Barry Alvarez Would Never Have Let His HC Keep Brian Ferentz On Staff

And all this Barry rules with an Iron fist shit is just fucking comical. He's kept Greg Gard through a really bad season and to my knowledge, he hasn't fired a single fucking coach in football. 0 by my count. He also puts up with horrible and I mean, horrible coaching throughout the entire rest of their athletic programs.
 
Iowa is 40-18 over that span, when you win close to 70% of your games, your jobs aren't in jeopardy... tell me what P5 program would want that to change?

Well let's see...

Here are those last 5 years. B1G record & West results. Generally they've had favorable crossovers, and the West is one of the weakest divisions in FBS (edit: yes, I meant P5).

2017 4-5 T3rd
2018 5-4 T2nd
2019 6-3 3rd
2020 6-2 2nd
2021 7-2 1st

That's a record of 28-16, or 64% wins. Not bad, but not "OMG don't change a thing!".

I would also talk about the offense' room for improvement, but I would hope nobody needs convincing there...
 
Last edited:
Iowa is 40-18 over that span, when you win close to 70% of your games, your jobs aren't in jeopardy... tell me what P5 program would want that to change?
I get your point but you're answering the question with another question. I think we all know that Brian wouldn't have been allowed to continue in his position anywhere else.
 
Alvarez was essentially a .500 big ten coach. Certainly a good AD, but the pedestal some hoist him onto is crazy
He won 3 conference titles and 3 Rose Bowls, and we went 2-8 against them the last 10 years. I'd say there's some credit due there
 
They have won in spite of it, but also, know this....this is pretty much their blue print. I can't say it's all to plan but Iowa has always been about Defense and Special Teams since he got here. Kirk would rather be on defense and most of all he wants an offense that doesn't turn the ball over.

I am not saying it's right or wrong, but I am saying, this is how Iowa wants to win games.
I'm under no delusion that Iowa's going to go be a perennial top 5 team or something, but I do think that with an even average offense they win 1-2 more games per year. That's worth it to me.
 
Well let's see...

Here are those last 5 years. B1G record & West results. Generally they've had favorable crossovers, and the West is one of the weakest divisions in FBS.

2017 4-5 T3rd
2018 5-4 T2nd
2019 6-3 3rd
2020 6-2 2nd
2021 7-2 1st

That's a record of 28-16, or 64% wins. Not bad, but not "OMG don't change a thing!".

I would also talk about the offense' room for improvement, but I would hope nobody needs convincing there...
Yeah, that's not getting anyone fired and we have an entrenched coach who is a walking legend. He wins enough to call the shots. He's done enough at Iowa that he can run his program as he see's fit and there aint an AD in the country that is going to tell him differently. Barry would be his bitch too. At least give and think about context of Iowa's situation. it's not quite black and white.

Also, last I checked, Iowa has made plenty of coaching moves throughout those 5 seasons. No one is saying "OMG, don't change a thing". I want a better offense too, but again, I have a hard time arguing with the results when you are 40-18 over that time span. Every program in the country except maybe 6 or 7 programs would take that record.

Also, the Big Ten West is the one of the weakest FBS divisions is obviously a joke. Good one. If you want to say the B1G West is one of the weaker Power 5 divisions, I could *maybe* hear you out, but even then, it's not even close to the weakest P5 division either.
 
I'm under no delusion that Iowa's going to go be a perennial top 5 team or something, but I do think that with an even average offense they win 1-2 more games per year. That's worth it to me.
I don't know this, but I have a feeling if they put more concentration on that side of the ball, you'd see a drop off in other areas. They've recruited to be this kind of team, recruit differently and you become a different kind of team. I'm not defending our offense, it's fucking terrible, but I am defending our program as a whole. Barry would be Kirk's little bitch and he would say "please just keep winning a lot of games and you can do whatever you would like"
 
There is not an AD in the country that would demand a 20+ year HC coming off of 10 win seasons in his last two full years (Covid) fire anybody.

Brian should be fired but it needs to come from Kirk. If your AD lays that down you better fire everyone or the staff is going to riot and good luck attracting any decent coaches in the future.
Scott Woodward at LSU would. They'd have canned BrIaN fErEnTz at halftime.
 
Well let's see...

Here are those last 5 years. B1G record & West results. Generally they've had favorable crossovers, and the West is one of the weakest divisions in FBS (edit: yes, I meant P5).

2017 4-5 T3rd
2018 5-4 T2nd
2019 6-3 3rd
2020 6-2 2nd
2021 7-2 1st

That's a record of 28-16, or 64% wins. Not bad, but not "OMG don't change a thing!".

I would also talk about the offense' room for improvement, but I would hope nobody needs convincing there...
This is such an erroneous and mistaken fact. You must be saying the East is shit as well and one of the weakest, because the West has actually played the East pretty damn even since going away from the Legends and Leaders. Record is 77-70 and only a couple more games a year go to the East.

This argument/point gets so old and lame..

 
I don't know this, but I have a feeling if they put more concentration on that side of the ball, you'd see a drop off in other areas. They've recruited to be this kind of team, recruit differently and you become a different kind of team.

What?? This makes no sense.
 
I get your point but you're answering the question with another question. I think we all know that Brian wouldn't have been allowed to continue in his position anywhere else.
It's hard to judge that claim. Scott Dochterman has tweeted out routinely this off season that Iowa has the 8th best winning percentage in Power 5 programs over the last 5 seasons. My guess is there isn't a lot of turnover at those other 7 programs or at the very least, they are considered a blue blood that can absorb losing guys to other jobs. Also, Iowa, fluctuates between the 5th 6th & 7th in Big Ten revenue. They are top 20 in attendance. Iowa played in 3 games with at least 6.5 million viewers last season. Eighth-best winning % among P5 teams the last 5 years, Big Ten West Champs.

Guys, I don't think I'm going out on a whim here when I say there isn't an AD in the country who's demanding shit to their HC in that scenario.
 
Guys, I don't think I'm going out on a whim here when I say there isn't an AD in the country who's demanding shit to their HC in that scenario.
Football is the main sport at most major sports schools. By a mile.

Because of that, the head football coach often has just as much or more power (obviously implied rather than specific) than the AD when it comes to decision making in that sport. At Alabama no AD is going to say a word about how the FB program operates unless there’s a scandal, illegalities, etc. And even then it’s going to come from higher up like the regents or president.

For all intents and purposes, P5 ADs are there to run and preside over other sports not named football (or basketball if you’re a Kansas, Duke, etc). Alvarez is unique when you compare him to a guy like Barta or similar. Technically he’s in charge, but we know it’s really the HC and donors.

Which is the reason I brought up Alvarez. He was in the unique position of being a respected and successful football coach prior to becoming AD. I still stand by my opinion that he wouldn’t have allowed Paul Chryst to keep Brian Ferentz on staff with the offensive production he’s had. He would’ve stepped in. And it has nothing to do with firing previous coaches. This is a unique situation.

I could have said the same thing about Tom Osborne during his time as AD, but the guy’s a total piece of shit who isn’t worthy of conversation. Trev Alberts is trying to do the same thing by shaking stuff up in Lincoln—giving ultimatums and forcing changes. Gary Barta’s not that guy, nor should he be
 
This is such an erroneous and mistaken fact. You must be saying the East is shit as well and one of the weakest, because the West has actually played the East pretty damn even since going away from the Legends and Leaders. Record is 77-70 and only a couple more games a year go to the East.

This argument/point gets so old and lame..


I gave records for the last 5 years, and said the West IS one of the worst. IS implies current state, not 8 years ago state.

But... how many B1G championships has the West won in that time? As stated in that article, none. How many times has the West been better represented in the final polls in that time? Also none.

The East is clearly more top-heavy, but I think CURRENTLY:

OSU >>> Wis
Mich > Iowa (>>> last year, but...)
PSU > Minn / NW / Purdue
MSU >= "
UMD <= "
Neb >= Rut / Ind
Illini = "
 
I gave records for the last 5 years, and said the West IS one of the worst. IS implies current state, not 8 years ago state.

But... how many B1G championships has the West won in that time? As stated in that article, none. How many times has the West been better represented in the final polls in that time? Also none.

The East is clearly more top-heavy, but I think CURRENTLY:

OSU >>> Wis
Mich > Iowa (>>> last year, but...)
PSU > Minn / NW / Purdue
MSU >= "
UMD <= "
Neb >= Rut / Ind
Illini = "

Oh, cherry pick your time frame. So convenient. Why not just take the 8 years since the East and West started? Wisconsin and Iowa have more than held their own. Actually, Iowa and KF have done very well with .677% winning. It is ironic that KF has the exact same winning % for intra-division games to.
 
I gave records for the last 5 years, and said the West IS one of the worst. IS implies current state, not 8 years ago state.

But... how many B1G championships has the West won in that time? As stated in that article, none. How many times has the West been better represented in the final polls in that time? Also none.

The East is clearly more top-heavy, but I think CURRENTLY:

OSU >>> Wis
Mich > Iowa (>>> last year, but...)
PSU > Minn / NW / Purdue
MSU >= "
UMD <= "
Neb >= Rut / Ind
Illini = "
But you realize that it's no where near one of the worst divisions in FBS?
 
Oh, cherry pick your time frame. So convenient. Why not just take the 8 years since the East and West started? Wisconsin and Iowa has more than held their own. Actually, Iowa and KF has done very well with .677% winning. It is ironic that KF has the exact same winning % for intra-division games to.
Cleary Melrose, it's widely known as one of the worst divisions in FBS
 
I gave records for the last 5 years, and said the West IS one of the worst. IS implies current state, not 8 years ago state.

But... how many B1G championships has the West won in that time? As stated in that article, none. How many times has the West been better represented in the final polls in that time? Also none.

The East is clearly more top-heavy, but I think CURRENTLY:

OSU >>> Wis
Mich > Iowa (>>> last year, but...)
PSU > Minn / NW / Purdue
MSU >= "
UMD <= "
Neb >= Rut / Ind
Illini = "

No, you don't think "currently", you think "conveniently" to support your argument. I'm going to cherry pick the certain season/years and crunch that record down even more for the West.

Yes, the West haven't fared too well in the c-ship game. But, if you are measuring the East division vs the West division, I think you look at all the cross divisional games for the best representation for the divisions as a whole. I mean you did state the division is one of the worst in P5 football.

Also, this article is coming from a Penn State writer, an East representative. The homerism card is out.
 

Latest posts

Top