Can Iowa Keep Walking This Tightrope?

There's no coach out there that has some special bit of knowledge or philosophy or resume that insures success on the field.

There's just no such thing as a real life Ted Lasso. I can't name one in all of sports history. About the closest I can come is Herb Brooks. And even then, you gotta admit....he kinda peaked. I can name a lot of guys like Ferentz or Pat Fitzgerald that can stir some magic. Some of that is luck they made in recruiting/developing. Some of it is just dumb luck and stars aligning.

But I can name even more Lovie Smiths's, Mark Manginos, Matt Campbells...even Bielema. They basically perform to the historic level of their programs. I mean, if andy of Saban/Harbaugh/Smart/Day and their entire coaching staffs moved to Iowa tomorrow, there's nothing to me that would indicate they would do all that much better than Kirk's been able to do over the years. Those guys had solid success somewhere, sure. But their "greatness" (which you can't even necessarily grant them) was achieved after they walked into a program that's already at or near the top. A program that has the finances and appeal to top talent.

Screw trying to find "the perfect coach" from some list of candidates who've had success in the MAC or whatnot. I'm 100% good with Woods. He's got a name that means something around here. He can lay claim to the "coaching tree". And he's proven he can create and develop an above average unit with players recruited and willing to play at this university.

We are at an inflection point. Kirk's not the ideal guy to be there for it. He could theoretically navigate through it, but only if he's willing to give up major latitude in the construct of the team and the philosophy. And, very likely, his son's employment. Both of those are up to him. If he's not willing, then the University needs to grow a pair. Yes, he's got big contract left. But, at this point can't we just look at that as severance/golden parachute/etc. for services rendered? I think the University could see it that way.

If hiring a coach is like buying a used car, bringing on Woods would feel like buying a car from friend who's a mechanic and followed all the factory recommendations for service. I'd rather take my chance on that than buying something from even a seller with a positive rating on FB marketplace.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
Woods may turn out

You have said on this Board 500 times that every HC hiring, especially a relatively young coach, is a coin flip. Yet now you can declare definitively that the Iowa Special Teams Coach is a lock to be the next great collegiate coach? Come on.

Look, I think Woods is a very good young coach and he may end up being a great HC someday, somewhere. But, there is no way you or anyone else can know that. Its an educated guess at best.

If KF steps down after this year (either by hook or by crook), there will be a lot of coaches interested in the job. Many with Iowa ties. Woods would certainly be a candidate, but I would want to see the field before I just hand the reigns to Woods.

Honestly, you wanting Woods to get the job this blindly isn't far off from KF wanting his dumb son to get the job so blindly. Maybe we should take an interview or two????
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I said you don’t have to believe me. A whole lot of people way smarter than me who go back to the Hayden days and have personal connections to the Iowa program have said the exact same thing about Woods. So have people not associated with Iowa football who are way more knowledgeable than any of us on this board combined. I literally told you not to take my word for it.
 
All this whinging is funny. You know who would trade places with Iowa right now: Nebraska, Iowa State, Minnesota, Illinois, NW (good record against Iowa but far worse finishes than Iowa), Purdue, Indiana, Rutgers and Maryland. Michigan State might trade a few wins from the good years to avoid the many terrible records they've produced in the last 20 years.

Make a list of everything that is necessary to average 8.5 wins per year. Don't just say better coaching, even the dumb would notice that's too reductionist. As the great George Harrison wrote "It's going to take money, whole lot of spending money" is the first thing on the list. Then apply that list to Iowa, as a small school, in a small state with fewer indigenous 4* and 5*, in a small media market, a smaller alumni base, no large population centers (where the big money is usually found) and no known sugar daddies that can drop a few million on a single player, or like Oregon a team of 5* future NFLers. See Nike U and what a sugar daddy can do for a program.

Minnesota and Illinois should almost always be better than Iowa, as should Rutgers and Maryland. They have every advantage in every category, but one. Instead, Minnesota and Illinois have been Iowa fodder for decades. Rutgers and Maryland look like Iowa fodder-didn't the 21 team hang 50+ on Maryland?

The only differences in the last 47 years are Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz.

I think Bryan should resign and get in line for an NFL line coaching position. Then find some young OC or G5 head coach from a high scoring team and tell him the two necessary parameters of his job: we need to chew clock and we cannot have many turnovers. Otherwise, turn them completely loose. You can still run the play clock down to 1 then run play that people have not previously seen out of Iowa.
 
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The thread title reminded me of this Elvis song

we're caught in a trap
I can't walk out
Because I love you too much, baby
Why can't you see
What you're doing to me
When you don't believe a word I say?
We can't go on together
With suspicious minds (suspicious minds)
And we can't build our dreams
On suspicious minds
 
NorthKCHawk said:
HE IS NOT TANKING!!!!

He is just old and stubborn.
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Stubborn and prideful as in I am not changing my offense regardless!!! Fire me and I will laugh all the way to the bank.

I mean seriously don’t you think that 90% of all head coaches would address the offensive failures after the many years? The offensive philosophy has worked greatly for Kirk. He kept getting pay increases and contract extensions.

The fans that would like to see JUST ONE natty would be satisfied for years. When my team “Da BEARS” did it in 1985 it was so satisfying and I still relish the memories. I never thought or expected them to turn into New England. Now’s theirs one for you NEW ENGLAND. NFL doormat for decades. Hit the lottery with a QB and all things changed.

Sadly I feel Kirk is flipping the fan base the bird. My way, not going to change, and will keep renting a fork lift to carry my check to the bank every month.

Let’s see you have coaching tenure so you have nothing to risk, especially since your offense has sucked for three years close to the worst in power five football. Wouldn’t most of us in position change the offense to something not pre-historic???

So maybe you’re right about stubbornness because it’s either that or the paychecks are set on auto deposit and that really is all he cares about. With good investment strategy Kirk should easily have over $200,000,000 in the bank. Poor guy, and poor Brian and his siblings are sitting there knowing that one when mom and pops kick the bucket they get to slice up that pie. Poor Brian having to sit there and hear the fans chant to fire him. Kirk walking over to him and whispering in his ear “$900,000 a year Brian, $900,000 a year. Brian do you want to work at Amana refrigeration, standing on a cement floor putting microwave parts together five to six days a week all year long for $45,000…….. deal with it Brian.”
 
BigD said:
Stubborn and prideful as in I am not changing my offense regardless!!! Fire me and I will laugh all the way to the bank.

I mean seriously don’t you think that 90% of all head coaches would address the offensive failures after the many years? The offensive philosophy has worked greatly for Kirk. He kept getting pay increases and contract extensions.

The fans that would like to see JUST ONE natty would be satisfied for years. When my team “Da BEARS” did it in 1985 it was so satisfying and I still relish the memories. I never thought or expected them to turn into New England. Now’s theirs one for you NEW ENGLAND. NFL doormat for decades. Hit the lottery with a QB and all things changed.

Sadly I feel Kirk is flipping the fan base the bird. My way, not going to change, and will keep renting a fork lift to carry my check to the bank every month.

Let’s see you have coaching tenure so you have nothing to risk, especially since your offense has sucked for three years close to the worst in power five football. Wouldn’t most of us in position change the offense to something not pre-historic???

So maybe you’re right about stubbornness because it’s either that or the paychecks are set on auto deposit and that really is all he cares about. With good investment strategy Kirk should easily have over $200,000,000 in the bank. Poor guy, and poor Brian and his siblings are sitting there knowing that one when mom and pops kick the bucket they get to slice up that pie. Poor Brian having to sit there and hear the fans chant to fire him. Kirk walking over to him and whispering in his ear “$900,000 a year Brian, $900,000 a year. Brian do you want to work at Amana refrigeration, standing on a cement floor putting microwave parts together five to six days a week all year long for $45,000…….. deal with it Brian.”
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I don't disagree.
Other than, I think he moves on if it's someone other than his son.
It's been more than 5 years. I've no problem giving someone time. But it's been more than 5 years and it essentially is getting worse every year.

Which is why nepotism is patently a major gamble.
I own a family business. I operate it with my brother. We bought out a third uninvolved brother after 10 years and it went very well. We each walked away wishing we could have gotten a slightly better deal, but weren't upset. I've seen so many family businesses tear families apart and/or destroy the business.

I don't mind thinking of my brother as "my boss" when it's warranted. I couldn't run this business without him. I mean, I could, but it would cost me a large fortune in alary. He wouldn't want to run it without me. Sure, he could find someone for a much smaller fortune to do what I do. But could he trust them like he trusts me? We are very fortunate to have safely navigated the second generation of ownership and operation for 20+ years now.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
Look, if Iowa somehow beats Wisconsin this weekend, then we should all just shut the F up and enjoy the magic show. I don't care how light the schedule is, winning double digit football games in one college season is damn hard. I don't give a rip about style points. His system is certainly dumb to the rest of the world, but wins are wins.
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Ok Mary
 
NCHawker said:
The thread title reminded me of this Elvis song

we're caught in a trap
I can't walk out
Because I love you too much, baby
Why can't you see
What you're doing to me
When you don't believe a word I say?
We can't go on together
With suspicious minds (suspicious minds)
And we can't build our dreams
On suspicious minds
Click to expand...
I don't usually "like" anti Ferentz content but...THAT POST IS GENUINELY HILARIOUS. Helmet sticker for sure.

There's a video out there somewhere, or at least was, where his band was just rocking the hell on Suspicious Minds. Elvis sneaks in the behind the band with a mic stepped right into where the words fit the music and turns into an absolute screamer.
 
Teddy said:
All this whinging is funny. You know who would trade places with Iowa right now: Nebraska, Iowa State, Minnesota, Illinois, NW (good record against Iowa but far worse finishes than Iowa), Purdue, Indiana, Rutgers and Maryland. Michigan State might trade a few wins from the good years to avoid the many terrible records they've produced in the last 20 years.

Make a list of everything that is necessary to average 8.5 wins per year. Don't just say better coaching, even the dumb would notice that's too reductionist. As the great George Harrison wrote "It's going to take money, whole lot of spending money" is the first thing on the list. Then apply that list to Iowa, as a small school, in a small state with fewer indigenous 4* and 5*, in a small media market, a smaller alumni base, no large population centers (where the big money is usually found) and no known sugar daddies that can drop a few million on a single player, or like Oregon a team of 5* future NFLers. See Nike U and what a sugar daddy can do for a program.

Minnesota and Illinois should almost always be better than Iowa, as should Rutgers and Maryland. They have every advantage in every category, but one. Instead, Minnesota and Illinois have been Iowa fodder for decades. Rutgers and Maryland look like Iowa fodder-didn't the 21 team hang 50+ on Maryland?

The only differences in the last 47 years are Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz.

I think Bryan should resign and get in line for an NFL line coaching position. Then find some young OC or G5 head coach from a high scoring team and tell him the two necessary parameters of his job: we need to chew clock and we cannot have many turnovers. Otherwise, turn them completely loose. You can still run the play clock down to 1 then run play that people have not previously seen out of Iowa.
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George also said "if five percent seems much too small-be thankful I don't take it all"

:)
 
Iceman said:
Wisconsin appears to be average this year. Would beating Wiscy really make us a good team? Would beating Wiscy put us in the Big 10 champ game with a chance of scoring 10 points or getting 5 first downs? KC hawk is right, it's a magic show
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Wisconsin will break the tight rope this weekend. Hope I’m wrong
 
NorthKCHawk said:
Anything 7 or under and I think that the new AD threatens to fire his son if he doesn't either retire or make wholesale changes on offense. If things don't go well the rest of the year, KF has a vested interest in carving out a soft landing for his son, who still hopes to coach somewhere for 20 more years.
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BF will be fine. Other coaches know he's not the problem. Also for all we know the ad is still interim because she's keeping the seat warm for KF. Iowa isn't a coaching destination and finding a coach able to turn chicken shit into chicken salad as consistently as KF has done will be a needle in a haystack task. This is also the last year Iowa football is in a conversation for champion of any division or league so enjoy it while you can, because starting next year every team currently in the west is going to be irrelevant in the college football landscape except for one or two mentions a year for upsets.
 
Teddy said:
All this whinging is funny. You know who would trade places with Iowa right now: Nebraska, Iowa State, Minnesota, Illinois, NW (good record against Iowa but far worse finishes than Iowa), Purdue, Indiana, Rutgers and Maryland. Michigan State might trade a few wins from the good years to avoid the many terrible records they've produced in the last 20 years.

Make a list of everything that is necessary to average 8.5 wins per year. Don't just say better coaching, even the dumb would notice that's too reductionist. As the great George Harrison wrote "It's going to take money, whole lot of spending money" is the first thing on the list. Then apply that list to Iowa, as a small school, in a small state with fewer indigenous 4* and 5*, in a small media market, a smaller alumni base, no large population centers (where the big money is usually found) and no known sugar daddies that can drop a few million on a single player, or like Oregon a team of 5* future NFLers. See Nike U and what a sugar daddy can do for a program.

Minnesota and Illinois should almost always be better than Iowa, as should Rutgers and Maryland. They have every advantage in every category, but one. Instead, Minnesota and Illinois have been Iowa fodder for decades. Rutgers and Maryland look like Iowa fodder-didn't the 21 team hang 50+ on Maryland?

The only differences in the last 47 years are Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz.

I think Bryan should resign and get in line for an NFL line coaching position. Then find some young OC or G5 head coach from a high scoring team and tell him the two necessary parameters of his job: we need to chew clock and we cannot have many turnovers. Otherwise, turn them completely loose. You can still run the play clock down to 1 then run play that people have not previously seen out of Iowa.
Click to expand...
Here we go with someone running out win totals as the measurement of success. Are they important? Absolutely. Do they tell the whole story? Hell to the no.

Like nearly every year in the ferentz era, we've played & beaten absolutely nobody in running out to 5-1. Absolutely no offense. If we had played someone, that would have been the reason for the loss.

Let's compare just this year to a handful of teams that have worse records than we do. But I'd say unequivocally, they are better teams than us. The difference? Schedule.

A&M (4-2). Lost to Miami FL & Alabama
LSU (4-2). Lost to Florida St & Ole Miss
Colorado (4-2). Lost to Oregon & USC
Notre Dame (5-2). Lost to Ohio St & Louisville
Clemson (4-2). Lost to Duke, Florida St

This has been my biggest complaint with Ferentz through the years. I'd have way, way more respect for his program if he played teams out of conference...even in close losses. If we were in the East, there would be a little more lee-way. But hiding in the West & still not playing anyone, that's unacceptable. Especially when you consider Ferentz & so many fans still want to lean on wins as their argument.
 
Fryowa said:
This is the dumbest take in the history of HN and that’s saying something.

Congratulations. I didn’t think it could be done but you did it.
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What? I don't see any flaws in this thinking. KF retires. Takes over as AG. Hires his son to be the HC. Everyone is happy!

Honestly, its not the dumbest thing ever posted on this board. There is a history of legendary HCs becoming ADs in this conference, but usually things have to end very very well. And, I don't see that happening here. Plus, times have changed. This is just not the way things work these days.
 
oldhawk12 said:
Here we go with someone running out win totals as the measurement of success. Are they important? Absolutely. Do they tell the whole story? Hell to the no.

Like nearly every year in the ferentz era, we've played & beaten absolutely nobody in running out to 5-1. Absolutely no offense. If we had played someone, that would have been the reason for the loss.

Let's compare just this year to a handful of teams that have worse records than we do. But I'd say unequivocally, they are better teams than us. The difference? Schedule.

A&M (4-2). Lost to Miami FL & Alabama
LSU (4-2). Lost to Florida St & Ole Miss
Colorado (4-2). Lost to Oregon & USC
Notre Dame (5-2). Lost to Ohio St & Louisville
Clemson (4-2). Lost to Duke, Florida St

This has been my biggest complaint with Ferentz through the years. I'd have way, way more respect for his program if he played teams out of conference...even in close losses. If we were in the East, there would be a little more lee-way. But hiding in the West & still not playing anyone, that's unacceptable. Especially when you consider Ferentz & so many fans still want to lean on wins as their argument.
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KF does not make the schedules and he did not make ISU and the West suck. He is playing a fortunate hand, but you make it sound like he is scheduling all these cupcakes. Nope, that is the conference (and the powers that be that require the ISU game).

Also, you are skewing your point with the teams above. Colorado absolutely got clocked by Oregon and USC. Not competitive. They also were outplayed at home in an OT backdoor victory against lowly CSU. They were basically beaten by a crap team last weekend too before pulling out the late win. They could easily be below .500. Iowa would beat CU if they played. The other teams? Probably not, but I don't think anyone here is arguing that Iowa is a Top 20 team.
 
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