hawkeye12345
Well-Known Member
That's funny.
Blast from the past
- Thread starter hawkeye12345
- Start date
golfbymagic
Member
I have friend in the athletic dept. When Iowa hired Kirk Ferentz and Steve Alford, I was thrilled with the Alford hire and less so with the Ferent hire, thinking we should have gotten Bob Stoops. My buddy said and I quote "By far the best hire of those tow is Ferentz." I told him he was nuts, and have been feasting on crow for quite some time. Alford was a miserable failure at Iowa and any success at programs he coaches will not change that. The talent level declined, the ego factor increased, he liked to throw his players under the bus, and post season participation and wins declined. Any coach(s) who followed him here were in for some of the same. Was Lick the wrong hire? Probably, but some of his failure is packed in Stevie's baggage.
hawkfan8691
Well-Known Member
Lick sucking in no way has an effect on Alford's abilities. Just because Lick's era was worse, doesn't mean that Alford was good, or on his way to becoming an "excellent coach"
hawkeye2188
Well-Known Member
I wonder what 3 more years of Alford would have looked like instead of 3 years of Lick...(I dont like either). Could you imagine what Iowa basketball could have been with 8 more years of Tom Davis?
Definitely a fruitless discussion as all objectivity goes out the window with some fans when SA's name comes up.
I resented that he left Iowa bb high and dry by bailing out,but the kind of vitriolic shots he absorbed from fans like those on this thread reinforce that it was best he leave Iowa.
It is easy to disregard Lick as just a coach that was not good enough to win at Iowa,but if Fran struggles, then it might dawn on a few folks that winning at Iowa,even at the SA level was not easy.
I resented that he left Iowa bb high and dry by bailing out,but the kind of vitriolic shots he absorbed from fans like those on this thread reinforce that it was best he leave Iowa.
It is easy to disregard Lick as just a coach that was not good enough to win at Iowa,but if Fran struggles, then it might dawn on a few folks that winning at Iowa,even at the SA level was not easy.
deanvogs
Well-Known Member
JH, you are usually a pretty solid poster, but your defense of Alford is just baffling. Alford was the first coach in over twenty years that COULDN'T win at Iowa. I don't know how you can color it any other way. When you hire a guy to "take you to the next level" because you are tired of only making the sweet 16, I don't know how you can defend the job he did here. Sure if we brought Alford now, and he took us to 3 tourneys in 8 years, that would be great. He took a team the regularly made the 2nd round of the NCAA and turned it into a team that made one 2nd round game in 8 years. Sorry JH, but that was a EPIC FAIL! That doesn't even take into account all the other baggage that came along with him, from the ego, to the players not qualifying, to the defense of Pierce, etc.....
djwoody98
Well-Known Member
My son is 12 and he has no idea of what it's like to see Carver-Hawkeye full of fans and he has no real memories of March Madness. Thanks to Alford & Lickliter, and yes the U of I athletic dept, Iowa basketball has largely fallen off the map...this saddens me.
I'm encouraged by McCaffery & his coaching staff so far and am optimistic, but man we have a long way to go. That said, I'm looking forward to tonight's game with UNI. I hope the students take advantage of the free tickets.
I'm encouraged by McCaffery & his coaching staff so far and am optimistic, but man we have a long way to go. That said, I'm looking forward to tonight's game with UNI. I hope the students take advantage of the free tickets.
