Sioux Nation

Honestly guys, who gives a crap about NDSU and UND and some of the recent discussion. It amazes me how one or two stupid posts from some Bison fan force the discussion into topics for a separate forum. Did anyone watch the game this week?!? To me, it cemented my support of canning this staff. The decisions during the game are pathetic. To see two receivers limping through their patterns was mind boggling. I have never been a fan of the OC hire. He is too young and too inexperienced. I don't know who made the decision to play Miller and Garmin ahead of Sparks but that's an awful decision. Maybe Mussman loved Jer because of his Iowa ties. Someone loved him enough to pull his redshirt! If Mackey is the best we have on the defensive backfield then we have also dropped the ball on recruiting as well. Tackling is barely improved over last year. There is constant confusion in the secondary leaving receivers wide open. Special teams has been questionable at best. I guess the only thing that would save his ass is the damn contract.

I was in Sacramento and spoke with my nephew after the game. He said the feeling in the locker room was more a sense of relief than disappointment. Everything mentioned by him and by Hardin suggests that they definitely lack leadership at the top. My observations of the game for what they are worth: Offense: both QB's played like redshirt freshmen. Sadly, these young men needed a top notch coordinator to help them out and the team is no where close to that. The o-line needs to run block better. They don't explode off of the line. During the game both Townsend and Jackson were injured and limping. Rather that put Bridges and Young in the game, the brilliant OC has two hobbling players running token routes. PJ Sparks proved he is the best RB ON THE TEAM. I too am glad they figured that out in the last game. Defense: d-backs are horrible...period. We need a couple of dominant defensive players. They actually didn't play that poorly yesterday but still have up too many big plays and miss too many tackles. Coaching: they need to be moved on!

I don't think it's rocket science. My point was Valpo fired their coach before the season ended. Yes, they are a non-scholarship school in a non-scholarship conference. But that is my point.....knowing they compete without scholarships, one would think there wouldn't be urgency to fire a coach, let alone fire him before the season ends. North Dakota is in the midst of another 3 win season (with 7 home games) while getting blown out by the top tier teams in the Big Sky. I would imagine the standards at UND are a bit higher for football success yet we still have our head coach heading into the last game. I hope that clears things up for you.

Gee jdub27........ Thanks for clarifying the obvious. Didn't I say they fired the coach and they don't even offer scholarships? Isn't it relative? I know USD, Butler, and Marist don't give scholarships either but they are winning programs. Muss and UND ARE FAST BECOMING THE VALPO OF THE BIG SKY WHO ALL GIVE SCHOLARSHIPS IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT.

Valpo fired their coach and they don't even offer scholarships!

I would have guessed between 4-5 thousand. Personally I will renew my season tickets and go watch games next season as I am pretty attached to several of the players. I do hope there is a new staff in place because this is tough to watch. I honestly don't believe this win does anything to secure Mussman's job.

That was a bad team beating a really bad team.

Not as embarrassing as 4's effort when Jefferson caught an easy sideline pass and turned it into a touchdown.

Okay...at the game and just watched UNC convert a 3rd and 26. Am I the only one in the stadium not expecting a screen pass. More reason that Kotelnicki is not a defensive coordinator.

Who gives a crap about a sign! Last I checked, there are two kinds of coaches: 1) Those who just got fired 2) Those who are about to be fired

And man, do I agree with you on this entire senior class!

If we being in a current FCS coach they would be able to try and bring some of their current recruits with them to UND. Keeping Kotelnicki as special teams coordinator would be great since he proved to basically be one of the best in the nation already. I also like the idea of Schleusner staying because of his dominance in Illinois recruiting. I'm just not sure how these guys would handle demotion. Maybe they would be more up for it if their pay stayed the same since we should be paying the next staff a lot more? I agree with you on Kotelnicki as a special teams coach.....that's it. He has no business as a head coach. I have not been impressed with Schleusner in any phase of the game. He has no business being an offensive coordinator. I would rather see a better job done recruiting our home state, Minnesota and Wisconsin. I had the chance to meet him after the Sacramento State game. He was quite arrogant for someone who just coached an offense to 7 points. The rumor on the team is that no one respects him as a person or as a coach. I can't think of one coach who deserves to stay. As has been mentioned earlier, Lotysz was one of the best coaches they had and Mussman managed to screw that up too.

Totally changing subjects.....looking forward to attending the hoop game tomorrow night. I think the boys will be competitive this season. I met Brian at an athletic event and he seems like a decent guy.

Let's just set the record straight geaux_sioux".........posting over 3300 times doesn't guarantee your credibility. It may actually diminish your credibility knowing you don't have much else to do. I made a mistake..... Leave it at that. I was inspired to revisit some stats. This team has enough talent to be competitive. What they don't have are quality coaches. I like Muss, but he has surrounded himself with inexperienced, underperforming coaches. When a head coach does that, he is ultimately responsible. If you take out the stats from the Valpo game, the offense is averaging just over 63 rushing yards/game while giving up close to 180 rushing yards/game. They are out-passing their opponents but playing from behind will inflate those numbers. The offensive coordinator is awful. Apparently, half time speeches revolve around making their plan work instead of making adjustments based on the opposition. 63 rushing yards/game is terrible. They are intent on running 155 pound Jake Miller between the tackles and then bringing in five foot nothing Garmin to pass block and run on occasion. The receiving group is very talented. It is evident that Harden has been shut down a bit this year. I see a lot of frustration in his body language. The scheme is poor....period. The defense is "offensive". Giving up 180 rushing yards/ game is pretty bad. They give up just over 410 total yards/game. The unit is too undersized to play a 3-4 defense. Their LB's aren't athletic enough and their lineman are too small to line up in this defense. I won't even comment on the DB's because their performance speaks for itself. Against Portland State, Daryl Brown had an interception and walked away shaking his finger signaling "don't come my way"! Are you kidding me?!? That's the first play he's made all year and he comes off of the field acting like he is all world. Kuska had a great game against PSU but ends up injuring his neck on a tackle. Your strong safety shouldn't be making that many tackles. I hope he can come back from that injury. Lastly, the team averages roughly 7.5 penalties/game. This team can't afford that many penalties, period. I don't disagree that they could easily lose to UNC. They gave up over 300 yards receiving to one receiver in last year's game. Mussman makes some very poor coaching decisions at the end of the game and UND loses. This team is poorly coached and poorly prepared week in and week out. A change can't come soon enough.

Sorry "Mr. Almighty Poster".......I goofed on the stats......10 penalties is still too many. 50 yards rushing by UND and giving up 275 yards to NAU.

I am amazed this staff doesn't give some other kids a chance to play. I still say Sparks is the best RB on the roster. The brilliant OC still puts Garmin in to pass block. He got absolutely steam rolled last week on one pass block. Number 16 looked lost on almost every play specific to where to line up. Number 87 came in a few plays and looked better than 16. Where has he been all year? The defense gives up a 45 yard touchdown run with 4 minutes left!!! With lead they had, it was obvious they were going to run yet the defense gives up that play. Lastly, 20 penalties for over 200 yards. That alone defines how pathetic the discipline is on this team.

Okay, I have sat back and read this forum for well over a year. Time has come for my response and opinion. My nephew currently plays on the team. I have followed Sioux football for many, many years. I feel I have some pretty honest opinions to offer up. First, "geaux-sioux", I WILL NOT give you my nephew's name because I know you will ask. First, addressing earlier comments about players actions.....yes, there have been several boys recently cited for MIP and no, there have been no repercussions. Yes, one player had to sit out a game this year because he basically quit during fall camp and went home. Upon his return he had his ass kissed and is treated with kid gloves. The players have not been drug tested once this season! My understanding is that a test without warning would most likely nail a few boys. It is shocking to me that the program hasn't randomly tested once all year. Mussman is definitely not a motivator...period. He has not given an emotional speech in 5 years. Everything is a business approach. Emotion plays a huge part of the game and I can guarantee that every player would confirm that Mussman is absolutely NOT an emotional leader. He has also surrounded himself with a bunch of sub par coaches ( maybe to protect himself). Schluesner is awful! He seems to be so worried about getting the ball to Hardin and Jackson that he can't think outside of that box. I mean who doesn't know Jackson is running the ball when he lines up back there. How many times can you pound 150 pound Miller up the middle? Garmin must have a special place in Mussman's heart although his fumbling has finally minimized his play. I'm sure he's a great kid, but he's five foot nothing and goes down too easily. Sadly, you have a young, inexperienced O-coordinator leading two young QB's. The defense is not much improved over last year. I still have not seen a team who tackles so poorly. It's embarrassing. And, I haven't seen a worse group of defensive backs on any one team. Yet as bad as they are, they act like they are all "all conference". Maybe part of their issue is not realizing that they are very bad. The defense is also very under-sized and it shows all too often. Coaching in general needs to be improved. Too many wasted time outs (and many have come some to get Jackson set up to run his play), too many penalties, too many dropped passes, too many turnovers, and too many mental mistakes. If you watched today's game, you saw a punter who dropped a perfect snap, panicked, and took off running. He has ample time to kick the ball but instead was tackled short of the first down. He obviously has not been coached how to handle that situation. Coaching can't be blamed for everything, but you have to start somewhere. These are their recruits.... Personally, I do think its time to fire Muss and start fresh. He has proven nothing and is not the leader these boys need. His staff needs to be shown the door as well. It is nothing personal, the program needs new direction. They need a coach who demands discipline and accountability. They need assistants who are respected and aren't worried about being "one of the guys". They need to focus recruiting North Dakota hard. Mr. Faison, show some guts and find a proven leader.