Break Down the KF Tenure and Give Him Grades

[DDThompson]

2002-2006 B1G record: 27-13 (675%) = A-

2007-2011 B1G record: 23-17 (575%) = B

or beginning in 2000 with his recruits and breaking the recruiting classes into thirds:

2000-2003 = 20-12
(the 8-0 season in 2002)

2004-2007 = 18-14
(7-1 in 2004 and disappointing back-to-backs in '06-'07)

2008-2011 = 19-13
(no losing seasons in B1G, but there is no great season like the above two which is probably why the perception of stagnation is rampant)

 

[UrbandaleHawk01]

You should have titled this thread

Kirk Ferentz: Beyond Reproach

 

[UrbandaleHawk01]

*Above reproach

 

[hogeye]

Reality is that most fans are satisfied with Kirk. The responses are bound to reflect that. If you want to grade him and offer reproach then do it, but complaining about the reality of the situation is pointless.

 

[UrbandaleHawk01]

This thread was in response to another thread similar in nature in which Ferentz, in my opinion, was graded fairly - which includes some disappointing years of Iowa football. All this thread has done is taken those bad stretches, lumped them in with good ones and called it a masterpiece.

 

[uihawk82]

Kirk Ferentz

This letter grade is also due to a couple other significant moments in the Ferentz era.

Example A: Shonn Green goes down with head injury and fumbles the ball against the cats. Jewel Hampton had yet to see siginificant playing time at this point in the season. The Hawks march the field and have the ball 1st and goal from the 8 yard line. Instead of running the ball Iowa tries four consective passes and fails to beat the cats.

Go Hawks

This above is an interesting moment, sort of like the 2005 moment against Michigan that Cover3 mentioned, and I think the agressive play at the end of the first half against Florida in the Outback we lost.

The above end of that NW game where we had timeouts, a minute, and 8 yards to go and all of a sudden we go pseudo-west coast offense and away from a smash mouth team was when I wondered if KOK and perhaps KF lost their minds. That is when I started to believe that our coaches, especially on offense, would probably cost us two wins a year.

 

[hogeye]

This thread was in response to another thread similar in nature in which Ferentz, in my opinion, was graded fairly - which includes some disappointing years of Iowa football. All this thread has done is taken those bad stretches, lumped them in with good ones and called it a masterpiece.

Well, I am aware of the other thread, think I posted extensively in it. Not sure I remember your position, but I can guess. Regardless, there are only a million iterations of the same conversation here over time. My point is that in general those are going to net out in favor of Kirk. I am more pro-KF than against him. I had criticisms of the program, but am curious to wait things out under the new regime.

 

[JakeTheDog]

1999--C. Not a talented team, but maybe could have squeezed another win or two by settling on a qb and going with Mullen earlier.

2000--B. All the signs were there for a football rebirth

2001--B. Bowl victory, finally beating Randle-El and Minny. Only the head-scratching coaching decisions against Michigan keep this grade from being higher.

2002--A+. 8-0 in conference and 34-9 victory at the Big House, plus two of the most exciting games in school history against Penn State and Purdue.

2003--A. One of my favorite Hawkeye teams of all time. They got everything they could out of a gritty but limited qb in Nathan Chandler, and that comeback on the road against Wisconsin was one for the ages.

2004--A+. A team with Sam Brownlee as the starting RB won 10 games and beat LSU to end the season. Overall, this was KF and KOK's finest season of coaching.

2005--D. HUGE disappointment, with ugly no-show blowouts against ISU and OSU along with critical crunch time failures against Michigan and Northwestern. People talk about the blown calls in the Gator Bowl, but they forget that Iowa didn't bother to show up until about midway through the 3rd quarter.

2006--D. Only time I've ever seen an Iowa team just flat-out quit. I blame poor senior leadership, a wr/te corp that dropped everything in sight, and Grigsby for this wasted season more than Ferentz, though.

2007--C-. Would have been a better grade in a rebuilding year, but a loss to Western Michigan at home on Senior Day with bowl eligibility on the line was inexcusable.

2008--B+. Penn State game and the solid Outback Bowl win made for a nice year.

2009--A+. Amazing coaching job, and had Stanzi not gotten hurt, I really believe KF would have kept this team undefeated.

2010--F. A complete debacle. Failing to live up to expectations, 5 losses from failing to adjust and stop the other team on the last drive, a QB who became so preoccupied with not turning the ball over that he no longer could make plays when they counted, the DJK and Adam Robinson mess--a bowl win over a disinterested Mizzou team that didn't want to be there wasn't nearly enough deodorant for this stinker.

2011--C+. Not sure how it happened, but this was a bad Iowa team, folks. KF squeezing 7 wins out of this moribund bunch was actually a pretty good job of coaching. Sure they lost on the road to ISU and Minnesota (something bad teams will do), but they also beat Michigan at home, and to this day I'm still not entirely sure how they managed that.

 

[RocknRollface]

I think there were two distinct phases in the last decade. At some point we stopped rushing all-out on punts and field goals. From 2002-2004, we were the Virginia Tech of the Big Ten. Somewhere in the late 2000s, we turned to the 2002 Ohio State conserv-a-ball model.

If I had to pick a single point where the aura changed, I would say it was the end of regulation of the 2005 Michigan game. We played for the FG and OT from inside their 10yd line.

1999-mid 2005: A
mid2005-2011: B- (still very solid, but often look afraid to make mistakes)

Good point on that Michigan game. That was a turning point IMO. It was the end of the home winning streak and the identity that went with it. It was the end of Iowa always winning the games they should.

Since then Iowa has consistently lost games they should win, before that point it almost never happened.

 

[SamsonHawk515]

This above is an interesting moment, sort of like the 2005 moment against Michigan that Cover3 mentioned, and I think the agressive play at the end of the first half against Florida in the Outback we lost.

The above end of that NW game where we had timeouts, a minute, and 8 yards to go and all of a sudden we go pseudo-west coast offense and away from a smash mouth team was when I wondered if KOK and perhaps KF lost their minds. That is when I started to believe that our coaches, especially on offense, would probably cost us two wins a year.

Good point, the hardest thing to gage during the Ferentz era is the offense situation. Was Kok the reason for the inept offensive decision making in key moments or was Ferentz heavily involved in those moments. There have certainly been times when I have shaken my head with the hawk's staff's decisions. Regarding 05 Michigan, if memory serves me right we tried the shuffle pass on 3rd and goal, that was ridiculous. Playing for OT is waht irks me the most, I would rather go down fighting then to have never tried at all.