A Cautionary Tale

[ChosenChildren]

Some observations at the end of the 2025 regular season for Iowa:

1. The stability of the coaching staff at Iowa continues to pay off. Many recruits are attracted to that stability. It is showing up in Iowa's recruiting. we need to keep Ferentz and Parker at the helm.

2. Comparing Iowa to Nebraska, be careful what you wish for when you are clamoring for a new coaching staff (I, of course, have been guilty of this behavior). Exhibit A has to be Nebraska. In 2014, Nebraska fired Bo Pelini, coming off of a 9-4 season. Since then, 3 coaches (Riley, Frost and now Rhule) have gone 35-62 in the Big Ten. That's a horrific 36% winning percentage. Incredible, really, for a program that ruled college football in the 90s and early 2000s. Iowa, on the other hand, has gone 66-31 during that same time, a sparkling 68% winning percentage. During that time, as you know, Iowa has won 10 of 11 from its hated rival. Pretty amazing, really.

Back in 1999, Ferentz went 4-19 in his first two seasons. Iowa had the wisdom to stick with him. It was a good decision.

 

[HawkPowerlifter]

The saying "Careful what you ask for," bodes big here. We have been very blessed with KF and his staff building a culture and continuity. Iowa has an identity. Coaches when asked about Iowa laud them about their ability to do more with less and being a fundamentally sound team.

Former Cardinals Coach Dennis Green would say "They are who we thought they were." LOL. And to me that's a good thing.

 

[kameltoez102]

Its a sports forum so everybody likes to talk about sports but what is often overlooked and under appreciated anymore is the stuff beyond the sport. If you take the time to watch the video that was put together after KF got the record for most wins. There was quite the range of people that expressed gratitude for what KF had done for them and their family.

The thing that surprised me was the amount of guys on the team that never played a prominent part on the field but went on to do great things off the field and credit KF for going out of the way to help them. It would have been extremely difficult to touch that many people without the stability Iowa has had and the loyalty that they have generated.

It's cliche to say we want to teach about life and winning isn't just about wins on the field but it is a fact that stuff is important. KF certainly has his faults and I am sure there are things he feels could have done differently but his impact will last generations at the university and the state.

I guess as I get older and see how the world is changing you realize there are only a few things going on in life that matter and the rest is bullshit. I think KF and staff have done a good job on the stuff that matters and that is where the culture of Iowa Football has gotten its roots and is very important for the type of program that needs to be run and for the type of recruits we are going to get.