Badger Football Hire a Lesson for Iowa?

Gary Anderson is a very good hire for Wisky. Defensive-minded coach with a Urban Meyer pedigree and demonstrated ability to win, even if it takes turning the program around a la Utah State.
 
SamBrownlee48 said:
Gary Anderson is a very good hire for Wisky. Defensive-minded coach with a Urban Meyer pedigree and demonstrated ability to win, even if it takes turning the program around a la Utah State.
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It was a terrible hire. Guy has no major conference experience. At all. None. This has disaster written all over it.
 
RenoHightower said:
It was a terrible hire. Guy has no major conference experience. At all. None. This has disaster written all over it.
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Utah might not have been in a "major conference," but they played in a BCS bowl while he was there. Major conference experience is overrated. Gery DiNardo has tons of major conference experience. I'd rather have the young up and comer than the proven loser.

If it is a disaster hire, it will be because Anderson's offensive scheme doesn't fit, or he doesn't recruit well outside of Utah, or something like that. Not because he hasn't had experience in the SEC, B10, Pac10, or B12.

Besides, the fate of Wisky has always and still does rest in the hand of Barry.
 
SamBrownlee48 said:
Utah might not have been in a "major conference," but they played in a BCS bowl while he was there. Major conference experience is overrated. Gery DiNardo has tons of major conference experience. I'd rather have the young up and comer than the proven loser.
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LOL, "young up and comer?" Guy is 48 freakin years old. What is this, the United States Senate?
 
JonDMiller said:
This isn't 'Let's Make a Deal' here. You don't go home with a Popeil Whizzinator and the Let's Make a Deal board game if you choose poorly.
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But sometimes you get the brand nEW CAR!!! If your worried about getting the Whizerbator, then you'll get left with keeping the $50 that Monty handed you to start the game.

Not advocating a change now, but you can't be stuck in neutral because things might go bad.
 
Hey if you don't perform that's just that. I hate the fear of further damage to program with new hire argument. That's Gary Barta's second problem not first. If 2013 doesn't show any evidence of Kirk getting back to his formula to success you have to fire him. You have to take a chance on Gary Barta finding a capable replacement. There is no excuse for the talent of 2010 to go 8-5. Outside of Wiesman its hard to find any silver lining in the 2012 season. Defense, special teams, offense, game management, anything... and now you have another running back transferring, an offensive coordinator returning after a dismal debut year... Kirk Ferentz is on the hot seat. If he can't get seven wins I say move on, rebuild.
 
Norm Parker is not coaching at Iowa any longer. Our days of being relevant in the B10 are over for now.

No lesson to be learned.
 
activebadger said:
In fact going back and re-reading your article, it's simply a total laugher. Again, look at that list of coaching hires Wisconsin has had going back 20 years. None of those guys were household names.

Furthermore, Alvarez handled this EXACTLY like he said he was going to handle it. He said he was going to take his time and not rush anything. "I'm not going to use a search committee, most search committees use me."--BA He knows exactly what he's doing and he didn't panic.

You also make the assumption that he "bumped his head going after bigger candidates." Who was that exactly? He said in his opening presser that he'd talk to Chris Peterson but that he doubted CP would move as he was pretty "locked in in Boise". Everything happened exactly how Alvarez said he'd handle it.
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You're getting your badge a little too worked up over this one. All Jon was trying to say is Wisconsin went after a few guys at the top of their list and the timing wasn't right. GA may end up being a terrific hire. He was trying to compare that to an Iowa coaching search ending similarly as Iowa would more than likely end up with some MAC coach with a decent record and not some big name coach. Jon didn't say Alvarez didn't handle it right, he just said that a few coaches at the top of the list declined such as Golden, Chryst, Peterson, and Riley. The lesson here is Iowa fans need to consider that Iowa may also be looking at getting a coach from a lower tier league if Ferentz was fired.
 
JonDMiller said:
Some of you won't care for this thought, but perhaps it merits some consideration:

Can Iowa learn anything from the Wisconsin coaching search and the man they have now hired, former Utah State coach Gary Andersen? When I say 'can Iowa learn' I am not necessarily talking about Athletic Director Gary Barta; I am thinking more about the fans who are so discontented with Kirk Ferentz right now that you'd like to see Iowa go in a different direction, thinking that the Iowa program can do better.

Do better than the second winningest coach in school history, one who led Iowa to back to back to back top ten finishes, who has had two teams win a school best 11 games, winner of an Orange Bowl, two Outback Bowls, a Capital One Bowl along with an Alamo and Insight Bowl for good measure.

Yes, I know Iowa is 11-14 over the past two seasons including a 4-8 campaign in 2012. I realize that the 2010 8-5 record will always be seen as a disappointment based on how much talent that team had and the fact that they either led or were tied in the fourth quarter of each of those five losses and all came by a touchdown or less.

Iowa is coming off its most successful decade in school history (with Ferentz at the helm), their facilities are nearly on par with the major college football programs in the nation (all that's left is the office space and new weight room coming in the second phase of the indoor facility, which will be completed by August of 2014) and they have shown a financial commitment in salary for their head coach which is among the biggest in the sport.

So what's the lesson in the Wisconsin hire?

For one, Gary Andersen wasn't on the short list for any Badger fan or writer I know. They had their sights set higher than the 48 year old head coach from Utah State. Had the Badgers not played Utah State earlier in this year they might not have even known there was a Utah State.

They were turned down by Miami's Al Golden and Barry Alvarez and Pitt coach Paul Chryst felt it wouldn't be right for Chryst to return to his native Madison after being the Pitt head coach for just one season, a job Alvarez helped Chryst procure. Oregon State's Mike Riley is believed to have been considered for the job but he stayed put.

The ESPN story linked above says that Andersen was Alvarez's top choice. That's what they all say, or try to say with a straight face.

Andersen has been Utah State's head coach for four years where they have run a spread offense. Utah State is 26-24 during his four years including this past season's 11-2 record including a 41-15 win over Toledo in last week's Potato Bowl. Prior to the Utah State job he was head coach at Southern Utah for one year in 2003. Other than that he had been an assistant at several schools we know little or nothing about and he has never spent time on the staff at a BCS conference...or in the MAC for that matter.

Utah State nearly beat Wisconsin this year, missing a 37-yard field goal late in the game after a horrible offensive pass interference call had pushed them back.

Gary Andersen may turn out to be a great hire and a great coach. Kirk Ferentz was not Iowa's first choice back in 1999 when he was hired. He certainly wasn't the first choice of the fan's; they wanted Bob Stoops and likely could have had him were it not for Iowa having a search committee and telling Stoops that they had committed to interviewing other candidates before making a decision. I believe Bob Bowlsby was seriously considering Terry Allen after that but thankfully boosters got wind of that and let it be known that would not be an acceptable hire.

You just never know how these things will work out in the end but 'Utah State Coach Gary Andersen' isn't the 'caliber' of coach Wisconsin fans believed they would be hiring when their job came open.

Should Iowa fans expect top flight candidates to line up outside their door whenever they have a head coaching vacancy? Let me rephrase that; should Iowa fans REALISTICALLY expect top flight candidates to line up outside their door whenever they have a head coaching vacancy? What does Iowa have that Wisconsin doesn't have right now?

The Badgers are making their third straight trip to the Rose Bowl, a place Iowa hasn't been since January 1st, 1991. The Badgers have won three straight league titles and the only two Big Ten championship games. This is Wisconsin's sixth Big Ten title since Barry Alvarez took over back in the early 1990's; Iowa has won three Big Ten titles during that time.

Madison is a great city, as is Iowa City. The fan support in Madison is great, just as it is at Iowa; both schools are among the top 10 or 15 bowl draws related to fan support. Wisconsin's facilities are not where Iowa's facilities are right now but changes are on the way.

The biggest advantage Iowa has in its quiver over Wisconsin, one that isn't at least debatable, is what it has paid its head football coach.

When Kirk Ferentz became one of the highest paid head coaches in the sport, I recall writing a column as to why that was very good for the future of Iowa football. The primary reasons were: a) Kirk Ferentz was a guy you wanted to keep around and b) the next time Iowa found itself looking for a coach, that level of financial commitment would help them overcome some inherent obstacles.

When the day comes for Iowa to hire a new football coach, do you think they are going to pay that new guy the $3.8 million per year they are paying Kirk Ferentz? I don't, unless Iowa hires a huge and established name away from a power program. The only person I could see doing something like that would be Bob Stoops, but I don't think that will happen. If a coach is doing well at a power program, he will have recruiting advantages in place at that program that Iowa simply does not and will not have. Why leave for a tougher job that might pay a few hundred thousand more dollars per year?

What is more likely for Iowa is what Wisconsin just went through...a process where you bump your head chasing after a few known names and coming up with someone from a lesser level.

For those of you screaming that it's time for Iowa to make a change (and I am not one of you), do you want to trade in what you know, what has been a pretty darned good thing for Iowa for the majority of the last 14 years, for what you don't know behind door number two?

This isn't 'Let's Make a Deal' here. You don't go home with a Popeil Whizzinator and the Let's Make a Deal board game if you choose poorly.

Wisconsin, like Iowa, is one bad hire away from a steep drop off. I realize the 4-8 season Iowa just went through is pretty bad and worse than what the Iowa program should have to suffer through in year 14 of the Kirk Ferentz era. The Hawkeyes have a lot to show to their fanbase next year as it relates to offensive (execution) philosophy next season. Attacking vertically in the passing game would be a good start. Another 4-8 type season where the offense is as bad as it was in 2012 will find more fans on or over the ledge than we are seeing right now.

I do feel things can get worse for Iowa, where a 4-8 season isn't a rarity. I don't think we'll see that again from a Ferentz-led Iowa team. I think he has one more 'run' in him before he grunts off into that good night.

But when that day comes, or if you want that day to come sooner rather than later, just remember this Wisconsin coaching search and the guy they ended up with; he wasn't on any Badger fan's radar two weeks ago when Bret Bielema decided to leave Madison for Arkansas.





Season's really can't get much worse than the one Iowa just completed. Most decent 1AA teams would have won 4 games playing the schedule Iowa played.
Coaching decisions, game management, etc. can't get much worse either. You have to go back 30+ years to find this kind of negativity surrounding the program. I really do not think there are many fans left out there who really think this is going to get turned around anytime soon.
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CPHAWK82 said:
You're getting your badge a little too worked up over this one. All Jon was trying to say is Wisconsin went after a few guys at the top of their list and the timing wasn't right. GA may end up being a terrific hire. He was trying to compare that to an Iowa coaching search ending similarly as Iowa would more than likely end up with some MAC coach with a decent record and not some big name coach. Jon didn't say Alvarez didn't handle it right, he just said that a few coaches at the top of the list declined such as Golden, Chryst, Peterson, and Riley. The lesson here is Iowa fans need to consider that Iowa may also be looking at getting a coach from a lower tier league if Ferentz was fired.
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If Iowa starts throwing around 3.8 million at coaches, they won't have to settle for a MAC coach..
 
blubberhawk said:
If Iowa starts throwing around 3.8 million at coaches, they won't have to settle for a MAC coach..
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Money does talk and that is one thing Iowa has over Wisconsin. Iowa pays Ferentz more than Wiscy was willing to give Bret and it would have to be a consideration to any top tier coach. That kind of money would have to be offered up front though.
 
All I know is whoever Anderson hires as his offensive cordinator will be better than Greg Davis. Not all, but most of us, understand the job KF has done here and the contract he has. What a lot of us don't understand is why he remains so loyal to Greg Davis after last seasons offensive performance. It might be unreasonable for us to expect a change at the head coaching position but I want to see changes on offense.
 
blubberhawk said:
If Iowa starts throwing around 3.8 million at coaches, they won't have to settle for a MAC coach..
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Kirk has said "If we're a 6-6 team, we're a 6-6 team." Considering he would be happy with that, we should be too.

It would be easier for us to accept, if someone was paying us that kind of money too, just for phoning it in.
 
So what's the point of this article? That Iowa won't hire an established coach from a power conference? Well no offense Jon, but no ****. It's very rare to see a head coach go from one major conference job to another. The vast majority of major conference football hires are mid major head coaches or major conference coordinators. I wouldn't expect Iowa to be any different.
 
It is my thought that when Iowa does hire its next coach that it is going to find candidates with a strong association with the football program as a player or having been on the staff at one time. There is, based on comments from past players, pride in keeping the football program competitive.

There is much remorse about the contract of KF. To me it isn't the problem some make it out to be. KF, should he be asked to leave or if he desires to leave, is going to find a new position. Leaving for a new position takes care of the issues with a long term contract. There is to my knowledge no requirement that Iowa must pay the entire amount of salary due for each year all at once. It would be my guess that a structured buyout would be arranged to spread the payments out over a much longer span; like 10 to 12 years, because it would be beneficial to both parties. To believe that the current contract with KF is a barrier to making a change isn't necessarily correct.

The fury of some fans angry about the state of Iowa football and any association with Wisconsin's hire of Gary Andersen is quite a leap of logic. The past season is over and done with and no amount of hair pulling is going to change the results. My advice is move on, get behind the guys on the team and trust that they will perform better in terms of wins and losses next season.
 
We do not even know if Iowa has a QB capable of playing Big 10 level football and we are supposed to trust they will perform better against a much tougher schedule next season? Iowa was somehow not able to give even one snap to a back up qb, in a dismal season. That still has to be one of the dumbest decisions, ever, by a coaching staff.

If you have been paying attention to college football, you know that you can't win without a decent playmaker at the quarterback position. (unless you happen to be dominant in all other areas, and Iowa is not)
 
I knew I'd be peeing into the wind with this because the Ferentz lynch mob would not like it. That's ok.
 
JonDMiller said:
I knew I'd be peeing into the wind with this because the Ferentz lynch mob would not like it. That's ok.
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This is a bush league post. You're peeing into the wind because your point has no merit. We don't even know if this is a good or bad hire. Secondly this is in large part due to timing. Do you not think That Cryst would be wearing red and white if this were a year later? The article was not well thought out which is why people don't like it. Blaming it on a "lynch mob" is weak. How excited were you when Ferentz got hired? Come on man.
 
JonDMiller said:
I knew I'd be peeing into the wind with this because the Ferentz lynch mob would not like it. That's ok.
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You can say things like this but the fact remains that Ferentz has lost it. He had his success early in his career based on hiring Joe Phillibin and a healthy Norm Parker. Now he is simply striking out on his hires for assistant coaches because a top flight upcoming assistant simply won't want to be associated with the program. Now don't get me wrong...I think Brian Ferentz and Levar Woods have the potential to be very good coaches but not a lot of strategy experience there.

Do I think 4-8 will be the norm for the next 4 years...no. But I bet we don't average more than 6 wins over the next 4 years. Do I think the vast majority of Division 1 coaches in America would do better???? Absolutely.
 
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