Dan Le Batard

Derp derp 7.5 wins a year = Legend
That simple quote completely sums up the farcical “KF is a legend” argument. I’ve been trying to write paragraphs and more paragraphs to convince people on this board that he’s an awesome guy but unremarkable football coach, and you just did it with about 7 words.

If it weren’t for all the people here who don’t like me keeping me here, I might just have to quit this board due to failage.
 
Bruce Arians was on Golic and Wingo this morning and one topic was his first NFL head coaching gig. He said something that I've long wished Kirk would say. He told his coordinators and coaches, "You guys go do your jobs and I'll decide whether to go for it on fourth down." Other than the Greg Davis years, that alone might have added another 2 wins per year many times.

That having been said, for those who are all about the numbers, Kirk has won roughly 59.58% of his games at Iowa. Should we give him the boot and go after Bo Pelini and his 71.27% from Nebraska? I wouldn't make that trade any day of the week. I'm sure we could have gotten a more successful coach who was a nice guy, but this is college and it's about more than winning percentage.
 
Bruce Arians was on Golic and Wingo this morning and one topic was his first NFL head coaching gig. He said something that I've long wished Kirk would say. He told his coordinators and coaches, "You guys go do your jobs and I'll decide whether to go for it on fourth down." Other than the Greg Davis years, that alone might have added another 2 wins per year many times.

That having been said, for those who are all about the numbers, Kirk has won roughly 59.58% of his games at Iowa. Should we give him the boot and go after Bo Pelini and his 71.27% from Nebraska? I wouldn't make that trade any day of the week. I'm sure we could have gotten a more successful coach who was a nice guy, but this is college and it's about more than winning percentage.

Very good points. Also I would not want to have a successful program if it meant doing it by cheating when it comes to recruiting.

You are right about it being college and It should be fun for the players and fans a like. Sometimes Iowa football reminds me of a stock broker who is always hedging and playing it safe. Not the most rewarding way to go. If you gamble or open things up, Yes you can get burnt once in a while but on the other hand it can be extremely rewarding to and fun just trying different things.
 
It not only looks like it - his name is French for exactly what you think it means

Lol, That’s even funnier. My daughter minored in French while she was in college. Next time she stops by the house I am going to bring that up with her.
 
Kirk's not a legend, not many say he is. He's just more accomplished than Marvin Lewis. It was a lame comparison by Le Batard and Co. and that was the whole point.
 
Here's the thing different owners in the NFL have different goals. So do schools. Money is #1 for them all and for others winning is a priority to some extent more than others. The Bengals owner must be making money. An amount he's happy with because to him it's not about winning in the playoffs or even getting there consistently that matters to him. Therefore he's willing to keep Lewis around. Because it's not like he runs a clean ship either he has guys in trouble all the time off the field and also suspended for dirty hits on it a lot. I don't think I'd want to keep Lewis around but I'm not a billionaire owner either. Maybe he just doesn't like the whole process of firing and hiring guys. It could be a lazy thing in that regard too.
College is just different. It's not a level playing field with how you put teams together and the competition isn't the same. NFL has a draft and free agency where $ rules. College it's a free for all where kids (supposedly) aren't paid and they mostly choose to go to the top tier schools. To be mediocre/bad in the pros where the rules are in your favor to improve is more of a direct impact of bad coaching and personnel moves. In college they have a ton of factors beyond the same level playing field the pros have as to why it's tougher to climb to the top.
 
Nick Saban has been at Alabama for 10 years. Should be move on?

After 10 years wouldn't it be a fair assessment that you know what you're going to get and, if you haven't gotten it yet, its not going to happen. Sure it might happen, but not if you stick to a nucleus of coaches and maintain the same philosophy year in and year out. Without new blood or a changes in philosophy I see it as simply recycling the same product year in and year out and while it may be a good product its not usually going to get to that elite level.
 
After 10 years wouldn't it be a fair assessment that you know what you're going to get and, if you haven't gotten it yet, its not going to happen. Sure it might happen, but not if you stick to a nucleus of coaches and maintain the same philosophy year in and year out. Without new blood or a changes in philosophy I see it as simply recycling the same product year in and year out and while it may be a good product its not usually going to get to that elite level.
If Iowa'd have let KF go after 10 would Iowa have gone 12-0 two years ago??
 
True, but have we sustained that level of success either before or after?

I should add however that we have no way of knowing either. Would the majority find themselves content at 8-5? It could be better it could be worse. That said after being here as long as KF has where does an administration set the bar in terms of expectations/goals when its well established that your going to get the same thing year in and year out.

How do express that desire to continue to raise the bar when year in and year out that level of success that you should be striving for is not obtained and we continue to hold steady slightly as a middle of the pack program. I'm not saying I don't like what KF has done for Iowa or wish he leave, all I'm saying is how does a program improve or take that risk of getting and maintaining success at the next level when they know what they've got year in and year out. History repeats itself.
 
After 10 years wouldn't it be a fair assessment that you know what you're going to get and, if you haven't gotten it yet, its not going to happen. Sure it might happen, but not if you stick to a nucleus of coaches and maintain the same philosophy year in and year out. Without new blood or a changes in philosophy I see it as simply recycling the same product year in and year out and while it may be a good product its not usually going to get to that elite level.

I agree and that is what we are seeing.

Someone made a good point on a previous post. It used to be more important for a coach to be successful as a lot of revenue for your program came from TV. If your team wasn’t very good you didn’t get to play on television and so most of your schools revenue came from ticket sales and bowl game revenue that conference divided up among all the teams at the end of the year. So now it does take enormous pressure off knowing that the existence of your football program doesn’t rest on tv revenue. Iowa could hire some coach from Tim Buck Two and still get sixty million a year. God only knows what Alabama is raking in to pay their coach NINE MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR. This also gives some credence to sharing that in some way with the players. Yes the free tuition in great but how about a free food card for the college cafeteria, and some assistance with the dorm cost. Believe me I understand the cost of college as yesterday I just gave my son a check for thousands of dollars for his next semester. Maybe he should go out in the back yard and practice punting the football. :D
 
So Fry isn't a legend?
Nope. Neither of them are legends. Maybe some folks consider Fry a legend for creating traditions and bringing Iowa out of the dark ages, but as far as wins and losses, neither coaches are legends. One thing to consider though, Fry coached in an era of 11 game seasons, while Ferentz coached in an era of 12 game seasons. Give Fry one more patsy a year like Kirk had and Bam! Fry averages 8.5 wins a year.
 

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