UND-FB-FAN

I think there’s better candidates who’ve also accomplished quite a bit.

He’s not in my top 10. He was a part of the 2024 debacle. And I understand it’s a limited sample size, but same could be said as to why it’s too risky to commit to him. His teams at Winona State weren’t good either.

Schmidt defenses have been average to bad. Schleusner has made a ton of connections to a good defense at SDSU, I would guess the defense would get a makeover with him. Freund I would be concerned about. I think Schleusner is the best candidate of the 3 with Schmidt being 2nd.

Good group of recruits coming in. Nice to see; they committed to the program and new facilities and not just the head coach (not necessarily surprising). **Big things are coming for UND FB and everyone sees it …

27-0 at UNI in 2023 to forfeit all momentum? 24-6 loss @ Nicholas State in 2019? Still apart of the losing season in 2021… Love Danny but if this is a true national search, then no thanks, doesn’t crack the top 10.

Same argument as Fruechte. If he was the answer, why wasn’t UND winning playoff games and championships with him and Bubba from 2014-2023? No thanks, need new ideas and a new philosophy, and these guys from the Bubba coaching tree (Eric Schmidt, Danny Freund, even to a degree Isaac Fruechte) don’t offer that.

I agree, which is why I actually think USD’s OC is a better candidate than their DC. Josh Davis literally has won everywhere he has been and USD’s turnaround actually coincides with his hiring for 2023. My top #7 (if these were to all apply and be interested, which I have no idea if they will): #1 Beau Baldwin - issues are age, perhaps, and poor performances his past few seasons (Arizona State, Cal Poly), but he did excellent as a head coach at EWU and did quite well as OC at Cal. He’s my #1 because of proven track record as a head coach. #2 Luke Schleusner - successful runs as offensive staff member at SDSU, knows UND and the Midwest, and as of late, he’s been doing very well as OC at Idaho. No head coaching experience, which is negative compared to Baldwin, but he’s a good recruiter and teacher, really a young innovative offensive mind in college football with the age and future prospects to look to move up and bring UND to new heights on that journey upward. As for defense, he could bring defensive assistant coach Hunter Hughes (2011 Football Scoop Division II Coordinator of the Year and Former West Texas A&M Head Coach) with him from Idaho. #3 Todd Hoffner Up in years which is only drawback otherwise he’s a North Dakota guy, has a degree from UND, and has had tremendous success at Minnesota State as the head coach. #4 Josh Davis - USD Turnaround for USD really started in 2023 with his hiring as their OC. Has extensive experience with SDSU prior to USD. No HC experience but obviously knows the Midwest and the Dakotas very well. #5 Travis Johansen - USD No HC experience but his defenses have rejuvenated USD the past couple seasons. #6 Eric Schmidt Nice that he’s been on successful staffs with Kalen DeBoer lately, but his track record as a defensive coordinator is not good. Period. SDSU defense awful in 2024, and last DC season before that was with UND in 2019 which ended with Nicholls State (that’s right, Nicholls State) running all over UND. Could not yield a playoff win for UND despite 6 seasons at UND. I’d pass based on poor defensive coordinator record, and don’t want to hire a guy based on who he knows from time with DeBoer rather than what he is capable of doing himself. Also he’s never been a collegiate head coach and have to think he’d draw from his experiences with Bubba. #7 Brent Bolte Only been at Bemidji St really, to be honest, and he’s had no real consistent playoff success until this season. He’s been a winning head coach, but no signifiant championship seasons. He has potential but not as much as more proven HC winners like Baldwin and Hoffner, and I don’t see him as innovative and connected as Schleusner and Schmidt.

USD defense (Johansen) can at least stop opponents and wins games. Schmidt’s defenses have been awful, both at UND and now at San Diego State.

Whoa…

No to Caruso and Bolte, yes to Baldwin #1 Beau Baldwin - issues are age, perhaps, and poor performances his past few seasons (Arizona State, Cal Poly) haven’t been good, but he did excellent as a head coach at EWU and did quite well as OC at Cal. He’s my #1 because of proven track record as a head coach. My #2 is … #2 Luke Schleusner - successful runs as offensive staff member at SDSU, knows UND and the Midwest, and as of late, he’s been doing very well as OC at Idaho. No head coaching experience, which is negative compared to Baldwin, but he’s a good recruiter and teacher, really a young innovative offensive mind in college football with the age and future prospects to look to move up and bring UND to new heights on that journey upward. As for defense, he could bring defensive assistant coach Hunter Hughes (2011 Football Scoop Division II Coordinator of the Year and Former West Texas A&M Head Coach) with him from Idaho.

There are so many other good, if not better, candidates. Remains to been seen if they’ll apply, but I really do think we have to caution ourselves against wanting the guy the players want to get the job. These players did not accomplish much in 2024 and may just be looking out for themselves. We all know an outside coach is going to be more aggressive in bringing in “their guys”. Advocating strongly for Fruechte at this juncture is actually settling, because we’re not considering the overall field of potential applicants at all if we do that.

I don’t disagree one bit. Priority needs to be coaches who are proven winners, specifically as coordinators or head coach, and not as a position coach or player.

The wish list just keeps growing longer and longer. Bottom line is let’s just get somebody who knows how to win. Winners win. Losers lose. (DeBoer uses that line) Let’s see who applies, and take the winner amongst them; and hopefully UND does not screw it up by releasing numerous names (finalists) when they don’t have to.

Definitely a lot of success as head coach of NAIA school for Joe Woodley. He should be considered (strongly) if he applies.

I agree. The players like him. He has a lot of support from former Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Golden Gophers, and I get it, he’s a nice guy. But we need to consider the entire pool, and there will undoubtedly be candidates with more experience and more coaching success that should get the job before Fruechte. I like Fruechte - I hope he stays on staff as a coordinator or position coach, though.

There may be better choices available though for coordinator spots. Let not anoint coordinators quite yet until we know head coach …

Travis Johansen is a fine candidate but what about USD’s offensive coordinator Josh Davis? https://goyotes.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/josh-davis/1540 Looks like USD really turned around two seasons ago after they hired Davis from SDSU. Johansen has been apart of a couple dud seasons at USD to be honest. Any reason we ain’t considering Davis here?

Just hire the best candidate and let them decide on their staff. Ideally, the head coach would hire his own staff, and to be frank, all the current assistant coaches probably should be and will be go. Fruechte may be held onto based on his popularity and connection with the current players, but he may need to settle for a position coach spot and not be the coordinator, which I think is reasonable if the new head coach has a more preferred offensive coordinator candidate. You definitely do not want to force the new head coach into hiring Fruechte, especially at OC, if he doesn’t want to. Despite getting a lot of heat on here, I still like Beau Baldwin, but I definitely like others as well. Hoffner and Bolte jump out (and ironically play each other this weekend). Who cares about ties. Who cares about age. Just get the best coach that’s most likely to win the University of North Dakota a championship. **None of us will care about UND ties or age if the new coach wins a championship.

We’ll take the winning head coach …

One extreme to the next; throw away modern quarterback play with that offense. Not a good idea in my opinion. With that said, most offenses nowadays have some triple option (albeit maybe spread option) concepts included. Even Fruechte ran some variations in 2024 for UND, although mostly RPO.

Schmidt hasn’t won a national championship as a head coach, but I understand your concerns. No perfect candidate, just need to get the best one.

Not sure, but he’s been a coach for a while, and been at FBS programs. I’m sure he’s networked and worked with several other coaches who know the Midwest and are from the Midwest.