UND-FB-FAN

Update: the UND head coach, and his defense staff, still are bad.

Long storied history of failing on a lot of things ..

Agreed, need better players, and guess who recruits and schemes them up?

Defense is awful. Old news. Bubba and his protégé are lost. Thank God for Fruechte and Bo Belquist … or else …

True, and unfortunately UND don’t have much of a defense to even travel. Starts at the top - defense is not prepared at a top tier level.

Really a fabulous name for these Bubba-led blokes; consistently play very well in their own home environment but they’re completely out of place when out of their own element. Hopefully Tarzan will modernize and acclimate a bit … finally … Until then, coaches get blame for losses and players get credit for wins. Been that way since the beginning of time per all the great coaches.

*First* of many big ones for Coach Fruechte! Nice!

Very scary situation (leaving the state for the first time in 8 weeks) for a team that consistently can’t play good football on the road …. What are the chances Bubba spontaneously learns new football coaching tactics on week 9 of his 11th season?

Honestly, need to create consistent toughness on the road, so this one game @ Youngstown won’t do that, but it could be the start. The very next week @ Indiana State is just as important. Bubba can’t motivate his team to play consistent tough, disciplined, confident football on the road (up to this point) and it has completely altered his record and how he is perceived among those in the know. Need to change that. As you say, put up or shut up. A simple but fair rule to judge this is this: if Youngstown State, Indiana State and Illinois State were playing at Grand Forks in the Alerus Center, would we expect UND to win? Of course - so start traveling with that capability on the damn road.

Despite losing, SDSU played with the level of intensity and confidence that one can only hope UND starts playing with in road games vs NDSU. Hopefully one day UND football will grow into a road warrior mentality …

Oh stop it. Unfortunately USD is not in the same area code as NDSU.

I think the change in S&C coach is a remarkable change, and don’t get me wrong, the new facilities are spectacular, but the most important determinant in outcomes is coaching. The S&C coach does not recruit, install scheme, develop a game plan, motivate the team on game day, or call plays. This all has been a trial of incredible patience (or as some might say insanity), as Bubba and his staff have had over a decade and have bought themselves even more time with the new facilities just coming online. What’s the next excuse they will have for Chaves and anyone else gullible enough to listen? Don’t get me wrong, I hope the new facilities are the difference maker, but I don’t see it. A new coach in that fancy new head coaches office however … Remember, you are what your record says you are. Bubba is 65–52 at UND. For some, that’s good enough, he’s winning. For others, that’s frustratingly just above average and not championship caliber. Polarizing figure to say the least …

Again, UND’s passing game and defense is what it is … (hint: bad). Key is can UND run the ball, and based on what USD did to UNI last week, and UND being at home, I’m optimistic going into this one … UND *should* win.

Need better players, but they also need to be better coached and prepared. It all falls on the coaches as their job is literally to recruit, scheme, install, and prepare/motivate - all of it! Changing the scheme would lead to a different body type to be recruited, yes, particularly body type of defensive linemen, but you still ultimately need to out-recruit NDSU and SDSU and out-develop them, and then ultimately out-prepare them so you actually show up on game day when it matters. AND, even if UND were to switch to a base 4-3 alignment, no one on the current staff knows how to run that in terms of past experience. The defense may actually look worse. All that Bubba and Schwenzfeier know is the Lennon 3-4… so need new coaches if going to change to Tampa 2 or other 4-3 base front. Right now, it seems, the entire football program and athletic department is placing all the weight of their decisions on the new facilities. If the new facilities don’t lead to substantial differences in the type of recruit UND football attracts, and develops, then we will be right back to where we are now - GET DIFFERENT COACHES/LEADERS.

They probably could’ve put a bit more effort into making them actually look like UND’s jerseys, but at least they’re taking advantage of NIL, kinda …

To be fair, if you beat Iowa State and/or North Dakota State, this plea becomes unnecessary and the attendance takes care of itself … But I’ve also been critical on the creativity of the Alerus Center and UND with marketing and football game day production, so perhaps multifactorial …

2 of the 3 happened, and now we 4-2. Let’s see how this plays out, but I’m pretty confident we all know how this story ends (again) …

Always can use better players; it’s not the X’s and the O’s, but the Jimmys and the Joes. But remember, all teams/programs/schools want better players. The question is *HOW* does *UND* get better players: new facilities will help, but it ultimately all comes back down to the people in the building. Can’t just hyper-focus on the student-athletes. The intangibles of coaching (leadership, motivation, recruiting) are incredibly important in college football. And the X’s and O’s do matter a little bit also …

Major determinant: -Can UND run the ball well - if yes, then UND wins. If not, then UND loses their first game at home this year (in embarrassing fashion to a 2-4 team). Of course, turnovers would be the only thing to offset this. Whichever team wins that battle always has the upper-hand.

Quick 2024 summary at midway point: Positive Surprises: - Running game with New Coaches Fruechte and Coach Olson - Bo Belquist. Stud. -Won 4 in a row at home, including a win versus a ranked Montana team. Disappointments: - Defense is horrendous. First time defensive coordinator is not doing his job. Defensive head coach is not doing his job. I’m not gonna get down on the players. They were recruited to play here, and they’re student athletes. The coaches are full-time employed adults, and they’re once again outdated and outmatched - Passing game. Nice story with Class B North Dakota quarterback getting the start, but he’s not an elite or even above average division I passer. - road record. Been two tough matchups, but once again, road team looks completely different than their at home in the Alerus Center counterpart. Again, coaching failure. - Loss to NDSU. It’s not so so much the fact they lost the game, as much as it is how they lost the game. Complete embarrassment. Coaching failure once again. Many programs around the country, if held to a high standard, would not put up with this. You can say that NDSU is a powerhouse in defense of your buddies, but the fact of the matter is you have to be competitive, even if you’re up against it. See Auburn vs Alabama. See early years of SDSU vs NDSU. Even if one of the rivals has the upper hand in funding and following and tradition and history, etc., you simply still have to make wholesale changes if necessary to compete with your rival. After six games, this team is 4-2, but I largely see this as the same ol’, same ol’, same type of team that Bubba Schweigert has put together during his tenure. I’m guessing this team is probably going to be fighting to even win one playoff game this year, once again, but I hope I’m wrong. Consider me the eternal pessimist, which I’m already probably known as on this site, but I personally see it as being just a realist set in reality (despite what I want to happen). Wake me up when we have a new head coach.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" Why should we expect different - like actually competing with NDSU or SDSU - unless there’s legitimate change? New facilities could be considered this I suppose. Next 1-2 years will be telling, but don’t lose sight of the fact coaching matters. There’s a reason they get paid what they get paid … coaching is influential and plays a major role in the wins and the losses.

Size (namely height) is a metric used in the evaluation of quarterbacks; has been for years. Is it a hard rule? Of course not, as there’s been several “smaller” quarterbacks who’ve been successful due to intangibles and athleticism, but this is an overall exception to the rule that you’d like to have quarterback(s) with certain size parameters if possible. To your earlier point, in addition to this, UND also needs to do a better job developing quarterback. Current OC/QB coach hasn’t even had his job for a year yet, so still to be determined what QB room will look like a year or two from now for UND.

Sorry, no love for anyone, just my observations. Coach Freuchte has brought a much needed outside perspective, as did Coach Olson. Still a lot to be determined, namely quarterback development and recruiting, but the offensive scheme and play-calling has been overall good thus far. As for head coach, that job has a different set of job expectations than a coordinator job, obviously. It’s an apple to oranges comparison, really. However, for the sake of argument, what has Bubba Schweigert - a “defensive” coach - brought to UND’s defense? UND’s defense is easily the weakest unit on the entire team, and has been for years. But to my point, from a head coach perspective, would like to see better leadership and preparedness of the team in road games, for sure, but also big games. Bubba vocalized it during most recent press conference, but the response by fans was fair: it’s been 11 years so why is he now just providing lip service towards his awful road record and record in big games? Seems like he looks to appease whatever narrative will keep him in somewhat favorable graces with his bosses. Nonetheless, a lot of season left. Will be interesting to see if this team ascends during the second half or pulls a 2023 and descends (which in my opinion would then lead to the whole “change of direction” discussion again come December).

Caden had a drop in Fargo game on third down on a fake bubble vertical route on the sideline. Changed momentum in the game as would’ve been a 1st down in the red zone instead UND settled for field goal.

Yeah … not ideal. Again, transfer portal AND quarterback high school recruiting with Fruechte will be critical moving forward.