The only way I see Kurt agreeing to walk away is if he knows Brain will be taken care of....meaning Barta will have to hire a weak HC who may have Jerry Jones type orders on who to maintain as assistants.
And there's talk that behind the scenes Carr hasn't supported at least one of the Mich coaches since he left.Michigan structured a "soft landing" for Lloyd Carr several years ago. He was given an important position at Michigan and still is a big part of that community. Carr seems happy and content, secure in his legacy.
Barta could give KF the job of supervising the women's coaches. I bet Barta doesn't want that job anymore.
I just don't see KF staying around the university when he's finished. I see him moving a long way from Iowa City.
Brian was to be Kirk's next OC. That was Kirk's plan. Was being the keyword. No chance in heck that happens now. Maybe in 4-5 years, but not now. The GD mentoring experiment crashed & burned worse than we could have imagined. Kirk needs to hit a homerun with the next OC, or his days in IC will end next year. And that homerun hit needs to happen in the next couple of weeks. Before the signing date, and ideally before the start of next semester. For three reasons: Current personnel reasons - keep the roster intact, finish recruiting strong, and learn the new system immediately... The search for a new OC had better have already begun, and most likely has thru some channel in the athletic department.... I hate to reference ISU, but they crushed it with their OC hire. KF has to do better. Someone who not only can coach, but also recruit.
One other note, the new OC will have to be completely autonomous. Zero influence from KF, with very little input. Our offenses have averaged a national ranking in the upper 60s to low 70s. That has to change. Quickly.
If you think Iowa fans feel Iowa football is a sinking ship imagine how the coaching community feels!! No quality assistant coach is going to want to come work for a coach that is clearly ineffective. The problems surrounding Iowa football are beyond a staff shake-up as that already happened when Lester Erb, Soup Campbell, Kaz, and Darrell Wilson were let go. Everyone knows Ferentz is the real problem except Ferentz and our incompetent AD!!!Does anyone else find it weird that no one trusts Barta to hire a new coach but everyone trusts Kirk to hire a world-class OC?
If you think Iowa fans feel Iowa football is a sinking ship imagine how the coaching community feels!! No quality assistant coach is going to want to come work for a coach that is clearly ineffective. The problems surrounding Iowa football are beyond a staff shake-up as that already happened when Lester Erb, Soup Campbell, Kaz, and Darrell Wilson were let go. Everyone knows Ferentz is the real problem except Ferentz and our incompetent AD!!!
I realize Eric Johnson said he left the Iowa coaching staff to run a fast food joint in Tennessee because he wanted to spend more time with family, but maybe he also left because he knew he was on a sinking ship. I do remember Eric expressing a lot of frustration on a radio show a few months before he left about about Iowa recruiting, especially on the o-line.KOK? Norm? Gotta hand it to Norm. A real class act. IIRC he won national asst of the year on his way out the door. Split while he was still on top.Eric Johnson? I know, he quit. Or maybe he figured his boss out? Anyway, it always disgusted me how cyber-fans attacked every coach who left. Kaz I understand. He's a ******. But it was unseemly what was said about the others. Makes me weep.
Brian was to be Kirk's next OC. That was Kirk's plan. Was being the keyword. No chance in heck that happens now. Maybe in 4-5 years, but not now. The GD mentoring experiment crashed & burned worse than we could have imagined. Kirk needs to hit a homerun with the next OC, or his days in IC will end next year. And that homerun hit needs to happen in the next couple of weeks. Before the signing date, and ideally before the start of next semester. For three reasons: Current personnel reasons - keep the roster intact, finish recruiting strong, and learn the new system immediately... The search for a new OC had better have already begun, and most likely has thru some channel in the athletic department.... I hate to reference ISU, but they crushed it with their OC hire. KF has to do better. Someone who not only can coach, but also recruit.
One other note, the new OC will have to be completely autonomous. Zero influence from KF, with very little input. Our offenses have averaged a national ranking in the upper 60s to low 70s. That has to change. Quickly.
And there's talk that behind the scenes Carr hasn't supported at least one of the Mich coaches since he left.
Keeping a coach around in another "important position" has the danger of split loyalties within the athletic program. Not a good thing.
I don't seeing Kirk going out unless it's on his own term and I don't think this scenario would be one of them. Kirk will either have to step down on his own or get fired. I don't think Barta can do or say anything to get him to stop coaching. Brian doesn't have enough experience to even been the OC and I don't know why keeping him on the staff would make Ferentz happy. The next coach could come in and fire him if he wanted to.
I think the plan is that Kirk finishes out his contract and somewhere along the line promotes Brian to OC thus making him the coach in waiting when his contract is up.
I wish your idea would work but Kirk is very stubborn and isn't going to bow to anyone no matter what the offer. Plus, once he's done at Iowa I don't think he'll stick around here.
Barta couldn't "structure" a soft landing for a bag of cotton balls.