Dear Coach Ferentz,
First I would like to express to you my appreciation for the generation donations you have made over the years to the University of Iowa Children's Hospital, for running a clean program, and for being an outstanding role model to your players and to the people of Iowa as a whole. That said, I would like to present to you several questions/concerns that I have regarding the Iowa Football program.
1) Why does the coaching staff consistently botch time management/two minute drills, when we either have a chance to put points on the board before halftime, or when we need a last minute score to win or tie it up? One of the most memorable plays in recent Hawkeye history, TATE to HOLLOWAY, occurred IN SPITE OF the coaching staff's failure at clock management. We saw similar failures against Wisconsin both in 2010 and in 2014. Why haven't you or your staff learned from these past failures and corrected them?
2) Do you not recognize the importance of recruiting outside of the Big Ten's footprint? Some of the best teams both you and Hayden Fry have had were teams comprised of players from the states of Florida, Texas, and California (CJ Jones, Brad Banks, Drew Tate, Ramon Ochoa, Edgar Cervantes).
3) Is playing time determined solely upon how a player performs that week in practice, and if so, don't you recognize that some players perform better in games than they do in practice? If you rely solely upon performance in practice, then aren't you keeping potentially more talented players on the bench?
4) I want to preface this question by acknowledging that I admire the power running game, that it is crucial to controlling the clock, and that you need to be able to run the ball in Big Ten country in November. But what has traditionally been known as the pro-style offense is no longer the offense used by the majority of NFL teams today. A good number of both college and professional teams today have the "non-specialized position" approach, whereby the ball is put in the hands of the playmaker in different positions, and thereby giving him the opportunity to make a play. As you are aware, the New England Patriots have adopted this approach using their tight ends. Couldn't you tweak the system you run and incorporate this "non-specialized" approach?
5) Finally, I commend your ability to recognize and develop talent, and realize that Iowa is a program that needs to be developmental if it hopes to be successful. But when seasoned players graduate and their replacements are not quite yet up to par, couldn't you recruit more from the junior college ranks to fill those gaps?
Thanks again, and I look forward to your reply.