Dustin

I voted for Bolte, but Caruso seems like a fine pick. So does Woodley, who was not presented as an option in the poll.

One thing I hope happens with this change is a more robust salary for the whole staff. If we want to belong in the upper echelon of the MVFC we need to pay people like we expect them to win.

I would assume that’s what the interim head coach is doing.

Someone mentioned that Caruso and Fruechte have a previous connection - remind me what it is?

Ok. Which one was yours?

Woodley?

Maybe someone with a good sense of the timeline can explain the athletic facilities improvements (specifically related to football)relative to Bubba being hired and his tenure as a University employee. How much of what has happened was a result of Bubba being involved, if any?

I would think the job would be very attractive, actually. Kind of like what Kelly was saying.

And Bolte as DC.

Initially Schmidt's defenses were good, and actually bailed out lackluster Rudy offenses. I remember going to those games hoping our D would score because wasn't sure our O would.

Maybe Bolte as UND DC is a step up from BSU HC?? Don't think you'd get a current FCS coordinator to make a lateral move, though that very thing just happened to us (TWICE in a week!!)

I could definitely seeing it go this way. This is a direction I am ok with. With both of them being from the offensive side of the ball, I wonder who they would tap for defensive, which is the most crucial pick of the new HC, IMO.

Sounds like how UND took over NDSU in the '90s - with undersized and underrecruited underdogs a la Mike Mooney. Gives me some hope anyways that that can be replicated again.

Not to poo-poo on the signing day celebration, but there's a lot of talk about what a good thing it was keeping all the recruits in this class, but also a lot of talk in the new coach thread that we need better recruits. So, if the current staff, whose recruits have underwhelmed the fans, especially on defense, just recruited this class, what should make me feel any better about their future performance as student athletes? Were these recruits committing to UND over our primary rivals?

Flights grounded due to weather??

Not a Bubba favorite moment, but I have a Roger Thomas favorite moment, based on a story I was told, but I wanted to know if someone could verify that it actually happened. Supposedly, this is how the story goes: a Thomas-coached team beat someone they were not expected to. A sports reporter covering the opposing team (the one who was supposed to win but got beat) asked Thomas post-game something like "In your wildest dreams, did you ever think you would win this game?" to which Thomas replied something like "My wildest dreams don't involve football." Anybody have specifics as to what game this was, or even that this exchange even happened? That is such a great response to that question, I've never forgotten that story.

With no Belquist next year, QB1 will need someone to throw to.

Not saying other candidates aren’t good choices, but these reasons make him my #1.

Hosting (and winning) a top 8 seed game in first 3 years.

Hadn’t looked him up before. He seems like a solid choice. Bolte, Johansen would be the others to round out a top 3.

Caruso is a name that was been mentioned quite a bit at one time, but I don't know if anyone's said it since Bubba's announcement until now.

I am definitely high on him too. How does he stack up against the preferred qualifications?

No idea if we're doing this correct. Been a lot of Fruechte OC talk on here, so it seems most are comfortable with that. After all, there must be a reason why first-year Fruechte was chosen interim instead of more seasoned staff members. I also think it's plausible that the new HC maintains at least one existing staff member for player and recruiting continuity, and Fruechte seems most likely. Really what I was after is who people want leading the defensive side, which (ironically) has been biggest disappointment for many many years.

Let's put some (likely) assumptions together: The new HC will be a current D2 HC (Bolte is my preferred at this point). The OC will be Fruechte. Who's the DC? Special Teams?

That's why he initially hired Rudy