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Heck, we don't even know if we'll have the time with him to see it occur here.

He's 2.5 years into ever doing it and he started out on the biggest stage possible, while most of the coaches we all consider great were able to make the same mistakes he has on a much lower level where nobody remembers the growing pains.

To put MF present tenure as a HC into terms comparable to a child's development, he's currently at the point where he's learned to tie his shoes well enough that they actually stay tied long enough for him to get to school. However, once he makes it to recess and starts sprinting, there are some trip ups.

Don't take this as some shining endorsement or defense of MF, as I personally have lost confidence in him being the guy. But what if I'm wrong?

Any rational, logic based evaluation of MF at this point, that is not centered around "HE lost to NIU!" has to conclude its too early to tell.

This is part of why I'm so strongly opposed to the hiring of first time HCs at ND. Not because they are all going to be bad...every great HC was a first timer at some point. But again, most of them go through their learning curve out of the spotlight.

The problem is the complete unknown...you don't know if you have a guy who is total trash or a future great, or just some 'mehh'. With an experienced coach you've already seen that they can do the job of a HC and have a good basis for estimating how good they can be. Now it's just about seeing if they can do it good enough at your program.

This can make for a much quicker evaluation process, as a guy who already knows how to tie those shoes well enough to hold up under gassers and has some years of demonstrated experience to prove it, should be able to have success at a new stop in 3 years.

But when you take a complete shot in the dark hiring an unknown, is it fair in any way to expect them to be a finished product inside of 3 years? Nope! You're almost stuck giving them at least 5 years unless they completely bomb, and MF hasn't shown to this point that he's willing to let things spiral out of control like Davie, ty, or Weis...and even Kelly at times.

Kelly came in with 20 years HC experience and still had 9 different multiple game losing streaks in his first 7 years...Freeman lost his first 3 games as a HC and has not lost back to back games since.

Maybe...just maybe, the guy needs a little more time to develop before we make a final decision.