track record of picking coaches who always go on to move up the coaching ladder, he can't even be trusted to pick his assistants now? Holy cow.

Fuchs is a Bison national champion player. He coached O-line at UNO and they led the nation in rushing. He went to GVSU and they went from giving up 23 sacks to giving up 11. Then Lennon hired him. Now Bohl hired him away from Lennon. It also seems that every coach that Bohl has ever hired has moved up the coaching ladder. Which of those things says to you that Fuchs isn't a great hire?Heck, the only thing that you list as a strike against him is that Bohl hired him ("Just because Bohl hired them doesn't mean they won't turn out"). WOW. Doesn't matter what color your glasses are if you won't open your eyes.

As for Vigen, all I know is that people talk about him like they talk about Bradley. Edite: Er, as I re-read your post, I can see that this is the hire you are most concerned about. Just based on Bohl's track record of hiring, I'm pretty sure he'll turn out well, but it is a big step and I wish Vigen the best.

[BisonNeil]

Well, the OL coach having been at 4 good offensive teams as a line coach... and arguably line play seems to back up the arguement.

I agree wholeheartedly, and here is Fuchs bio to support what you said.

http://siusalukis.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/fuchs_scott00.html

[Jay]

Guess I am a little more skeptical than you guys in the know. Would have been nice to get someone with more experience with coordinating offenses, but as always, just because they were former Bison they must be great. Not bashing here, just wonder what details make these guys so awesome. OK, so just because Bohl picked them does not mean they will turn out......look what happened to Perles. The offense struggled. And as QB coach Vigen seemed to think that it was OK to put everything on Mertens being successful and look how that turned out. Take off the Green and Gold glasses for a moment fans, the glass is not always full. Lets discuss this with facts and some well based opinion.

Agreed.

I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[aces1180]

Now the Vigen is promoted, who becomes the QB's coach? Will he have a dual-role or does someone like Feeney join the coaching staff?

[Scooter1]

Good Players make bad plays great. The same plays won 20 games in the prior 2 years.

Yeah, but predictable offenses make average defenses seem like giant killers.

[bisonhp330]

Good Players make bad plays great. The same plays won 20 games in the prior 2 years.

i disagree- partly- you can't say the play calling was the same this year as years past- it was a lot more conservative trying to get Mertens to get his head in the game.

Im a little nervous about the o- coordinator- with that skewed idea you have to play the position to recruit it well....with that logic won't that mean vigen will only be good at coaching tight end plays in the offensive scheme? (<---sarcasm)

[lcbison]

Yeah, but predictable offenses make average defenses seem like giant killers.

Every teams offense is predictable if you watch them enough:

With Florida, you KNOW Tebow is going to be involved 70% of the time.
With Texas Tech, you KNOW that they are going spread them wide and pass
With Navy you KNOW they area going to run, run, run.
With the Pittsburgh Steelers you KNOW they are going to run to set up the pass
With the Vikings you KNOW T-Jack is gonna throw a picK.


All, I'm saying is that we ran the same offense in 2006, 2007 & 2008. But now some are complaing that it was the play-calling. How about the fact that we lost alot of TALENT.

[met1990]

What region is Vigen's recruiting focused on? I have to think promoting from within would help with continuity for recruits this close to signing day.

[steelbison]

Guess I am a little more skeptical than you guys in the know. Would have been nice to get someone with more experience with coordinating offenses, but as always, just because they were former Bison they must be great. Not bashing here, just wonder what details make these guys so awesome. OK, so just because Bohl picked them does not mean they will turn out......look what happened to Perles. The offense struggled. And as QB coach Vigen seemed to think that it was OK to put everything on Mertens being successful and look how that turned out. Take off the Green and Gold glasses for a moment fans, the glass is not always full. Lets discuss this with facts and some well based opinion.

Ok SDbison, did you like Perles as an O-Coordinator??? If so he had no coordinating expierence prior to being the coordinator here. Just because you have never done it doesn't mean you can't be successful at it.

I think Brent will do a great job!! Obviously it proves if your good enough to get the job(Nystrom) you will get it....I think we will see an offense that more fits NIcks strenghths instead of his weaknessess..imho

[SDbison]

Meh. One month Bohl is a genius. The next month NDSU is underrated at #2. The next month Bohl is average-at-best and now, despite having a track record of picking coaches who always go on to move up the coaching ladder, he can't even be trusted to pick his assistants now? Holy cow.

Fuchs is a Bison national champion player. He coached O-line at UNO and they led the nation in rushing. He went to GVSU and they went from giving up 23 sacks to giving up 11. Then Lennon hired him. Now Bohl hired him away from Lennon. It also seems that every coach that Bohl has ever hired has moved up the coaching ladder. Which of those things says to you that Fuchs isn't a great hire?Heck, the only thing that you list as a strike against him is that Bohl hired him ("Just because Bohl hired them doesn't mean they won't turn out"). WOW. Doesn't matter what color your glasses are if you won't open your eyes.

As for Vigen, all I know is that people talk about him like they talk about Bradley. Edite: Er, as I re-read your post, I can see that this is the hire you are most concerned about. Just based on Bohl's track record of hiring, I'm pretty sure he'll turn out well, but it is a big step and I wish Vigen the best.
Why don't you moderate yourself and chill out a bit Tony. All I asked for is some info as to why these are great coach choices. Everybody doesn't have to glorify all decisions Bohl makes. wtf?

[SDbison]

Ok SDbison, did you like Perles as an O-Coordinator??? If so he had no coordinating expierence prior to being the coordinator here. Just because you have never done it doesn't mean you can't be successful at it.

I think Brent will do a great job!! Obviously it proves if your good enough to get the job(Nystrom) you will get it....I think we will see an offense that more fits NIcks strenghths instead of his weaknessess..imho
Yeah, Bohl should change his offensive scheme and his O coordinator to match Mertens talents.......you guys make me laugh.

[SDbison]

Bison blood, ya gotta love it!!!
So just because they are former Bison make them great coaches? Guess if you question anything as a concerned Bison fan the complete homers here go on a rampage.....

[Scooter1]

Every teams offense is predictable if you watch them enough:

With Florida, you KNOW Tebow is going to be involved 70% of the time.
With Texas Tech, you KNOW that they are going spread them wide and pass
With Navy you KNOW they area going to run, run, run.
With the Pittsburgh Steelers you KNOW they are going to run to set up the pass
With the Vikings you KNOW T-Jack is gonna throw a picK.


All, I'm saying is that we ran the same offense in 2006, 2007 & 2008. But now some are complaing that it was the play-calling. How about the fact that we lost alot of TALENT.

You make some good points... the problem I have with your examples are this...
Florida, Tebow is going to be involved 70% of the time. what he does with that 70% is what gives defenses fits.
Texas Tech, you know they are going to pass...great, now cover the 6,000,000 different pass routes that they run.
Navy...runs the ball all the time but gets the shit kicked out of them vs any good team.

I don't buy the notion that we lacked the talent on this team. We underacheived on offense. This fact is driven home by the opinion of the coaches regarding NDSU's talent returning before the season. Predictable vanilla offenses make a defensive coordinator's job much easier. If they don't adjust...we'll see more of the same.

[bisonhusker]

The players REALLY wanted Vigen calling plays this coming year.....and last year. He will be just fine.

[lakesbison]

SD.... here's the skinny.

Perles wanted these vanilla plays cuz he was gunshy.

Nick & Vigen wanted to run more shotgun and ROLL OUTS to utilize Nicks strengths.

I guess NOW we found out who was right!!


SD. I would like some new blood too, but Bohl doesnt wanna bring in a whole new scheme when:

A) its middle of recruiting and doesnt wanna lose them, or scare potenial offers.

B) Bohl will likely move on after this year or next.

[tony]

Why don't you moderate yourself and chill out a bit Tony. All I asked for is some info as to why these are great coach choices. Everybody doesn't have to glorify all decisions Bohl makes. wtf?

Hehe, people, including my best friends, who post something as idiotic as "Just because Bohl hired them doesn't mean they won't turn out" is going to get a mocking. I'm sure not moderating you - you are free to express your opinions.

"Everybody doesn't have to glorify all decisions Bohl makes. wtf?" Nobody is saying that, however I can think of one guy who has turned that around and is saying, "I think every decison Bohl makes is probably a bad one until somebody convinces me otherwise."

[BisonFB]

Hehe, people, including my best friends, who post something as idiotic as "Just because Bohl hired them doesn't mean they won't turn out" is going to get a mocking. I'm sure not moderating you - you are free to express your opinions.

"Everybody doesn't have to glorify all decisions Bohl makes. wtf?" Nobody is saying that, however I can think of one guy who has turned that around and is saying, "I think every decison Bohl makes is probably a bad one until somebody convinces me otherwise."

I agree with SDBison. Bohl needs to be questioned.

[Bison Dan]

I agree with SDBison. Bohl needs to be questioned.

Why????????

[NDSUstudent]

I agree with SDBison. Bohl needs to be questioned.

Because he didn't promote Nystrom? Maybe that is questionable, but honestly it is hard to be too critical when you look at his past performances in hiring/promoting coaches.

[56BISON73]

I agree with SDBison. Bohl needs to be questioned.

Questioned as to what??? You want him to publicly tell everyone why someone wasnt hired-promoted????
PL

[FarSouth Bison]

Time will tell, and I think some people should do like the rest of us and wait and see how this turns out. Give the guy a chance, before you say he wasn't the right choice.

[bisonhusker]

BisonFB has it out for Bohl. No doubt about that.

In regards to Nystrom...he wasn't told he wasn't going to be the DC...he just was told that he was a candidate and time will tell. Nystrom wanted the job no doubt about it. It didn't work out. Bohl reloads. You can question alot of things about Bohl, but hiring assistant coaches would be the last thing I would question. I really like his track record.

[RedRiver]

BisonFB has it out for Bohl. No doubt about that.

In regards to Nystrom...he wasn't told he wasn't going to be the DC...he just was told that he was a candidate and time will tell. Nystrom wanted the job no doubt about it. It didn't work out. Bohl reloads. You can question alot of things about Bohl, but hiring assistant coaches would be the last thing I would question. I really like his track record.

Your right, he has a proven history of hiring and grooming good assistant coaches!

[THEsocalledfan]

SD.... here's the skinny.

Perles wanted these vanilla plays cuz he was gunshy.

Nick & Vigen wanted to run more shotgun and ROLL OUTS to utilize Nicks strengths.

I guess NOW we found out who was right!!


SD. I would like some new blood too, but Bohl doesnt wanna bring in a whole new scheme when:

A) its middle of recruiting and doesnt wanna lose them, or scare potenial offers.

B) Bohl will likely move on after this year or next.

My God, is Lakes actually correct on this? I must say and saw some logic in the post and not even any capital letters!

[coldspot]

My God, is Lakes actually correct on this? I must say and saw some logic in the post and not even any capital letters!

even a blind squirrel finds a nut.

[Mr. Burgundy]

Lakes is decent when he isn't trying to be someone he isn't. He is smart enough to cut and paste what actually happened. If Lakes would calm down, and not try to be some arrogant guy...he can be decent.

[TransAmBison]

My God, is Lakes actually correct on this? I must say and saw some logic in the post and not even any capital letters!
Lakes just posted the obvious. That is, and acting like he is on a personal basis with Vigen and Mertens. Gotta show the bisonvillers who all he knows and talks to, stalks, masterb...ohhh....err....

[Gully]

So just because they are former Bison make them great coaches? Guess if you question anything as a concerned Bison fan the complete homers here go on a rampage.....

SDBison, who pissed in your cheerios. Listening to you and all your doom and gloom lately I can't imaging why anyone would be a Bison fan? Funny thing is I know that you are a Bison fan. Do you just do this to torture yourself?

[Bisonfan1]

Im all in unless Vigen proves otherwise, I love the "predictably un-predictable" theme from the past, I also love this, and it's time folks - "Our attitude going into games was everybody knew what we were going to do, the other team knew, the fans knew, but now you have to stop us" Everyone knew what we were going to do in 2008 and stopped us, I want to see a mixture of both from above qoutes this year that will take us to a National Championship. It's Vigens time to shine and im excited. Vigen has been a student of the game for some time and this beast will be turned loose in 2009.

[Wacker_in_the_Hall]

Every teams offense is predictable if you watch them enough:

With Florida, you KNOW Tebow is going to be involved 70% of the time.
With Texas Tech, you KNOW that they are going spread them wide and pass
With Navy you KNOW they area going to run, run, run.
With the Pittsburgh Steelers you KNOW they are going to run to set up the pass
With the Vikings you KNOW T-Jack is gonna throw a picK.


All, I'm saying is that we ran the same offense in 2006, 2007 & 2008. But now some are complaing that it was the play-calling. How about the fact that we lost alot of TALENT.


Could not have said it better. If we have better players than the team in front of us, it does not matter, we will win the battle more often than not.

[Bisonfan1]

Could not have said it better. If we have better players than the team in front of us, it does not matter, we will win the battle more often than not.

Exactly, read my previous post " now you have to stop us " (Tony Satter ) by the way. Good post Wacker_in_the_hall, And Icbison.

[Scooter1]

Could not have said it better. If we have better players than the team in front of us, it does not matter, we will win the battle more often than not.

I disagree.

Since I believe that we already have (HAD) some of the best talent in the FCS right now...Roehl,Jangula,Heckendorf,Wurzbacher,Harringt on,Buckman,Fairbairn,Lardinois,Maresh,Schommer,Hum ber...by your logic it shouldn't have mattered what plays we ran last year, they should have worked. The truth is you can take all those examples that your quote refers to and pick it apart.

Tebow is involved in 70% of the plays...the problem is that the defense doesn't know what he is going to do when he gets the ball..throw or run. they have to cover both or get burned.

Texas Tech passes all day long...the problem is the defense has fits covering the multiple sets and 1,000 different pass patterns.

Navy gets pumped by every really good team they play, because the defense knows they are one dimentional.

NDSU failed to stretch the field and the play calling allowed the defense to stack the line of scrimmage. They did this because they KNEW that was all they needed to defend. Saying that it doesn't matter what you run if you have better players is lemming talk when you have a level playing field. It works when you are talking about NDSU teams of the early 80's because NDSU's talent level was far superior to their competition (funding and scholorships) To play Devil's advocate...If you assertion has merit (it doesn't matter what plays are called if you have better athletes), then, since NDSU does have some of the best talent in FCS, why even talk about who the offensive coordinator is going to be? It shouldn't matter. Lets just call the play at the line of scrimmage, have no audibles, and see how far that gets us. I can guarentee that Texas Tech and Florida didn't make figuring out what was coming next as easy as NDSU did last year. I'm not trying to be a snot or anyhting I just think you are 100% wrong in this case.

[THEsocalledfan]

I disagree.

Since I believe that we already have (HAD) some of the best talent in the FCS right now...Roehl,Jangula,Heckendorf,Wurzbacher,Harringt on,Buckman,Fairbairn,Lardinois,Maresh,Schommer,Hum ber...by your logic it shouldn't have mattered what plays we ran last year, they should have worked. The truth is you can take all those examples that your quote refers to and pick it apart.

Tebow is involved in 70% of the plays...the problem is that the defense doesn't know what he is going to do when he gets the ball..throw or run. they have to cover both or get burned.

Texas Tech passes all day long...the problem is the defense has fits covering the multiple sets and 1,000 different pass patterns.

Navy gets pumped by every really good team they play, because the defense knows they are one dimentional.

NDSU failed to stretch the field and the play calling allowed the defense to stack the line of scrimmage. They did this because they KNEW that was all they needed to defend. Saying that it doesn't matter what you run if you have better players is lemming talk when you have a level playing field. It works when you are talking about NDSU teams of the early 80's because NDSU's talent level was far superior to their competition (funding and scholorships) To play Devil's advocate...If you assertion has merit (it doesn't matter what plays are called if you have better athletes), then, since NDSU does have some of the best talent in FCS, why even talk about who the offensive coordinator is going to be? It shouldn't matter. Lets just call the play at the line of scrimmage, have no audibles, and see how far that gets us. I can guarentee that Texas Tech and Florida didn't make figuring out what was coming next as easy as NDSU did last year. I'm not trying to be a snot or anyhting I just think you are 100% wrong in this case.


Here, here, glad to see some solid reason on this board. This love feast of uniformity of thought, including the ragging on SDBison, was almost approaching "group think." Even the Trucks eventually learned to control the veer when they finally elevated their talent level....

Now, is Bohl wrong in what he did? I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and this is a very typical difficult decision that must be made in any organization. (ie is it best to hire external, and get fresh ideas, or hire internal, and promote continuity) As with all debates like the this with no black and white answer; the "truth" is likely somewhere in between.

With that said, immediately hailing this as a sure thing, great pick is uncalled for. We have no idea, at this time, if the right decision was made. I sure hope so, and believe Coach Bohl is doing what he thinks is best for the team. But I also know that we had a subpar season last year that did not live up to Bison standards, so "shaking things up" by hiring external would have been understandable.

So, I am not as negative as SDbison, but I expect excellence from the Bison which I did not see last year. I expect better and hope Coach Vigen can elevate their play. I will now cross my fingers until November......

[56BISON73]

I disagree.

Since I believe that we already have (HAD) some of the best talent in the FCS right now...Roehl,Jangula,Heckendorf,Wurzbacher,Harringt on,Buckman,Fairbairn,Lardinois,Maresh,Schommer,Hum ber...by your logic it shouldn't have mattered what plays we ran last year, they should have worked. The truth is you can take all those examples that your quote refers to and pick it apart.

Tebow is involved in 70% of the plays...the problem is that the defense doesn't know what he is going to do when he gets the ball..throw or run. they have to cover both or get burned.

Texas Tech passes all day long...the problem is the defense has fits covering the multiple sets and 1,000 different pass patterns.

Navy gets pumped by every really good team they play, because the defense knows they are one dimentional.

NDSU failed to stretch the field and the play calling allowed the defense to stack the line of scrimmage. They did this because they KNEW that was all they needed to defend. Saying that it doesn't matter what you run if you have better players is lemming talk when you have a level playing field. It works when you are talking about NDSU teams of the early 80's because NDSU's talent level was far superior to their competition (funding and scholorships) To play Devil's advocate...If you assertion has merit (it doesn't matter what plays are called if you have better athletes), then, since NDSU does have some of the best talent in FCS, why even talk about who the offensive coordinator is going to be? It shouldn't matter. Lets just call the play at the line of scrimmage, have no audibles, and see how far that gets us. I can guarentee that Texas Tech and Florida didn't make figuring out what was coming next as easy as NDSU did last year. I'm not trying to be a snot or anyhting I just think you are 100% wrong in this case.

Many times teams with better players lose to teams who have good players but execute better and play with more heart.
Now if a ream has better players, executes they way they are supposed to and plays with heart they are going to be tough to beat.
IMO what it really comes down to is execution of assignments. PL

[BisonAccountant44]

I have what may be a dumb question after the article about the promotion on gobison. What exactly did he do as the "passing game coordinator" if he wasn't calling any plays? I don't think I've ever heard that title before. Is that a "positon" that normally goes along with being the qb coach?

[BisonNeil]

As I have said before, I work with a guy who was an all-conference OG for the Bison. He travels a lot so I emailed him that Vigen was promoted to OC and that Scott Fuchs was going to be the OL coach. I asked him what he thought about all of this, and this is what he said. So, in the "for what it is worth department" my buddies response:

Well, this is what I think from my impressions years ago as a teammate of Vigen’s, and in the case of Fuchs, a first year grad-ass when I was a rookie.

This is probably the best job possible for Vigen. He is thoughtful, calculating, prodding, deliberate, hard-working, and above all level-headed. Not excitable or emotionally reactive. I suspect he is pretty good at anticipating problems as well. I don’t know about creativity, but as a player, creativity only gets you in trouble so Im not certain about that. When Bohl first came he cleaned house, which was important. But in keeping Vigen, he probably saw the same things I am mentioning, but wanted him to earn his keep. The Q-back coach was an illogical (or not as logical) for technique (he never played it), and maybe on-field leadership, but a perfect fit for someone who had the mental skills that I have listed above. He is far more intelligent than most coaches, and likely all those I have had in my career.

Fuchs has a different skill set that is perfect for the line. Great sense of ‘field’ humor that is critical to keeping a line involved (in my mind). He has an all-out-ass-kicking-in-your-face-personal-foul-OK-as-long-as-they-feel-it-for-the-rest-of-the-game mentality. Also critical for the o-line. Not to mention he has the credentials that will be respected by his unit; all-american if I remember. He had 11 knee surgeries when I first came to camp, and was proud that he played in pain and when he shouldn’t have. He will yell, but he is not the screaming wraith that Perles was, and thank god for it. Screaming is debilitating unless it is accompanied with humor, which I suspect Perles had little. Turns practice into a dreaded event, rather than something fun (or tolerable), and reduces your interest in getting better, rather than forcing your focus on not pissing-off the coach. I think it showed this last year… Also, Fuchs is a very good technical guy. I suspect he will be able to turn athletes of average physical ability into very good players.

Personally, and maybe it cause I am biased, I think this was a great move by NDSU (and as a product of Hager, I do not use great lightly). I know that when Babich came, I figured Saum would be gone (my o line coach). I dreaded the thought (and it didn’t happen), but my biggest hope if the situation occurred would be that Fuchs replaced him.

I am elated about this!