Badger Football Hire a Lesson for Iowa?

INTIMIDATORHawk said:
I'm certainly disappointed in KF the last few years, but I'm not ready to pull the plug. I agree with Jon that making the right hire at Iowa is critical. We aren't a program that easily recover from a period of losing should we hire the wrong coach.

I'd be terrified if Kirk left while Barta is the AD. I wouldn't trust Barta to hire a staff for a McDonald's after he hired Lickliter. Anyone who thought Lickliter was a "good fit" for Iowa obviously didn't know what he was doing. The Bball program is recovering under Fran, but the damage created by hiring the wrong guy for the football program would be monumental. I don't think Barta can do it.
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I don't get the hate for Barta based on his basketball hiring record. Lickliter was coming off winning the national COY award, he was also about the exact opposite personality of Alford, which many fans had been complaining about for years. It's easy to write revisionist history on that hire, but it was not obvious that he wasn't a good fit for Iowa when he was hired. Also, Barta had the guts to can him after only three years and hire Fran. And let's remember that a lot of people, like Jon and Spank, were less than enamored with that hire, to put it mildly. Goes to show you that judging a coaching hire the day after it happens is a pointless exercise.
 
Makavelihawk said:
A much better question would be "Why is he in a position in year 14 to have to turn it around?" Therein lies the question and the answer as to why people want to see him gone.
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I'm guessing you would have wanted Hayden Fry fired after 1989 or 1994 as well. correct?
 
Jon, be honest, how much did my previous posts inspire you to write this article?

Look at the facts here folks: The three time BoneG champ was only able to hire the coach of Utah St? A 48 year old guy with a losing career coaching record? A guy who has never coached in the midwest? A spread offense guy moving into a ground and pound school?

This is a dictionary definition of swing and miss.
 
Section136 said:
So one example of a coach who went to ISU and stayed there for 2 years makes me wrong? And I never denied the fact that a hot mid-major coach would be in the running for the Iowa job so that part of your post has absolutely no point.
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No the fact that Iowa has thirty years of winning tradition, shiny new facilities, large fanbase, willing to spend money on a coach etc. makes you wrong. As far as my mid-major comment sure it has a point - it further proves how wrong you are on the OC/DC. You contend Iowa has no ability to hire a hot OC/DC but yet then you accept the fact a hot mid-major coach is within Iowa's capacity. Most here would consider that a lapse in logical inference.
 
JonDMiller said:
Again, some people think that it's just a given that when Iowa makes a change, its up and to the right. I don't see it that way and am not ready to kick Kirk to the curb.
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With the way Kurt has the program trending, it might be almost impossible for a new coach to do anything but improve when he's hired.
 
I wonder if Mark Stoops would take the Iowa job if he has success at Kentucky and let's say the Iowa job comes open in the next 3 years.
 
Jon,
You make some very good points and you use some nice stats to back it up but the big thing that is glaringly staring at everyone in the face is ROI. If the U of I is fine with this then everyone needs to shut up, but I have a hard time believing and would not myself pay for this. Iowa has made a huge investment in KF. So big, that there are only 5 other coaches that maybe have been invested in more than KF, yet I can point to probably 20 other coaches that have been putting more consitent and better results than KF. Actually I can probably in the last 3 years prove that the ROI for 50 other coaches is greater than that of KF. Do you really believe we are seeing our investment being returned? If he was given this contract to maintain a succesful program then he has failed. If he was given this contract for building a program up through 2009 then shame on Iowa and thye have to eat it.
 
hawkfan33 said:
I don't get the hate for Barta based on his basketball hiring record. Lickliter was coming off winning the national COY award, he was also about the exact opposite personality of Alford, which many fans had been complaining about for years. It's easy to write revisionist history on that hire, but it was not obvious that he wasn't a good fit for Iowa when he was hired. Also, Barta had the guts to can him after only three years and hire Fran. And let's remember that a lot of people, like Jon and Spank, were less than enamored with that hire, to put it mildly. Goes to show you that judging a coaching hire the day after it happens is a pointless exercise.
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Lickliter's style of play was never, ever a fit for the Iowa program. Ever.

I remember a press conference where Barta defended the style of play and said that he thought people would like it. Fail.
 
In the economy of online sports discussion, people blur the distrinction between AD/administration - who hires coaches and writers/bloggers and fans. It all gets lumped together.
 
INTIMIDATORHawk said:
Lickliter's style of play was never, ever a fit for the Iowa program. Ever.

I remember a press conference where Barta defended the style of play and said that he thought people would like it. Fail.
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Only because he didn't win. If he would have won it would not have been an issue.
 
JonDMiller said:
Again, some people think that it's just a given that when Iowa makes a change, its up and to the right. I don't see it that way and am not ready to kick Kirk to the curb.
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So the solution is to continue this unwatchable, boring, uninspired football for a couple more years and THEN make a change after a 3-4 win season next year and 5-6 wins the following year?
 
kmajhawk said:
The more crucial point is that 14 years into his tenure at Iowa, Kirk Ferentz is exhibiting a comfort level with the current state of the program that is troublesome to many people who love the Hawks. His stubbornness and reluctance to try anything new rivals the military's or a hospital's and do not suggest he has any clue or even the passion to take concrete, discernible steps necessary to make Iowa a conference contender again. Meanwhile, programs around the Big Ten appear to have made substantial upgrades in coaches and talent. Ferentz is being left behind.
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This has been the most frustrating thing for me. While other programs are going after young, up and coming, cordinators Ferentz goes after guys he feels are established. One of the most famous pictures of the coaches was back in the early 80s when Hayden Fry had a young staff full of coaches that would end up being head coaches themselves one day. While Hayden has a huge coaching tree KF only has a couple, granted 1 is head coach of an NFL team. But he needs fresh blood, his son Brian is a nice step in the right direction but I think the staff needs more.

I am not ready to kick Kirk to the curb just yet, but damm1t FIX THIS!
 
JonDMiller said:
Again, some people think that it's just a given that when Iowa makes a change, its up and to the right. I don't see it that way and am not ready to kick Kirk to the curb.
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e
Yes, there may be a few Hawkeye fans who are unversed in organizational dynamics, but level heads understand there is never a guarantee that a change = better. However, is the chance of better with change greater than the chance of better with no change? That's the question that requires putting emotions aside and looking at the facts, trends and all the little clues that are there. Tell me three things that Kirk has said or done in the last 6 months that makes you think he has the ability to reverse the trend that has been evolving since 2006, John?
 
Jon...so your point is that we better watch out because if we fire Ferentz we might not get a big name coach???? Really? And that hurts how? He could very well be the winningest coach in Wisky history but because he's not a big name, we are suppose to worry that will happen to us? Come on Jon. Your better than this.
 
JonDMiller said:
Again, some people think that it's just a given that when Iowa makes a change, its up and to the right. I don't see it that way and am not ready to kick Kirk to the curb.
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I'm going back and forth on this, I just do not know if he has 3rd act left. B-Steen is right it is rare that a coach gets a second act......man, I just do not know.
 
MythOfFerentz said:
e
Yes, there may be a few Hawkeye fans who are unversed in organizational dynamics, but level heads understand there is never a guarantee that a change = better. However, is the chance of better with change greater than the chance of better with no change? That's the question that requires putting emotions aside and looking at the facts, trends and all the little clues that are there. Tell me three things that Kirk has said or done in the last 6 months that makes you think he has the ability to reverse the trend that has been evolving since 2006, John?
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And THIS is why I'm ready to make a move. I would be fine with a 4-8 season if it was as a result of some extenuating circumstances and the program was trending upwards. The problem is that it is trending downward. That is the only reason I'm done supporting KF. It's not just the record. It's the manner in which the record has come about, and the trajectory of the program.
 
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