Paul Chryst really likes those Wisconsin connections doesn’t he? According to Chris Dokish, he has made his hire for Running Backs Coach. He’s Eddie Faulkner, a former Wisconsin running back who played behind Ron Dayne.
Faulkner is in his thirties and has been working as a MAC running backs coach the last several years. Most of the time spent at Ball State under Brady Hoke and stayed on staff there when Hoke left for SDSU. His recruiting contacts are in Big 10/MAC country.
Last year he was the running backs coach at NIU under Dave Doren — who before taking the head job at NIU was the defensive coordinator at… Wisconsin. So now Chryst isn’t just raiding his old team. He’s raiding a team headed up by a former colleague.
Hmm. Maybe it isn’t just Chryst. Maybe Wisconsin is just some close-knit cult-like place. All who come from there must surround themselves with others from the same place.
There aren’t sufficient words to describe that pile left inside the Pete last night.
Just when we thought that the loss to DePaul was the bottom of the barrel, this group plumbs new depths. I’ve disagreed with many who have been saying that this team lacks heart, but after last night I can’t do that any longer. Losing this badly. Getting destroyed in the final 24 minutes with barely a whimper. The body language said it all by the end. They have given up.
Where do you start? How do you fix what is so clearly in these players’ heads. Even if you accept the premise that most of these players are role players, it does not explain how badly they played. They have talked about being angry about the losses. About fixing things. Turning it around. Instead they keep going further backwards. Not even getting angry out there. Just frustrated and despondent.
