UND-FB-FAN

Okay, I’ll play. Who coaches the WRs then? The new OC? Freund then at QB coach? I am fine with Freund going to QB coach as long as he and the new OC are on the same page. There’s a lot of ways to spin it. Minor concern is that Freund was on this staff the last 5 seasons but yet the offense was still horrific. I’m going to just wait for the outside hires and/or internal promotions to actually happen and then I’ll give my opinion from there. UND needs a couple quality hires to ADD to the staff already in place. All this talk of internal promotion amongst a staff that has shown incapability has been alarming to me. UND needs to use this opportunity to get better and more ambitious.

Rudolph prior to Bubba hiring him: No DI experience. No DII national championships as offensive coordinator or head coach. Limited playoff experience as St. Cloud State offensive coordinator His past accomplishments were not and are not overly impressive. Also, I don’t agree on your “requirements” point. I hope you’re just trying to play devils advocate because you really seem quite off on this. UND needs to find someone who will come in with a new sense of excitement and expectation for the offense. So important after the previous 5 seasons of poor offense. Also, asking for previous success at the program the new OC and OL coach come from is not asking for too much.

Well, I’m happy you think I was happy, I guess. In the past 18 months, how has the quality of UND football been? I stand by my past comments and sentiments as UND football has been very poor over the past two seasons. It should be unacceptable relative to UND’s standards.

That bunch has not done well at UND. Need new culture with successful past.

Obviously they need to have a successful track record. Rudolph clearly did not have that when hired in 2014.

Now Freund is a ST candidate? Horrible idea. We need successful outside coaches with outside ideas. UND has been 46-44 since he’s been on staff starting in 2011.

God this would be pathetic. Hope you’re joking. I’m missing the old arrangement already just thinking about this potential cluster f*ck of reassignments. The offensive guys on this staff are a apart of the issue and need outside ideas and culture to right the ship.

Rudolph was also a former college QB... While we’re at it, after switching Freund from receiver coach to quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator, why don’t we switch Kostich to offensive line? I absolutely hate this notion that internal reassignments are a good idea. I just don’t care how great of people they are or how great of former players they were at UND. UND football needs to new blood and outside ideas. It’s the only way this stale culture is cured. It is so important to recognize the culture here is apart of the issue, with of course the offensive scheme improving also.

Apparently that ain't so, based on your previous comments and my comments. I’ve never accepted the title of “most negative person on here”. I expanded on this "WTF?" situation detailing how strength of schedule is nearly impossible to predict this far out plus potential positive changes are coming to UND football. Perceiving me as "the most negative person on here" is a bit misconceived. I have always said it as it is; I have no ulterior motive to purposely spew unsubstantiated negativity at UND football. In fact, it is quite the opposite. If you really want to waste time, go through the entirety of my posts detailing the UND football program. Ultimately, you can form whatever opinion you want, I suppose. But at this early juncture, I expect UND football to go 11-0. We'll see how it goes against Drake on 8/31/19 and then I'll reassess.

F’ it. Go for the W and beat cow college. Need to be way more aggressive than the offense was in 2015. Go for the win, UND. Then leave the Fargodome as it implodes with riots in the background.

2019 - 6 home games, 5 away games. No FBS opponent. I see UND in the playoffs with a competent offense. Your schedule comments scream pessimism. Do you actually want UND to be a contender or do you enjoy losing?

I’m not the one making those decisions, but Chaves sure as hell better be able to make those difficult decisions when reality strikes. At some point, if things aren’t going well, you make changes. We can respectfully disagree with our predictions, I guess. You may recite fiscal conservatism, but I’ll counter will football logic and trends around the country in Divison I Football. If UND and Chaves want to ignore habitual losing then UND will hit rock bottom (especially considering UND is competing for fans and donations the way it is already).

There will be no game in 2019 more difficult than the 2018 @Washington game (yes, including even 2019 @NDSU, screw them). UND doesn't play an FBS game in 2019 and has more home games than away games. As far as I'm concerned, considering the new offensive coordinator and recent failures, we should expect UND to be a playoff team in 2019 or else ...

6 home games next season (2019) compared to 5 away games. UND needs to be a playoff team next season or wholesale changes must happen. Only 1 playoff appearance in 6 seasons with no playoff wins is firing criteria, in my opinion.

Stop it. There is no way to know the exact difficulty of the schedule now. Some of those 2019 opponents could have surprisingly down years. You never know. Remember the 2017 UND football season? I hate, absolutely HATE, when people limit a team's expectations before a single game is even played. It's my biggest pet peeve in football. Give UND a chance first to fill out it's 2019 roster and hire an offensive coordinator first my goodness. As of now, UND should plan to go 11-0. Why not? No reason we should be "planning to lose" already. And, finally, if UND continues to deteriorate despite the difficult 2019 schedule and has a losing record, Bubba needs to go following 2019. Simple as that. No more procrastinating. Get this program going the right direction!

I could be more disappointed - Bubba could've kept Rudolph and Knauf. I agree it would be ideal to have an entire new coaching staff led by a head coach with a great track record; however, considering Bubba wasn't going anywhere, this is the best scenario possible. Of course, we have to hope the next offensive coordinator is actually a major improvement.

Hence the firing of his now former OC and offensive line coach. Any amount of confidence in your offense would mean keep them out there on that particular 4th down; Bubba did not have such confidence and rightfully so.

Don't know final 2019 roster nor offensive coordinator yet so I'd say it's far too early to predict. But it is interesting I suppose to try guess.

Major defensive question mark: How will 2 senior starting defensive linemen be replaced with additional question regarding nose guard depth? Major offensive question mark: WHO IS THE NEW OC AND WHAT IS THE STYLE OF OFFENSE/PLAN? Major special team question mark: Will K Brady Leach improve and will another kicker be brought in to compete?

Agreed.

These were the correct decisions. I think Bubba and Schmidt can build a championship defense. The offense, with QB and offensive line being the most disappointing positions, was not even close to an average level from '14 - '18, unfortunately. These were the right moves to make but now let's see who the replacements are - that is very critical. I like how Bubba recognizes and addresses the recruiting and depth concerns. This obviously needs to improve, and since he mentioned it, I now expect it to improve. Add it to the objectives for next season. AREAS NEEDING TO IMPROVE: 1) QB play 2) offensive line play 3) offensive play-calling and scheme 4) Punt Protection 5) Field Goals and Kickoff 6) Recruiting and Depth (namely offensive line, wide receiver, and now running back and defensive line).

Good points. I'm sure the TEs will be used more; they can't be used less.

Yeah, credit to all those who asked for the dismissal a year ago. You were right.

These two changes needed to be made, at a minimum. This is only half of the process: now comes the all important hires to replace them. Need coaches with a SUCCESSFUL history as an offensive coordinator/QB coach and offensive line coach. Can’t take anymore chances or risks with these hires. And now, I wish Paul Rudolph and Luke Knauf the best moving forward. These dismissals have nothing to do with their character as men; this is strictly a football move and we should all know that.

Absolutely. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: #1 issue throughout all 5 years of Bubba Ball has been QB play. It hasn’t been good enough.