AJS

If this athletic department cannot come up with $750k, then there are much bigger issues than just terrible coaching which plague most programs.

Nice throw Simon!

100%

It’ll take 5. Two to go!!!

Big picture. Loss by loss. Bubba will be gone after this year. Believe!

I went from worried to a bit relieved about the F pipeline for next year, current recruits. You're going to want a few spots open given the CHL news.

It’s not my opinion, it’s what has been reported. The conference feels there is value being in the central time zone.

They want the central time zone for their FB only addition.

One last thought. The old saying of athletics are the 'front porch of the university'. Could being a fully FBS athletic department help enrollment if they succeed moving up? Retroactively hurting UND. Things I hope are being thought of if UND and co push NDSU to an all or nothing type of decision.

Catching up on some other posts. Do you think NDSU moving up solo to Mountain West for all-sports would be more / less beneficial than FB only? Expense wise, of course it would be harder, but they would also completely separate themselves from the other Dakota schools athletically. High risk / high reward type of scenario. I could see that doing more harm than good for UND. Otherwise, it's a situation where they have a good FB program, but otherwise on par. Chaves better be on the phone with both SD schools and making sure they are aligned in this.

Let's look at this from a realist standpoint. Here are the three things I believe to be true. This really started taking shape when the Pac-2 merged with the four Mountain West teams. NDSU was at the top of the FCS to FBS realignment list "Travel" partner if needed would be SDSU UND not on anyone conferences radar I felt and still feel that there would be some sort of trickle-down effect where NDSU would get the nod from some conference and before today, was convinced it would be also with SDSU. Before today, also assumed all-sports invite. That would be the nightmare scenario for UND and would damage the athletic program immensely. Losing both NDSU and SDSU for all-sports. If we listed all the scenarios and gave them probabilities heading into today. I'd take NDSU moving to MW (FB only), because it could be so, so much worse. Keep the Summit League intact, keep SDSU aligned with yourself. Important note: If this happens, I also want to see some anger. Some real questions as to why UND is where they are right now. Left behind.

Does anyone think "the picture" is going to play a role in who the head coach is next year? I still firmly believe that if they lose their next 3 games, then Bubba's gone. One could argue this is the most important three game stretch in the D-1 era. This program needs new leadership. The last two games could not have emphasized that more. If it happened this year, I wanted them to get Danny originally. "The picture" sort of cemented that. Who can blame him for leaving? 3 more.

You have to believe! I do! 5 in a row will do it. 1 loss at a time.

Lose your last 5 and Bubba is gone! 3 left! The program needs this. One loss at a time. We just have to believe.

15F / 8D / 3G. Any more in this day and age, does way more harm than potential good.

Being a realist with the Bubba situation (we all know he's the issue, but he's not going anywhere), what's the best we can hope for? (1) Simon and the offense continue to excel. Simon is coming off a performance where he was excellent. (2) Individual growth defensively. There needs to be a handful of players that you feel good about in future seasons. Must win for the program. They need to win this one, win one against the SD schools and then put it all on the line the last game of the season. They aren't going anywhere this season, clearly with the defense. When I say what's the best we can hope for? It's feeling good about this team offensively going into the offseason, have a handful of guys defensively you can build around. Unfortunately for Joel, he will be the scape goat (better than nothing, starting with a new DC). Defensive rebuild. To do that, this team needs to win the portal. Sell enough hope that next year could be different. They cannot afford another bad portal year like last.

With these new developments (at least for me), think we’re stuck. Clearly, there would always be a tipping point, but not sure even Bubba would be able to reach that low. Let’s play hypothetical’s. He loses out this year. Would that do it? @UND-FB-FAN , @CMSioux I think it would. Unlikely of course as based on past results, getting to 6 would be enough. Just needs one more. My new outlook is hope for the best. 7 wins this year, enough to sell another year to the team ( i.e transfer portal for key players). Key for me is putting Associate Head Coach title on Fruechte after this year.

So you’re saying the reason Bubba keeps getting extensions is there’s big $ boosters pumping money into the program to keep him? I had just assumed Chaves was incredibly lazy and loved mediocrity. Very happy with this new development.

Depends on when. IF they finish with 6 wins or less this year, then I do think it happens after this year. Go with Freund and keep all offensive personnel. If they get to 7 (with or without making playoffs) or more, then put the associate head coach tag on Fruechte and hope next year is Bubba’s last and then hand it over to Fruechte.

With only 12 regular season games, each game has huge implications. Sitting at 5-2, winless on the road, a win would keep the train on the tracks. What I want is this program to take this past offseason personally. I want them to take every prediction they read / heard preseason personally. For once, prove everybody wrong. If we go through the 2024 season thread, I don't know if there was a person who would have had this team 6-2 after 8 games. 5-3, probably. That's how much this game means. Just win, yes, but show something that breathes believe into the fanbase. Continue to dominate on the ground, let's see the defense that showed up against Iowa State, Montana (2nd half), 1st half against Idaho State and UNI. Prove everyone wrong.

It was just this years stats.

Did you think the defense looked different the first 3 games of the year? Really felt like they turned the corner, just to revert back the past 3 games.

We're at the halfway point, coming off a bye week. Simon up to this point, has not passed the eye test. I'll call that something that is universally agreed upon by the fanbase. Let's all agree that Simon clearly won the job out of Fall camp and the coaches believe he is the best option up to this point to win games. Next three games will tell the story. If Simon does not improve drastically, then how he looks at practice does not matter, there will be a large enough sample size to determine he cannot be the QB next year. Start working in Jerry to see if he's potentially the guy next year. Let's let this play out at least a few more weeks before we get too excited.

I'm making a lot of assumptions based on one game, but the way Berry constructed the lines was different than he has in the past. There's a lot of reason for optimism. The keys for me. Boisvert as a Top 6 C (which then would move Wilkie to 3C). They are going with a high-end / high-ceiling FR over 5th year transfer. Schmaltz / Jamernik on the 4th line The way these lines are constructed are what I've been asking. What line-up / lines will give this team the highest ceiling at the end of the year. Both F / D lines accomplish that. That has not been the case in recent years.

Loved them when they were posted pre-game, loved them even more after the fact. You get the feeling that any one of the four lines can score at any time, that's rare.