Can Northwestern ever be competitive again?

[Major Kong]

As an alum, it just seems like they can't compete in this NIL era. Don't think we'll be getting many No.1 (Tsistsis, Welch) or top 5 (Micic, Brice Brill) going forward. This year they would be a somewhat competitive Ivy team. What do they do?

[Southend]

I think nil aside , Northwestern was trending the wrong way at about when Covid came calling from the LAB. The AD at the time, name slips my mind, was not very active for the sports.  President was worse. I still don’t think athletics are in the forefront to this day. Sure you can blame nil. 

[Major Kong]

Jim Phillips was AD. The school never really supported wrestling (you should have seen the room) but Ken Kraft kept some minimal support going. His loss was bigger than who the AD was. But it was always on the wrestling program itself to be successful, get the kids in with the strong pitch of Big Ten wrestling and a top tier education. Now that appeal is tremendously diluted by NIL-and no way the program has any significant NIL $.

[Southend]

Yes Phillips, he ran off the women’s volleyball coach there at that time and had multiple squabbles with various other coaches. If the school isn’t 100% in ,no matter, the non revenue sports will ultimately suffer the worst. 
I think they can be in the middle of the big still, with the right coaching. But the reputation they have with coaches, makes for slim pickins. 

[The Kid]

29 minutes ago, Major Kong said:

As an alum, it just seems like they can't compete in this NIL era. Don't think we'll be getting many No.1 (Tsistsis, Welch) or top 5 (Micic, Brice Brill) going forward. This year they would be a somewhat competitive Ivy team. What do they do?

How does their national championship field hockey program recruit the best of the best?

[CoachB]

Have to get creative and fill the roster, even with walk-ons. Northwestern has so much to offer. Even with injuries, the fact they had to forfeit weights vs Illinois should never happen at the D1 level 

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

If they get the right coach and a rich donor (of which NW has many) yes.  Imagine if Kyle Dake or Jordan Burroughs became the HC.

[Southend]

7 minutes ago, The Kid said:

How does their national championship field hockey program recruit the best of the best?

I would say a coupe of things. The area around the school is a hot bed for the sport. 
And the second thing, hockey is more of a country club sport, more relatable to the administrators. Wrestling not in that category. 
In the same way Iowa is a hot bed for wrestling. The administrators there can and do relate. Cases can be made in other schools as well for other examples .

[dragit]

4 minutes ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

If they get the right coach and a rich donor (of which NW has many) yes.  Imagine if Kyle Dake or Jordan Burroughs became the HC.

That would require quite an imagination.

[Nak21]

Depends on your definition of competitive. If you’re thinking Big Ten and National Titles, i suggest focusing on some of your highly successful women’s sports to avoid the disappointment.

Northwestern is an amazing academic school. But they don’t seem to overly support any of their sports to a great degree…atleast from my outside looking in view. So wrestling is no surprise.

How could they get competitive, top 5-7 Big Ten, top 10 nationally? Money. If the schools not gonna support the program, alums are gonna have too. NW is an amazing school, gotta imagine there’s some higher starting salaries and higher net worths at varying life points than the State schools they’re competing against. Time to pony up. Spend on coaching, can they get an RTC going?, sell the academics - another spot outside of Cornell and Stanford for top level wrestling AND stellar academics. Focus regionally - Chicago is a big town and Illinois has great HS wrestling - while still being able to draw nationally due to academics, big city nearby, etc etc. They don’t really have tradition to fall back on, so it’s gonna have to be a combo of the right coach and money, sell what they have going for them - location, academics, conference. 
I look at PSU hockey as an example for these types of things. PSU had a long running national power CLUB hockey program. And now in 10-15 yrs D1 they’re playing for Frozen Fours very quickly. Why?? Billionaire Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula is a 1970s alum who played club hockey there and cut a MASSIVE check. And a lot of work by the players and coaches after the check cleared. Money just gets you a seat at the table, still got earn your dinner.

[Southend]

6 minutes ago, Nak21 said:

Northwestern is an amazing academic school. But they don’t seem to overly support any of their sports to a great degree…atleast from my outside looking in view. So wrestling is no surprise.

 

This says it all for northwestern . Say no more. 

[red viking]

Kick them out of b10

[Southend]

4 minutes ago, red viking said:

Kick them out of b10

Don’t say that too loud.  They may be the next to  volunteer. 

[Fletcher]

Drew Pariano had to deal with the same lack of admin. support but managed to get better recruits, field more competitive teams and get more AAs than Northwestern's current team.

School support is important, but they also seem to be lacking in the coaching dept. too.

[GV4444]

They cannot be competitive without a large financial booster.  NW is an academic school that doesn't generate massive amounts of revenue from BB or Football to support all their non-revenue sports.  NIL is the only way to salvage the program from the basement.  The years of getting and keeping a Deakin have vanished.   Bourmet backed up the transfer van a couple of years ago a took 3 starters from a top 10 team.  NW doesn't even own a transfer van to get anyone   Trying to get recruits who want a great education isn't going to do it.  Now you are competing with Stanford and the Ivies.

They won't leave the B10 unless they get kicked out.   Too much revenue sharing, but that has to be reinvested into sports that can keep the big B10 universities happy so they don't get kicked out, e.g. an average FB team.

They should try packaging conditional grad school acceptances into their recruiting, e.g. maintain good grades and you have a spot in the Kellogg School.   

[rsotelo]

Another issue is that Northwestern probably has to take a pass on 80% or more of the blue chip recruits due to academic requirements for admissions.  Same goes for the Ivy league schools.  Hard to compete with schools with 70%-85% admission acceptance rates.

[The Kid]

1 hour ago, Southend said:

I would say a coupe of things. The area around the school is a hot bed for the sport. 
And the second thing, hockey is more of a country club sport, more relatable to the administrators. Wrestling not in that category. 
In the same way Iowa is a hot bed for wrestling. The administrators there can and do relate. Cases can be made in other schools as well for other examples .

They recruit the best foreigners to play from them as well.

 

 

[kschlosser]

I miss Drew. They miss Drew.

[Major Kong]

2 hours ago, The Kid said:

How does their national championship field hockey program recruit the best of the best?

Womens sports - at least lacrosse, soccer, and field hockey - have had support from the school, and a great deal of success. They also have the key factor of very committed alums that support them - Chris Brennan being one notable example for field hockey.

[Southend]

1 hour ago, kschlosser said:

I miss Drew. They miss Drew.

Yeah 

[CHROMEBIRD]

2 hours ago, red viking said:

Kick them out of b10

People have been saying for decades that NU needs a new conference (like the Ivy League), but it won't happen. Thing could really suck for Northwestern during the upcoming media renegotiation if tOSU and others get disproportional sharing. 

[Fletcher]

5 hours ago, GV4444 said:

They cannot be competitive without a large financial booster.  NW is an academic school that doesn't generate massive amounts of revenue from BB or Football to support all their non-revenue sports.  NIL is the only way to salvage the program from the basement.  The years of getting and keeping a Deakin have vanished.   Bourmet backed up the transfer van a couple of years ago a took 3 starters from a top 10 team.  NW doesn't even own a transfer van to get anyone   Trying to get recruits who want a great education isn't going to do it.  Now you are competing with Stanford and the Ivies.

They won't leave the B10 unless they get kicked out.   Too much revenue sharing, but that has to be reinvested into sports that can keep the big B10 universities happy so they don't get kicked out, e.g. an average FB team.

They should try packaging conditional grad school acceptances into their recruiting, e.g. maintain good grades and you have a spot in the Kellogg School.   

I'm the NW transfer van. It's a Honda Odyssey and the potential transfers have to sit on used juice boxes and goldfish crackers.

[1032004]

Tough crowd.  In the last 7 NCAA’s that have been contested, Northwestern has had an AA in 6 of them, and are just a few years removed from finishing top 10 2 years in a row.  They finished 6th in 2022 before 30% of their team transferred to Michigan.

Edited March 10 by 1032004

[juniorvarsity]

Wrestle for the most academically prestigious school in the Big Ten. It's a good value proposition that the right coach could sell. 

Tony Ramos could be a good fit.

Northwestern is not going to fire Storniolo. He's been there 10 years. They were doing well not long ago. Davidson, Cannon, SeaBass, Deakin, DeAugustino, Yahyah Thomas, Chumbley. There's 12 AAs between these 8 guys with Storniolo. And 4 of them transferred their senior year.

[Southend]

11 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Drew Pariano had to deal with the same lack of admin. support but managed to get better recruits, field more competitive teams and get more AAs than Northwestern's current team.

School support is important, but they also seem to be lacking in the coaching dept. too.

Not unlike the few bottom feeders in the conference. There has to be both to climb in the standings.