COACHES JUST DONT KNOW WHEN TO LEAVE

L

longtimer

Well-Known Member
Its beginning to feel like the last few years of the Fry Era! Fry turned a program with 20 losing seasons in a row to a program that was fun exciting football that won some championships and even competed for the National Title in 1985. He did maybe the best job ever in hiring assistant coaches who took a few top players and meshed them in a system that gave us a chance to win. Unfortunately as Fry grew older he lost many of the assistants, recruiting dropped and it seemed the rest of the world kind of figured out his system. He lingered on probably because he just loved his job and dragged the program to near the bottom again before he finally left.
Enter Ferentz. He wasnt able to hire the kind of assistants Fry did (although Parker was a gem), but he did evaluate and develop talent that were not 5 star recruits. He won championships and played and won on New Years and did it all with IMHO class. This is Iowa folks and what both Fry and Ferentz accomplished is maybe incredible. However once again Ferentz seems to be in the late golden years and has lost some key (maybe just one) assistants. They have certainly figured out his system and he is not recruiting and developing as he did in the past. Its time for him to consider getting out before he takes us all the way to the bottom.
Will he? NO Maybe for some of the same reasons as Fry. Its his life and he loves the game. Maybe for the money? Probably not. Maybe because he is both not a quitter and he is STUBBORN. I think not only wont he go out before its too late but he wont fire an offensive coordinator that clearly needs to get out of the game. See stubborn above.
My advice for Kirk. You have done a great overall job at Iowa. You have won with class. Just ask our friends over in Ames if they would take the last 16 years! This is your opportunity to get out with a winning record while the program still has some players. If you wait another 2 years it could be ugly! Ask Woody Hayes or Joe Paterno or Hayden Fry!
 
Gary Barta doesn't have the balls to make a change. Like Ferentz, he is going to ride this train right off the bridge.
 
This program is one of the most profitable in the country. That is all that Barta cares about. He would be happy with 6-6 every year if we go to a bowl and Kinnick is full every week; which it will be because we are Iowa. We are likely stuck with this garbage for as long as Ferentz wants.
 
Just an fyi...Hayden had wanted to retire after the Sun Bowl victory against Washington. The administration and donors talked him into staying.
 
Well said. I watched the Lou Holtz interview with Feherty and he spoke how after he turned things around at ND and spent 11 super successful years there, he lost some of his passion and thought he was done so he retired.

then he realized he was really needed was a new challenge and he went to South Carolina because the new challenge lit a fire in him.

i think Ferentz has lost his fire (this happens with so much time at same place), especially when compared to when he arrived. I think this is why greats like Saban and U. Meyer change schools, for the new challenge.
I'm thankful for Ferentz, but it's time for someone new to take over, even though the grass may not be greener for Iowa football (ask IL or Mich. fans).

The next coach is the big decision for Barta, good luck.
 
Yes they stay too long

but if KF retires a lot of people lose their jobs. I dont know how high this is on his list but I think it is up there.

Even a position coach is due to make another $500,000+ over the remainder of the contract.
 
If those position coaches are good, they'll get jobs elsewhere. If they're not, why do we owe them the remainder of the salary just because Ferentz "likes" them?
 
uihawk82 said:
Yes they stay too long

but if KF retires a lot of people lose their jobs. I dont know how high this is on his list but I think it is up there.

Even a position coach is due to make another $500,000+ over the remainder of the contract.
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Pretty sure a buyout would include all assistants salaries at 75%.
 
Why would he leave? He's making a ton of money, most Iowa fans still think he's a God for some reason, and he's doing a job he really likes. What's his motivation to leave? I don't think 6-6 or 7-5 seasons embarrass or discourage Kirk at all; in fact I think he considers them to be acceptable, successful seasons.

One other thing people need to keep in mind is that not only is one of his sons working on the coaching staff (and doing an exceptionally poor job with his O line this year), but his youngest Steve is on the team. Steve was switched to offensive line and will be a junior next year. Anyone be surprised if he's the starting center next year with Blythe staying at guard? Wouldn't surprise me, and I think that will be a big factor in Kirk staying. No way he leaves until his kid graduates because he probably wouldn't have a shot at any playing time under any other coach. Kirk stays at least two more years, but I honestly think he'll stay until his contract runs out. Why wouldn't he? Mediocrity has been just fine for most of the prior 16 years so why change? Plus he's got to take care of his boys.
 
Fry's last year things got pretty bad. But the year before they may have only won 7 games but had a top 10 ranking at one point and stayed in the top 25 most of the season. IIRC they had cracked the top 25 in both 1995 and 96 as well. I'd say Hayden's last four years look some what better than Kirk's last four.
 
longtimer said:
Its beginning to feel like the last few years of the Fry Era! Fry turned a program with 20 losing seasons in a row to a program that was fun exciting football that won some championships and even competed for the National Title in 1985. He did maybe the best job ever in hiring assistant coaches who took a few top players and meshed them in a system that gave us a chance to win. Unfortunately as Fry grew older he lost many of the assistants, recruiting dropped and it seemed the rest of the world kind of figured out his system. He lingered on probably because he just loved his job and dragged the program to near the bottom again before he finally left.
Enter Ferentz. He wasnt able to hire the kind of assistants Fry did (although Parker was a gem), but he did evaluate and develop talent that were not 5 star recruits. He won championships and played and won on New Years and did it all with IMHO class. This is Iowa folks and what both Fry and Ferentz accomplished is maybe incredible. However once again Ferentz seems to be in the late golden years and has lost some key (maybe just one) assistants. They have certainly figured out his system and he is not recruiting and developing as he did in the past. Its time for him to consider getting out before he takes us all the way to the bottom.
Will he? NO Maybe for some of the same reasons as Fry. Its his life and he loves the game. Maybe for the money? Probably not. Maybe because he is both not a quitter and he is STUBBORN. I think not only wont he go out before its too late but he wont fire an offensive coordinator that clearly needs to get out of the game. See stubborn above.
My advice for Kirk. You have done a great overall job at Iowa. You have won with class. Just ask our friends over in Ames if they would take the last 16 years! This is your opportunity to get out with a winning record while the program still has some players. If you wait another 2 years it could be ugly! Ask Woody Hayes or Joe Paterno or Hayden Fry!
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Eric Johnson knew when to leave! He'd rather run a Culvers than coach at Iowa. Think about that!
 
I think it was a mistake to put BF in as OL coach and move Reece over to DL coach. Phil has generally done a good job the past 2 years but I can't remember many Norm Parker D's where performance was that bad.
 
How many of Kirk's assistants and coordinators have been hired as head coaches at other programs? How is Kirk's coaching tree? Fry surrounded himself with guys who wanted to move up the ladder and had a hunger for success beyond being an assistant.

Iowa pays the head coach top money but has some of the lowest paid coordinators in the Big Ten. We are getting what we pay for. Kirk has surrounded himself with "yes men". Hiring top notch coordinators and paying them would yield better results than what we are getting. That's just part of the problem.
 
CJSHawk said:
Eric Johnson knew when to leave! He'd rather run a Culvers than coach at Iowa. Think about that!
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While this is a good point, if a guy wants to spend any time with his family, coaching is not a profession you want to be in. Johnson was Iowa's top recruiter and I'm guessing that means many late nights, hotel stays, away from family, extreme pressure, etc. I believe I read that family time was his reason for leaving. ESPN ranked him as one of the better recruiters in the B1G, there's little doubt he could be doing it elsewhere if he wanted.

Had he left in a lateral move, I'd say yeah, he was jumping off the sinking ship early. But he got out all together.
 
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