Former Bison Coach Babich in USA Today

[RedRiver]

Good article in today's issue of the USA Today featuring the Chicago Bears linebackers.

The article contains quite a few quotes from Coach Babich.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/bears/2006-09-14-briggs_x.htm

[ndsubison]

You mean Bob "We Just Didn't Get It Done Today" Babich? Isn't he the guy who single-handedly drove the Bison FB program into the ground in the early/mid 90's? Help me. I'm confused :-/

[lakesbison]

Bob wasnt the reason.. D11 watering down in my opinion was the reason, we shouldve went 1AA back in about 1996, 1997.

Bob was a great guy, had good chats with him, teams just underachieved... what more can a guy do??

besides, he is still a great ambassador for NDSU football, I talked to him at soldier field last year and we had a great chat about that!!!

SEE YA!

[DIBISON]

It is great to read about another former Bison Coach in the national press.

[insane_ponderer]

After watching the Babich years I still don't know exactly what to think about him. On one hand he did recruit very well, but at the same time those players that he recruited didn't play for him. I think he was already out the door his last year and it really showed, he didn't seem to care at all about the season. Not to mention, I still think it reflects very poorly that he started his son on the team as soon as he did. Bobby did eventually turn into a good cb, and you can argue that is because of the experience he got, and he may very well have been "the best we could do" at cb at the time, but man i remember watching him get burned so many times and i think a lot of people had the "he's the coaches son" mentality.

And ndsubison, it wasn't in the 90's it was the early 2000's before Bohl took over.

[Scooter]

I deleted a post because it was a little to harsh on Rocky, and not entirely fair.

Lakes, you have a point with the watering down of D2. *But Babbich did have a few good runs in the playoffs. *An inadervent whistle that cost NDSU a TD against NWMS and a game that was played in a cat litter box with a third string QB. *Just goes to show how two events can have people looking at you as either a program wrecker or one of NDSU's best.

"ifs and buts were candy and nuts...."

[99Bison]

IMHO Babich's problem was coaching and motivation... He seemed to recruit ok, but the staff was out coached time and time again.

[broke_back_mnt]

I have a lot of respect for Coach Babich. Its true it didnt work out, but he left the program loaded with talent, under heavy, heavy pressure and still remains a great NDSU ambassadore.

[NDSU_grad]

After watching the Babich years I still don't know exactly what to think about him. *On one hand he did recruit very well, but at the same time those players that he recruited didn't play for him. *I think he was already out the door his last year and it really showed, he didn't seem to care at all about the season. *Not to mention, I still think it reflects very poorly that he started his son on the team as soon as he did. *Bobby did eventually turn into a good cb, and you can argue that is because of the experience he got, and he may very well have been "the best we could do" at cb at the time, but man i remember watching him get burned so many times and i think a lot of people had the "he's the coaches son" mentality.

And ndsubison, it wasn't in the 90's it was the early 2000's before Bohl took over.

I'm not a huge Babich fan, but I don't think it's fair to blame him for playing Bobby so early. We were terribly thin at CB going into the 02 season. Cory O'Connell had just quit the team and Nate Keller got hurt the first game, so he was pretty much forced to take the redshirts off of Walter and Bobby, even though they were nowhere near ready.

[insane_ponderer]

NDSU_grad,

I always did give Coach Babich the benefit of the doubt and assumed that there was a reason why he put Bobby on the spot so early (and watching those first few years it wasn't because of talent).

Like I said before, he did eventually turn into a quality cornerback so the experience probably helped him.

I think it was always in the back of people's minds though that there may have been some favoritism going on and it's good to hear that there wasn't.

[ndsubison]

Bullshit. The 2000 team was laden with talent. That year should have been Mational Championship #9. What, 5 guys off that team tried out or even made NFL rosters. Delta State-a game which we should've won-went on to win the NC title by 40 some points. What do you think the Bison would've done to that team? I personally have no doubts about that one. Bob was most definately a great recruiter. He just didn't have the killer instinct and did not know how to get it done when the chips were down. I don't hate the guy, I just think he was an underachiever. He opened the door to UND's 10 wins in 13 years.

[BisonBacker]

Babich could recruit well but he couldn't coach his way out of a paper bag :(

[RedRiver]

Isn't it ironic that Coach Babich is in the national press the day that Rocky returns to Fargo!!

[DaveK]

Bullshit. *The 2000 team was laden with talent. *That year should have been Mational Championship #9. *What, 5 guys off that team tried out or even made NFL rosters. *Delta State-a game which we should've won-went on to win the NC title by 40 some points. *What do you think the Bison would've done to that team? *I personally have no doubts about that one. *Bob was most definately a great recruiter. *He just didn't have the killer instinct and did not know how to get it done when the chips were down. *I don't hate the guy, I just think he was an underachiever. *He opened the door to UND's 10 wins in 13 years. *

I don't post (smack) here anymore, but I just can't stay silent after having read that. In all fairness to Bob Babich you might want to reconsider that last sentence. Of those 10 wins in 13 years, here's the breakdown of the Sioux won/lost record vs. each Bison coach over the span of those years:

Sioux vs. Rocky Hager (1993-1996) : 5-1
Sioux vs. Bob Babich (1997-2002) : 4-2
Sioux vs. Craig Bohl (2003) : 1-0

Looking at it from that perspective, wouldn't you have to agree that it was Rocky who opened the door to the Sioux turning the tables on the Bison? After winning each of his first six Sioux/Bison games (1987-1992), he dropped five of his last six. Babich was only one win away from having a .500 record against the Sioux. Another interesting fact is that of Rocky's six wins in his first six games vs. the Sioux, three of those six were very close games (1988, 1991, 1992).

After suffering some massive beatdowns from the Bison throughout most of the '80s the Sioux were finally getting to the point where they could at least make a game of it even though they still kept finding themselves on the losing side at the end of the game. Eventually, in 1993, they finally broke through and got that landmark win. The rest, as they say, is history.

I believe as much as Rocky Hager could possibly be to blame for allowing the Bison to regress to that point, credit must be given to Roger Thomas for building up the UND program to what it was at the time he passed the torch to Dale Lennon. I believe the seniors on the last NDSU national championship team in 1990 were recruited by the previous coach before Rocky Hager. As soon as that generation of players had departed, NDSU almost immeditely slipped from dominant to merely competitive. Thoughts?

[virgfoss]

My thoughts DaveK.

D-II...NDSU football...8 national titles
D-II...UND football...1 national title

We're I-AA now.

Next?

[DaveK]

My thoughts DaveK.

D-II...NDSU football...8 national titles
D-II...UND football...1 national title

We're I-AA now. *

Next?




I never denied that fact. I merely suggested that perhaps it was Hager, not Babich, who allowed the Sioux to overtake the Bison's place as the top football program in the state. I stated the reasons why I feel that way. I realize the Bison won 8 national titles prior to regressing in the early '90s. I wasn't arguing that point. Let's try to stay on topic.

[Former_Hitman]

Coach Babich was a good Head Coach and Recruiter, however when Coach Mauer left so did the offense...

Coach Babich took over the play calling and things went down from there...he was stubborn in that regard.

Let's not bash Coach Babich, he represents NDSU very well. *Thanks

[RedRiver]

And it is great to have a former Bison head coach doing so well in the NFL!!

[tony]

There is plenty to like about Coach Babich.

By the way, I ran across some wine named Babi[ch263] (original Slavic spelling of Babich). It was pretty good and I bought a couple bottles... unfortunately, it didn't travel very well (got kind of a burnt raisiny taste which, while interesting, wasn't what I wanted). If I ever run across a good batch, I'll have to send some his way.

[insane_ponderer]

Coach Babich was a good Head Coach and Recruiter, however when Coach Mauer left so did the offense...

Coach Babich took over the play calling and things went down from there...he was stubborn it that regard.

Let's not bash Coach Babich, he represents NDSU very well. *Thanks




Thanks for the input. I was going to write in a previous post that his play calling always seemed a bit conservative and sloppy and sometimes you just shook your head. That last season of his was terrible, and I am very glad that he left.

With that being said, I am very happy he is doing well in the NFL and hope he continues to move up the ladder.

[DIBISON]

The Chicago Tribune Bears writer believes that Coach Babich will be next defensive coordinator of the Bears if the current coordinator gets a head coaching job. He also states that Babich has designs on being an NFL Head Coach one day!! See the comments in the following article.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/askthewriter/cs-070104askdavidhaugh,1,3365561.story?coll=cs-home-headlines

[NDSUFREAK10]

Bullshit. *The 2000 team was laden with talent. *That year should have been Mational Championship #9. *What, 5 guys off that team tried out or even made NFL rosters. *Delta State-a game which we should've won-went on to win the NC title by 40 some points. *What do you think the Bison would've done to that team? *I personally have no doubts about that one. *Bob was most definately a great recruiter. *He just didn't have the killer instinct and did not know how to get it done when the chips were down. *I don't hate the guy, I just think he was an underachiever. *He opened the door to UND's 10 wins in 13 years. *

I don't post (smack) here anymore, but I just can't stay silent after having read that. In all fairness to Bob Babich you might want to reconsider that last sentence. Of those 10 wins in 13 years, here's the breakdown of the Sioux won/lost record vs. each Bison coach over the span of those years:

Sioux vs. Rocky Hager (1993-1996) : 5-1
Sioux vs. Bob Babich (1997-2002) : 4-2
Sioux vs. Craig Bohl (2003) : 1-0

Looking at it from that perspective, wouldn't you have to agree that it was Rocky who opened the door to the Sioux turning the tables on the Bison? After winning each of his first six Sioux/Bison games (1987-1992), he dropped five of his last six. Babich was only one win away from having a .500 record against the Sioux. Another interesting fact is that of Rocky's six wins in his first six games vs. the Sioux, three of those six were very close games (1988, 1991, 1992).

After suffering some massive beatdowns from the Bison throughout most of the '80s the Sioux were finally getting to the point where they could at least make a game of it even though they still kept finding themselves on the losing side at the end of the game. Eventually, in 1993, they finally broke through and got that landmark win. The rest, as they say, is history.

I believe as much as Rocky Hager could possibly be to blame for allowing the Bison to regress to that point, credit must be given to Roger Thomas for building up the UND program to what it was at the time he passed the torch to Dale Lennon. I believe the seniors on the last NDSU national championship team in 1990 were recruited by the previous coach before Rocky Hager. As soon as that generation of players had departed, NDSU almost immeditely slipped from dominant to merely competitive. Thoughts?

http://guy.troll.free.fr/images/Bannieres/Troll.jpg
WARNING: TROLL
Conversation is about to get ugly.

[NDSUFREAK10]

My thoughts DaveK.

D-II...NDSU football...8 national titles
D-II...UND football...1 national title

We're I-AA now.

Next?




We're FCS now.

[ndsubison]

Bob wasnt the reason.. D11 watering down in my opinion was the reason, we shouldve went 1AA back in about 1996, 1997.

Bob was a great guy, had good chats with him, teams just underachieved... what more can a guy do??

besides, he is still a great ambassador for NDSU football, I talked to him at soldier field last year and we had a great chat about that!!!

SEE YA!

Yeah that's great. ::) Since when has UND beaten us 10 out of 13 games in a row? Oh, that's right--7 of those yrs Babich was the coach. Prime example: 2001 season: Lamar Gordon, Pete Campion, Jared Peck, etc, etc, a semi-final loss to Delta State. Talent galore, but "we just didn't get it done today" coaching. God, I can't believe he's coaching for Da Bears......... :-? ::) :-? ::)

[DIBISON]

Maybe Lovie Smith is a good teacher and mentor.....

[NDSUstudent]

Rumors are swirling that the Tulsa head coach is going to replace Petrino at Louisville, I wonder if Babich will get a look by Tulsa since he coached and played there.

[Bob_Holiday]

Bob Babich is an enigma in Bison coaching annals. It always seemed like he was right there with the team, but he never broke through to the promised land. He was a great recruiter, in fact his legacy to the Bison was Steve Walker, Joe Mays, Mike Dragosavitch, et al. Probably one of the all time best classes. His biggest downfall was he saw himself as an offensive coaching genius, which he wasn't. His "offense" consisted of Lamar Gordon up the gut twice, a third down fly pattern and punt. I'm happy to see him doing so well. He's a very likable guy.
Bob Holiday

[Jeffdaryl3rd]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that "run the iso every play" is not a sound strategy. Good recruiter who laid the foundation of the current team but never really got the team to live up to his recruiting. Oh well, not our problem anymore.

[Bisonguy]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that "run the iso every play" is not a sound strategy. *Good recruiter who laid the foundation of the current team but never really got the team to live up to his recruiting. *Oh well, not our problem anymore.


It wasn't the "iso every play" offense, it was the "iso-left, iso-left, chuck it deep, punt" offense.

[Jeffdaryl3rd]

Okay, you're right. I didn't give Babich enough credit for the diversity of his offense.

[CaBisonFan]

Good article in today's issue of the USA Today featuring the Chicago Bears linebackers. *

The article contains quite a few quotes from Coach Babich.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/bears/2006-09-14-briggs_x.htm

It's my opinion that the leadership at NDSU...or lack of it...during the Rocky & Babich years set the table for the struggles of the 90s. *The move to DI-AA should have been made in the late 80s or early 90s. *An A.D. & president with an eye to the future would have seen the demise of D2 coming. *Rocky and Babich were both victims to a degree. *It is also my opinion that the disciplinary problems did something to the attitude of the program. *The focus changed. *Ade Sponberg (spelling?) would have handled the disciplinary problems in-house before it became a monster...and he would have taken the heat away from Rocky. *Entzion didn't have the leadership skills to run the NDSU athletic department. *Forget the personal problems if you will. *He just didn't have the common sense. *It was obvious that Entzion and Rocky had some real problems in their working relationship...which adversely affected Rocky. *Remember the sideline arguments between the two? *It was bad. * The 90s had this problem...and also a somewhat reluctant move to the dome. *The atmosphere changed. *The fans that came to enjoy the dome were not rabid Bison fans. *It was strange. *Rocky became the scapegoat for a set of larger problems. *North Dakota State was his 'dream' job. *He loves the state of North Dakota and the Bison tradition. *Perhaps he was a little too emotional at times...but this was an acceptable flaw. *Babich came in at an unfortunate time. *The storm of Rocky's firing and the remaining problems made the transition a sour one. *Babich changed the offense, and the old Bison were gone...along with the historical environment of Dakota Field. *As a long-time high school band director, I have personally experience a similar situation...where I entered a job that was in turmoil because of a scandal involving the past director.. *I did OK, but the program had cancer. *It has taken almost 20 years for the ghosts to disappear.

As they say, timing is everything. *Most coaches and people like me try to make a move when the timing is right. *The timing wasn't right for Babich. *I don't know hardly anything about his coaching skill, so I won't comment on that. *

I think that we're all aware of the fact that a horrendously talented team can be beaten by an opponent that has fire in their eyes. *I think that lighting the Bison fire was an incredibly difficult task in the 90s...for the above-stated reasons. *Babich was probably the wrong coach, in the wrong place, at the wrong time...making it nearly impossible for him to work confidently. *The tradition was on his back the entire time...meaning people like us. *It never stopped...from almost day-one. *You can't relax and do your best under those conditions. *The same would apply to Rocky. *The environment became so poisoned that it became more and more difficult for him to continue his prideful attitude, high road style of coaching. *It was fitting when the program was in high gear...but when things began to unravel, his style wasn't effective anymore.

Hager & Babich are both 'quality' guys. *They were caught in a perfect storm. *They both deserve credit for doing what they could to hold the tradition up...against some really tough odds. *

The players during this era deserve all the credit in the world. *They stuck with the program and gave blood to the tradition.

Bohl is an excellent coach in this particular situation. *He came as the transition was about to begin...or as it did....not sure of the timing. *He has motivated his players with discipline and optimism...but more importantly...with the 'underdog' philosophy. *It's the Bison against the world. *Bohl is the right coach, at the right time, in the right place. *He didn't need to be the guy that threw out the veer. *He wasn't the coach that brought the Bison to the dome. *He entered a pretty clean house as far as disciplinary problems. *He was a welcome change...and a necessary one as the Bison entered DI-AA. *

But we need to remember that the Bison tradition has prospered under several coaching changes. *When Bohl leaves, he will leave a strong program...and more than likely...one of his assistants will continue the process successfully. *At least that's my hope. *The program is on track again...and we need to keep it there. *I trust the leadership of Gene Taylor, President Chapman, and others in charge at NDSU. *

Perhaps the biggest game in the history of NDSU football came last fall against Minnesota. *It has pulled in the old-timers like me...and it has brought an excited 'new' fan base into the fold. *Actually...the entire season was a major shot of adrenalin. *But the Minnesota game showed Bison fans that the program 'can' be great again...and that we can compete with our neighbors to the southeast. *That's a huge, huge thing.

I wish Hager & Babich the best. *I liked Rocky's team last fall.

Coaches across the country view NDSU as a great place to develop as a coach. *This is what we want.

Excellent post...thanks.

[Leonardite]

The Bison fan base (like every other) is going to get behind their head coach at first, no matter what the circumstance. And Babich got everyone excited with his early UND win (middle dribble anyone?) but it's hard to argue that it was an illusion. We can debate the kitty litter debacle all we want, but it's hard to deny that outside of that isolated run to the semis, there was some uninspired football being played in the Fargodome for much of the late 90's. I can remember walking out of the building after beating Omaha at home one year and being overwhelmed with excitement.....because we had been choking vigorously in big games consistently. I'm sorry I don't have statistics, but I doubt history is kind to Babich in regard to his record against Omaha, UNC, and UND.......the three opponents that mattered in those days. It was a bad time to be a Bison fan, and his great "ambassadorship" in 2007 isn't going to erase the stain of both 2002 and the rest of his mediocre tenure. We heard time and again how great the recruiting classes were, but the victories never consistently materialized on the field. Either we were lied to about how great the incoming classes were or the coaching failed. I honestly don't know which is correct, but it is one or the other.

In my opinion, the Babich years were a very forgettable time in Bison history. On the same token, the Giacolletti teams were among the worst I've seen take the court at the BSA in my lifetime and now he coaches Utah. Go figure...