Ferentz years best in Iowa History? You be the judge
- Thread starter HawkPrdatr40
- Start date
That's not completely in context though. I'll give ya Miami, Tennesse and 1992 Colorado and even 1994 Oregon. However, since games are scheduled 3-5 years in advance, four straight years of Nebraska and the UCLA game were probably on the schedule before Hayden got there. The Colorado team from 1988 and the Oregon team from 1989 as well as Arizona from 1982, 1996 and 1998 didn't probably look that daunting at the times they were scheduled.
HawkPrdatr40
Well-Known Member
Who cares who was on the schedule and who scheduled them , the fact is Hayden Fry was the coach at Iowa when we faced them. Don't matter how daunting they looked at the time we scheduled, there is never a guarantee they going to suck when you play them 3 years down the road.
HaydenHawk56
Well-Known Member
Hayden had his 85 team a legit ranked #1 in the country for several weeks. Kirk has yet to have one of his teams ranked #1. However, Kirk has won a BCS game (against an albeit very over ranked and nontraditional power Georgia Tech squad).
Besides the turnaround from a dead program, I really appreciate how Hayden generally kicked the crap out of crap opponents. He beat the teams he was suppose to beat.
I think Ferentz has done a little bit better beating the big guys compared to Hayden.
To bad we could not merge both coaches. Each lacks what each other needs.
Besides the turnaround from a dead program, I really appreciate how Hayden generally kicked the crap out of crap opponents. He beat the teams he was suppose to beat.
I think Ferentz has done a little bit better beating the big guys compared to Hayden.
To bad we could not merge both coaches. Each lacks what each other needs.
1977Hawkeye
Well-Known Member
You are correct. The opponents were who they were. Because Fry didn't schedule them, some people would say it doesn't count? I don't get that logic. The games were still played, and Iowa's players and coaches were still tasked with beating those opponents.
HawkPhreek
Well-Known Member
And just like Hayden in is final years KF is the worst coach in the conference. History has repeated its self.
Bigtenchamp
Well-Known Member
Yes this is exactly what I have been saying the last couple years. Iowa coaches have shelf lives.
We are never going to return to what we were under Ferentz.
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
Both coaches brought the football program to new heights. Hayden took a horrible football program and transformed it into a winning one. KF took it to the point where we had thoughts of winning the National Championship. Both had great stretches and both had seasons of high expectations that came crashing down (1988 and 2010). Both had stretches of mediocre seasons where the fan bases were calling for their heads (KF 05, 06, 10, 11, and 12; HF 88, 89, 92, 93, 94, and 97). We can argue the difference in coaching styles all day but the fact is their careers mirror each other.
BTW, those of you making the argument for Evy keep in mind Iowa might have been the football power like Nebraska/Notre Dame if not for Evy. For all the success he had in the 50s, he completely destroyed the football program in the 60s and into the 70s.
BTW, those of you making the argument for Evy keep in mind Iowa might have been the football power like Nebraska/Notre Dame if not for Evy. For all the success he had in the 50s, he completely destroyed the football program in the 60s and into the 70s.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Who is "we?" Has anyone in "we" seen the top teams in the SEC or Pac 12 play?
seepig
Well-Known Member
Finally BigTenChamp and HawkPhreek! I've finally found my soulmates on this issue!
ColumbusHawk
Well-Known Member
This statement is so far from being true that it is actually funny. Fry inherited a far better program than the one he left Ferentz. Bob Commings was an awful coach, but he had turned the program around in recruiting. He made one of the best hires in Iowa athletic history in bringing in Bernie Wyatt as recruiting coordinator.
Wyatt was from Long Island & was MVP on the '60 Big Ten co-championship team. He was coaching high school on Long Island when he was hired. He was responsible for recruiting all those wonderful New York/New Jersey area payers. The list includes the Harmon brothers, Owen Gill, Tippett, Kratch, Hughes, Devon Mitchell, etc. The list goes on and on.
The '81 team had the best defensive team I've seen play in the Big Ten. Ten of the eleven starters were Commings' recruits. The majority of starters on the '81 team were Commings' recruits.
The great mystery to me is why Wyatt left to join Alvarez at Wisconsin. For some reason, I've never heard a good story on why, but Fry & Wyatt had a huge falling out. Once Wyatt left, the two programs started going in opposite directions. Wisconsin started getting all the good talent from the New York metropolitian area. Iowa's pipeline dried up.
To this day, I firmly believe that Ron Dayne & other New York area players would have been Hawkeyes instead of Badgers if Wyatt had stayed.
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
Oh really? Going to play stupid now?
2002, 2009, and preseason 2010 "we" (this forum) had plenty of discussions (ie thoughts) of winning the NC.
I
ILHawk
Guest
Everyone remembers what they want to remember. The B1G wasn't the Big 2 and little 8 when HF came in. Other teams had good runs. Indiana was quite respectable under Lee Corso. Purdue certain had their runs. IL and Iowa both had good teams and in the 80's seemed to take turns destroying each other. Purdue and IL had some outstanding quarterbacks. NW was the only patsy and yes Wisky generally wasn't good. Minny had ups and downs. MSU had some good teams and bad ones. In many of the HF years the Hawks had to play everyone. To get good exposure, non conference schedules were generally pretty good.
Iowa State had a nice run of winning seasons for awhile.
What is exasperating about KF is that in genuinely seems he doesn't care about non conference and getting in a position to play other players against weaker teams. He doesn't seem to change. Remember when he could not take out Jake because Stanzi wasn't even taking snaps at practice. What team doesn't do that?
Iowa State had a nice run of winning seasons for awhile.
What is exasperating about KF is that in genuinely seems he doesn't care about non conference and getting in a position to play other players against weaker teams. He doesn't seem to change. Remember when he could not take out Jake because Stanzi wasn't even taking snaps at practice. What team doesn't do that?
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
The only one playing stupid is anyone who thought Iowa had a shot at a national title. And FYI, this forum did not exist in 2002. JD Miller launched it in October 2009. I was the voice of reason in 2010, posting this sobering and prophetic article that correctly predicted that both Iowa and Texas didn't belong in the top 10: http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/football/14798-wsj-thinks-we-will-choke.html . Of course, bince it didn't come from the authoritative voices at ESPN repeating it at 120 decibels ad nauseum it was dismissed.
wundergrape
Well-Known Member
Just a great, canny post. People underestimate the Commings years. The players were there, the excitement was there, the quality wins were there....the consistency and the belief were all that was missing.
Kirk, on the other hand, had the opposite dynamic. No players, but the belief was there. People knew that you could win at Iowa, and Kirk new it too. Hayden had to create that when he came, though.
HawkPrdatr40
Well-Known Member
Great Mystery? I'm thinking not. I would be willing to bet the falling out had to do with Barry Alvarez luring Bernie away from Iowa and joining him in Wisconsin in 1991.
HawkPrdatr40
Well-Known Member
In Cummings final year in 1978 his 5th by the way they were 2-9?? Overall Cummings was 18-37 while at Iowa..
Yep I bet fans were pumped up for the future..
| 1978: 2-9-0 | |
| Coach: | Bob Commings |
|
tailgater371
Well-Known Member
Not many bowls were passing up on a bowl eligible Hawkeye team during the Hayden years. If you remember a 6 win Hayden led team played in the Alamo bowl in 1993 (they really sucked that year) and in 1988 the Peach Bowl took Iowa with a 6-3-3 record.
Man I am so glad they got rid of ties!
Man I am so glad they got rid of ties!
hawkeyebob62
Well-Known Member
Some article folks are citing that said KF years are "maybe Iowa's best years".
I'm not politicking, either. I just think it's hard to compare across eras. People will ALWAYS say Nile Kinnick is the best Iowa player ever. But, objectively, that may NOT be the case.
Evy certainly is a solid argument. I don't doubt that. But what Hayden accomplished after such a long "down" period is also a fair argument. What KF accomplished after several down years is also worth mention. But to compare across a span of almost 40 years (Evy's last to KFs first) presents difficulties.
Evy years arguably had Iowa's best "run", while KF may have had Iowa's best "team". Or Howard Jones. Or Dr. Knipe. But it's hard to compare 1920's to 1950s to 1990s and beyond, IMO.
hawkeyebob62
Well-Known Member
Again, though, hard to compare. What Hayden did was, in one sense, MUCH bigger than Evy or KF. He turned around a program that had 20 or so consecutive non-winning seasons. He took Iowa to the Rose Bowl after 13 straight years of Michigan or OSU (MSU was champ one year, but was on probation) dominating the conference. Like his predecessors, he didn't have PSU as a conference member until the tail end of his tenure, but he also started his first five seasons with a non-conference schedule that featured Nebraska, Oklahoma and Penn State. AND, he won two games AT OSU.
What Evy did was also notable because Iowa might have gone to bowl games dang near every season he was here if the current bowl system had been in place.
