Polasek's Coaching Staff Discussion

[HerdBot]

If I recall correctly, Braun's defense in 2022 (points given up per game) was almost as bad as the defense in 2023 without him. But then some of the things he set in motion like having smaller and quicker lineman and smaller linebackers bit us in the butt. Also, the quality of recruited defensive lineman and linebackers during Braun's time at NDSU was not as good as prior years.

It was also the least talented defense since 2009. Not only a small front 7, but an inexperienced one

[SDbison]

This whole hiring process was fcked from the beginning by the AD and has only gone down hill from there.

It's long past time for Matt Larsen to leave. Do we need to wait for issues to further arise with football since most every other sport at NDSU has plateaued or declined during Larsen's time in Fargo (women's basketball the only exception). How long do we have to wait for Matt to leave or be shown the door?

[mtoutfitter]

It's long past time for Matt Larsen to leave. Do we need to wait for issues to further arise with football since most every other sport at NDSU has plateaued or declined during Larsen's time in Fargo (women's basketball the only exception). How long do we have to wait for Matt to leave or be shown the door?

I think he'd make a good subject at a Fiefdom somewhere.

[MyOhMy]

Braun was the head coach at a Big Ten team last year so yeah it was a tremendous hire

So a guy gets a HC job somewhere else due to pure luck and the malfeasance of the previous HC and has an somewhat decent season at 7-5 barely eking out wins against bad teams while losing to really bad teams and stumbles through an ugly bowl game and he's now a tremendous hire for his previous team which was ready to run him out of town in his final year. Gotcha.

[HerdBot]

So a guy gets a HC job somewhere else due to pure luck and the malfeasance of the previous HC and has an somewhat decent season at 7-5 barely eking out wins against bad teams while losing to really bad teams and stumbles through an ugly bowl game and he's now a tremendous hire for his previous team which was ready to run him out of town in his final year. Gotcha.

I mean if you understood the situation David Braun fell into when they fired the entire staff after a hazing scandal and won 1 game, it's a phenomenal story. Ended up with 8 wins including a Bowl win, and 2nd place in the Big 10 west.

It's ok to just admit you are wrong.

[IndyBison]

I mean if you understood the situation David Braun fell into when they fired the entire staff after a hazing scandal and won 1 game, it's a phenomenal story. Ended up with 8 wins including a Bowl win, and 2nd place in the Big 10 west.

It's ok to just admit you are wrong.

Agreed. What he did was amazing given the circumstances. Winning in the B1G even in the weaker West Division is not easy. To get 8 wins with the situation he inherited was incredible. Nobody would have been surprised if they went winless.

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[Mr. Burgundy]

The guy was Big Ten coach of the year in his first ever year as a head coach. Simply amazing. Also won the Bear Bryant coaching award. If you watched their bowl game, you saw the culture he has built in a very short time. If nothing else, a really great person. Had a baby girl diruing the season.

[tolnabison]

The guy was Big Ten coach of the year in his first ever year as a head coach. Simply amazing. Also won the Bear Bryant coaching award. If you watched their bowl game, you saw the culture he has built in a very short time. If nothing else, a really great person. Had a baby girl diruing the season.

What is your take on the new OC hire? Will see any other coaching staff changes? Whether its moving position groups or anyone else leaving?

[MyOhMy]

I mean if you understood the situation David Braun fell into when they fired the entire staff after a hazing scandal and won 1 game, it's a phenomenal story. Ended up with 8 wins including a Bowl win, and 2nd place in the Big 10 west.

It's ok to just admit you are wrong.

Oh if only I was, NW played none of the big dogs of the B10 this year other than Penn St who smoked them so they had a clear schedule for a B10W title which they failed to secure. They lost to Duke!, Neb and Iowa lol, and barely squeaked out wins against the Goophers in OT, Howard! for Homecoming and a terrible Illinois team to finish the season. Then they barely won a meaningless and absolutely boring Bowl game against a poor Utah who had lost 18 players (mostly starters) to the NFL Draft and Portal including their starting QB and had another handful of starters out with season ending injuries. Let's see how he does this year with Washington, Ohio St and Mich all on the schedule.

[NDSU92]

Northwestern went from #103 to #56 in the Sagarin ratings. An outstanding jump for any team, and especially so when considering that Braun had 0 HC experience and was hired to be the DC. Then couple in the fact that the program was in such bad shape there was semi-serious talk of taking a year off to clean house. He virtually could not have done better than he did. Arguing against that is just hurting your point.

None of that matters to the point whether he was a good DC in his time here anyways. The situations at NDSU and Northwestern during each of his tenures could not be further apart. I certainly am not a huge fan of what happened to our defense while he was here either but let’s not let that cloud our judgement of the job he’s doing at Northwestern right now.