UND-FB-FAN

#5 and #6 seem to point away from UND head coach being right for Bolte and for UND at this time. #1-#4 seem to suggest he’d be a great fit for UND football.

Can’t imagine losing your head coach is considered exciting but who knows … Maybe Bolte leveraged the situation into a contract extension for himself at Bemidji State…

Comes down to list of applicants … If you have one (or several) proven winners as a head coach (Caruso, Woodley, Bolte, Hoffner; heck even Baldwin) in your applicant pool, can you really in good faith turn them down for an unproven coach (never before a head coach) in Fruechte, who over the past 2 seasons (1 UND, 1 Winona State) has been associated with a losing season each time ?? I’d be really really cautious with this momentum he’s gaining due to signing day, it seems unwarranted…

The recruits were more likely to sign here and follow through with it after hearing there was going to be a new head coach… plenty of excitement with the unknown. For decades UND has settled coaching vacancies internally or with heavy connections, would be nice to see them not do that for once. Remember … inbreeding?

So here all along Chaves hired the right guy last year as his 3rd choice (after Freund and Landry) … who would have known? I’m not buying it, but wouldn’t surprise me if it happens.

Not too sure on that… who’s he going to hire to fix the mess of a defense? Plus his offense had a few duds this year. I agree in that there’s potential since he’s young, but it’s too big of a risk compared to what else is out there and who else likely applied. You just don’t simply hire someone cause their young …

Beau Baldwin didn’t do the bizon any favors in the 2010 FCS quarterfinals … But I agree on the masquerade part. Tom Miller included his name in the article for good reason; there’s connections. Anyways, there’s other good candidates out there, most of them winners as a head coach, and really none of them have been a coach at UND in the past 10 years.

It’s not just me …

Last time UND elevated their offensive coordinator to head coach (2008) it didn’t work out too great … Apples to Oranges comparison, sure, but more so just don’t think we should be thinking internal with this critical hire.

Sure, he knows nothing because he’s in the CFL. Forget about his previous success and connections with Chaves… onward

It’s definitely complicated, but winners win. Let’s start there, and hopefully Bill, Erik, and Andy do.

Trying to somehow elevate Schmidt as a better candidate than Baldwin is silly to me. You’re trying to say a guy who has never been a collegiate head coach, and also someone who has had limited to really no signifiant success as a coordinator, should be considered a better candidate than a guy who has actually won an FCS national championship as a head coach. I can appreciate the geography concerns, but football is football, whether played in Cheney, Washington, or Grand Forks, North Dakota. And yes, Schmidt wanted to call plays, and DeBoer (knowing him well) didn’t want to afford him that opportunity. Perhaps logical based on how it went for him in San Diego in 2024.

He did not want him to be a coordinator.

Schmidt was a position coach on staff with a guy (DeBoer) that has won everywhere. And by winning, I mean championships. His next shot at DC (which was this season) went awful. Winning and championships matter and he wasn’t producing anything special along those lines when DC at UND nor now as DC at San Diego State. Beau Baldwin also has won championships. He did well with Cal. He was shorted at Cal Poly due to limited resources and the pandemic. ASU he was only there one season. Baldwin would be a good hire.

I agree. Both proven winners as a head coach, I take either one.

Well … you know why.

What else is a drum good for?

Experience doesn’t always equate to success. Some young individuals are really successful and some older guys never quite get the job done, etc., etc., etc. I agree that experience is nice, but I think a history of success is most important. Winners win. It’s an intrinsic quality for some, although some can learn it, sure. In the case of Schmidt and Luke S., they likely have learned new things and made new connections, but why haven’t they shown more success? Same goes for Freund with UND (2011-2023) and Freuchte (2024). Based on getting someone who purely knows winning football, that also coincidentally happens to mean getting someone not recently (or ever) associated with UND football in the past.

Understood. Looking back at 2013, the “village idiots” on here actually made the right decision. But, what do us diehards know?

I realize simply looking away from those with UND ties has been frowned upon on here, but the more I think about it, I want someone hired with no ties. The past 15 years has overall been rough for UND considering what NDSU and SDSU has accomplished. A winner with no ties to UND is preferred. Need new ideas, new philosophies, new blood. That means no to Schmidt, Freund, and even Fruechte. I like Luke Schleusner but really that would count him out also.

It’s actually incredibly important they don’t release finalists. Doing that publicly just deters potential applicants from applying.

If I recall correctly, UND and Schmidt’s defense stopped the run pretty well from 2014-2016 but it got worse 2017-2019. UND was always fairly porous against the pass, particularly on 3rd down.

Recruits see the big things are on the way for UND football and the potential is high if the right coach is hired …

And what would tell you or convince you that Fruechte, with his limited coaching experience, would have the connections to fix the defense? I’m concerned and don’t think he should be a top candidate despite how nice he is and how new he is to UND football.

Scheme don’t matter if the scheme don’t work. Schmidt’s defense in 2024 at San Diego State and at UND from 2014-2019 were below average.