I like him as a DL, especially since he has DC and HC experience. I like the fact we are bringing guys in who are stepping down in responsibility, instead of those being promoted up with questionable credentials.

You tend to get more out of people that have a true appreciation of the stress the HC is going through, but don't have it on their shoulders any more.

It's not often you see NU fans talking smack. LOL. This guy is a legacy and is a good line coach. It is a very good hire. If we hired him as DC then I would have a different opinion. Just because the guy didn't excel as the NU DC doesn't mean he is a bad position coach. They are entirely different jobs.

NU wins by scoring lots of points.   They have NEVER had a good defense with Fitz as coach, and I cant recall if it was that way with Walker either.

But as ironic as it is with Fitz being a defense guy himself,  their D always sucks and likely will this year too.

No argument there. Northwestern hasn't had a truly great defense since Fitz wore his neckroll. But it was particularly poor with Mr. Colby making the calls. Nice enough guy, just never struck me as more than a position coach. You got him for the right spot.

The thing that I remember most about Colby was that he was a very good baseball team.  Blackman was not happy with him playing with the baseball team because it meant missing spring football practices.  Told him that his spot in the starting football lineup wasn't guaranteed.  Colby went anyway and was able to win his football starting postion back in the fall.  Kurt Steger did the same thing, as I recall.

No question that this guy has plenty of experience. My guess is that perhaps the greatest asset he has is to open HS doors in Will, DuPage and Lake counties where most of the in state talent is developed.

LGIPurple wrote: No argument there. Northwestern hasn't had a truly great defense since Fitz wore his neckroll. But it was particularly poor with Mr. Colby making the calls. Nice enough guy, just never struck me as more than a position coach. You got him for the right spot.

If I recall, Fitz is supposed to be some sort of defensive genius.  Why is it Colby's fault and not his?

I like this hire for the reason he is Illini. We need more coaches who have played here. He can go into a recruits home and say come play for me and get a degree from the University of Illinois. They never can take that away from you.

DarthCat wrote:

Well, you left out the 5th place finishes in 2008 and 2009, and the fact that this year, we were third against the run.  Either way, you'll learn soon enough.  Really funny part is that with all those abysmal defenses, we were still 7-4 against the Illini over that time.   

One interesting tidbit though, Colby is the only Northwestern coach fired since 1991.  Seriously, we don't fire coaches, and he was the only one not retained in over 20 years. 

Coaches have left for other opportunities, but ol' Greg did not.  He was cut lose by the 33 year old head coach who was the linebacker coach on Colby's own staff two years earlier.  From there he took the Millersville job where his teams went 11-44 over five years. 

Oh, and they ranked as follows on defense in the illustrious 16 team Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference:

2008    16th Overall/15th against the run/16th against the pass
2009    16th Overall/16th against the run/15th against the pass
2010    16th Overall/16th against the run/15th against the pass
2011    13th Overall/14th against the run/10th against the pass (Oooooh, impressive rise)
2012    16th Overall/16th against the run/8th against the pass Ooooh, back down again)

I guess Millersville just could never play defense.  But then, why in 2007, before Colby showed up did they have a better statistical year overall and against the run and against the pass? 

2007    7th Overall/9th against the run/6th against the pass

But I'm sure I'm just 'cherry picking' stats and not showing all the relevant facts that show just how great a coach he is.  After all, Tim Beckman obviously thinks highly of him, and isn't that the best endoresement Illini fans could hope to see?   

Northwestern Athletics are a joke.

I thought he won a 1a and 2a championship at Danville Schlarman.

awy2407 wrote: I thought he won a 1a and 2a championship at Danville Schlarman.

You are correct......I'm from Danville and followed DHS and Schlarman closely.
Colby won the State 2A titles in 1980 by beating Amboy.....and 1981 by beating Biggsville.

After his success in Danville, he came to my high school (Naperville Central "Redskins") to be coach.  He was our coach the whole time I was in high school and did a solid enough job taking us to the playoffs 2x.  He was also a gym teacher there.  He was a good guy with a decent sense of humor but he could also be intimidating.  I like this hire as he is solely focusing on the DL and he is an Illinois guy.  I am looking forward to looking him up when the season starts and I get back down on campus.

IlliniMac68 wrote:

LGIPurple wrote: No argument there. Northwestern hasn't had a truly great defense since Fitz wore his neckroll. But it was particularly poor with Mr. Colby making the calls. Nice enough guy, just never struck me as more than a position coach. You got him for the right spot.

If I recall, Fitz is supposed to be some sort of defensive genius.  Why is it Colby's fault and not his?

Fitz has been called many things... but a defensive genius is not one of them.

My wife and I got married right out of college in 1983 and lived in the brand new Heritage Hill apts just west of NapNorth on Ogden. Naperville in the 1970's-1980's was still a "small town" although it was getting pretty big. Having a burger and beer at the Landmark was a great Friday night thing.

Its a city now. Not the same place. Still nice, just not what it was.

LloydCarrIsSmegma wrote: It's not often you see NU fans talking smack. LOL. This guy is a legacy and is a good line coach. It is a very good hire. If we hired him as DC then I would have a different opinion. Just because the guy didn't excel as the NU DC doesn't mean he is a bad position coach. They are entirely different jobs.

I hope that you are right.  My NU friends are all over this hire.  They hated the guy.

Illinois1975 wrote: I like this hire for the reason he is Illini. We need more coaches who have played here. He can go into a recruits home and say come play for me and get a degree from the University of Illinois. They never can take that away from you.

we get Illini folks on board, then coach gets hired and we are back to square one. I like Colby hire too.

LGIPurple wrote:

IlliniMac68 wrote:

LGIPurple wrote: No argument there. Northwestern hasn't had a truly great defense since Fitz wore his neckroll. But it was particularly poor with Mr. Colby making the calls. Nice enough guy, just never struck me as more than a position coach. You got him for the right spot.

If I recall, Fitz is supposed to be some sort of defensive genius.  Why is it Colby's fault and not his?

Fitz has been called many things... but a defensive genius is not one of them.

So he didn't learn anything about defense from being a big deal linebacker those years in Evanston?

I used to like hanging out dt Naperville as well during college breaks (winter/summer) and for a year or two out of school.  It did have that small town feel until the combination of it becoming a big town and the gang issues coming in from other suburbs.  I went back awhile back and didn't recognize the downtown at all...

IlliniMac68 wrote:

LGIPurple wrote:

IlliniMac68 wrote:

LGIPurple wrote: No argument there. Northwestern hasn't had a truly great defense since Fitz wore his neckroll. But it was particularly poor with Mr. Colby making the calls. Nice enough guy, just never struck me as more than a position coach. You got him for the right spot.

If I recall, Fitz is supposed to be some sort of defensive genius.  Why is it Colby's fault and not his?

Fitz has been called many things... but a defensive genius is not one of them.

So he didn't learn anything about defense from being a big deal linebacker those years in Evanston?

It's funny... I'm arguing he's not a great defensive coach... and you are implying he is? What's wrong with this picture?