Babich

[NDSU_grad]

I guess it's good that Bradley is the only candidate from the current staff that would be considered. I think he would be my choice if only to provide some continuity. On a different topic, does anybody else think it's odd that the Forum hasn't mentioned anything at all about Rondeau leaving to take the UT-Marting job?

[Schemer]

In talking with a friend on the team yesterday, he is, of course, somewhat tight-lipped about this whole situation. We'll just call him, one of the players who stepped up during the game at Mankato in 2001. A game we ended up losing.

Since we are good friends he talks quite frankly with me. On Friday, Babich called everyone in and told them that Coach Rondeau was leaving for Tennessee-Martin. He conveniently left out how he was making a quick jaunt down to St. Louis.......hmmm.....

Maybe he'll just tell them after it's a done deal. That's the Bison way, isn't it? I don't think so, Bob.

[BisonInTexas]

In talking with a friend on the team yesterday, he is, of course, somewhat tight-lipped about this whole situation. We'll just call him, one of the players who stepped up during the game at Mankato in 2001. *A game we ended up losing.

Since we are good friends he talks quite frankly with me. *On Friday, Babich called everyone in and told them that Coach Rondeau was leaving for Tennessee-Martin. *He conveniently left out how he was making a quick jaunt down to St. Louis.......hmmm.....

Maybe he'll just tell them after it's a done deal. *That's the Bison way, isn't it? *I don't think so, Bob.

Not that I am a Babich fan here (I was hoping like hell that Tulsa would take him off our hands), but I don't think that any coach is going to tell a team that he is leaving before the contract is signed. Morton didn't do it and Solomonson didn't do it, so it's not just Babich. Besides, all of the players know he is shopping from the Tulsa interviews in December. Did he tell them then? I would hope not.

Look at it this way - it would be like telling your boss that you were going to interview at another company. If you don't get the job, you are stuck in a situation where you have totally destroyed your relationship with your boss - he knows you want to leave, so he knows he can't rely on you. It would be the same way with your players - if you basically tell them you are looking to leave, you have undermined your authority on the team because they know they can't rely on you to be around. Definitely NOT the Bison way.

You can criticize Babich for a lot of things, but you can't criticize a guy for trying to advance his career and you certainly can't expect him to let his players know his interview schedule.

Craig

[Guest]

As an outsider, I can hardly blame Babich for wanting to leave. NDSU fans can be ruthless. That being said, the Bison are being deceptive to their 2003 recruiting class. What happened to honesty being the best policy. What are the Bison afraid of? Do they think that these athletes have committed because of Babich? Is there a chance that a whole new staff will be coming in and the AD doesn't want to blow the recruiting class? NDSU fans and coaches should hope that these student-athletes are choosing NDSU for a variety of reasons, not just because they like the coaches. The fact of the matter is that they are going to spend four/five years of their lives in Fargo and they better like the school, the city, and the football program enough that they won't change their minds because of a coaching change. I am surprised Kolpack hasn't gotten to the bottom of the silence. Certainly somebody knows if Babich is in or out. It is fair to these recruits that they know too!

[Trainer]

While you may qualify NDSU fans as ruthless, I would call passionate. We are passionate about our University academically, athletically, and socially. We care.... We want to see NDSU be the best at everything... If this is wrong, I don't want to be right.
As for Babich leaving, those of us on the outside of the recruiting process and outside the NDSU athletic department don't know exactly what or what hasn't been communicated to recruits. In my opinion, something must have been mentioned because recruits continue to verbally commit to the Bison. Why? Most likely because of the atmosphere surrounding the institution and the institution itself.
But I do understand your point..... but obviously the new kids committing to NDSU aren't only coming to Fargo because of Babich and I don't believe the coaching staff will be gutted even if Babich leaves, especially assistants Cox, Bradley, and Vigen. They know what it means to be a Bison. * JD

[tony]

Silence? Deception? What do you mean?

We've been talking about the possibility of Coach Babich leaving for months - as has the Forum and the Grand Forks Herald. It's also pretty likely that other NCC coaches are mentioning the possibility to recruits too. Nobody is trying to hide anything. OTOH, I doubt that NDSU coaches out recruiting are saying that the head coach is interviewing for an NFL job. Unless they're using Coach Babich as the centerpiece of their recruiting pitch, there is no deception going on.

NDSU football is more than a coach - it's a program and, at its core, a family. This is demonstrated best by the Bison winning national championships under five different head coaches.

I'd go along with the ruthless bit to a certain extent but athletics are generally pretty ruthless on coaches of successful programs.

[SDSUFAN]

I can understand the passion and frustration among the NDSU fans relating to Babich. *Kolpeck seem to indicate Sunday in his column, that Babich was going to the NFL and it was a done deal. Here we are late in the week and still no word, so its hard to say what is going on in the offices of the St Louis Rams. *The longer the silence, the better the chances are that something is falling apart between the Rams and Babich.

There seems to be a great deal of support for Casey Bradley suceeding Babich. Bradley was a very good player for the Bison and seems to have been very good as an assistant. Those things by themselves are not a guarentee that he will get the head job.

First, Babich has to announce he got the job and has just rented a couple of U Hauls. *That has not happened.

If Taylor receives a letter of resignation from Babich, I would think the next thing Taylor will do is advertize the vacancy and form a search committee to screen the applicants. Those on that committee will get their chance to promote Bradley and my guess that will happen.

There seems to be a supply of D1A and D1AA candidates available. Jeff Whitten just posted on D2Football.com, that UNA hired the former Defensive coordinator from Wyoming. *That tells you what kind of candidates are out there. *

NDSU would be making a mistake in promoting within on the basis of a popular feeling about Coach Bradley.

The recruits that NDSU has signed so far indicates there are a ton of good recruits out there and $$$$ offered are very much the determining factor in chosing a school.
Some the those guys have probably only talked to Babich on the telephone. Some have had a visit to NDSU.

The recruits have to come to Fargo and show their stuff and apparently they feel that NDSU is the best offer and all things considered they will come. Coaching change or not.

One of SDSU better basketball players Jason Semprott was recruited when Nagy was an assistant to Jim Thorson. Immediately after the signing, Thorson got his walking papers. *Brad Soderberg brought in his own assistant and Nagy went to SIU-Edwardville to be an assistant to Matt Morgenthalers father. Matt is the head BB at Mankato-MSU now.

Sempsrott showed up and Brad Soderberg treated Sempsrott okay, but the offense that Soderberg ran was so different. *Sempsrott was from Champaign Ill and a complete stranger to Brookings, I had heard he *just about quit and transfer, but he was also a great engineering phyics *student and fell in love with a local girl to boot. The last two years of his career, Nagy came back as head coach. *The point is there are so many varibles and recruits will often adjust. If they dont have any goals and are expecting some one on campus to parent them, then you got the wrong recruit. *Thats the risk every program faces.

I just read yesterday in the St Cloud paper that two of last years NDSU red shirt class were transfering to St John's and want to have fun playing for old man Galardi. *One of the recruits was from Mankato East. *The article said something about being yelled to much by the NDSU coaches and that was one of the reasons they were leaving.

Its tough to find kids who are mature enough to realize what opportunity they have and make the best of it. These two did not do that. *Some one last year did not ask enought questions of these two to find out what they really wanted in life. *Maybe too much time was spent looking at their HS videos by the NDSU coaching staff and maybe theys should have talked more to the kids and their parents. Home visits often tell a lot about a person and his parents.

I think there are a number of things pending here and the last shoe is long from being dropped.

I suspect with the move to D1AA has a big bearing in *the selection of the next head coach at NDSU.

[Guest]

I think SDSU fan makes some good points. How will the NDSU faithful feel if Babich again fails to get another offer (Rams Job) and is back in Fargo for another season. If he thinks it's cold in Fargo now, just wait!!!

[NDSU_grad]

SDSU Fan,
Just for your information, I thought Jason Sempsrott was one of the best shooting guards I have ever seen in the NCC, along with Travis Tuttle of UND.
But back to the topic, I think some of the attrition that we've seen from the Bison program over the last few years is due to kids coming from smaller high school football programs. Maybe they aren't prepared for a big-time (at least at the D2 level) college football program. Of course, this isn't to say that not all small-town kids can't cut; NDSU has had some great players that played high school 9-man football (Kelly Artz and Mikel Kallenbach come to mind), but I think there is less of a risk recruiting kids who have played at the highest level of high school football in their respective state. Just my two cents.

[JBB]

You make some good points SDSU.

In my mind what we are seeing is a natural move by athletes to programs that fit them better. As NDSU moves to the DI level the athletes that feel they cant compete will have a propensity to move as well. These guys didnt just move to UND or Mankato though, they moved to the NDSU of DIII. That tells me that last year they felt confident at DIIs premier program but as the transition unfolds they are more comfortable at DIII's premier program. Without knowing anything else about them, I think they did the right thing, at least as far as football is concerned.