Depth at LB: a Microcosm of Ferentz's Failure to Plan Ahead With JUCOs

[Elwood]

I too wonder why KF does not hit the JUCO ranks for needed talent. We have one of the best JUCO programs in the country at Iowa Western. Ranked #2 right now, and always in the championship hunt. Iowa st. has it figured it out, and so has K-state. They snatch up good players every year. Why no love for IW KF? Go Reivers!

 

[MrPlastic]

I too wonder why KF does not hit the JUCO ranks for needed talent. We have one of the best JUCO programs in the country at Iowa Western. Ranked #2 right now, and always in the championship hunt. Iowa st. has it figured it out, and so has K-state. They snatch up good players every year. Why no love for IW KF? Go Reivers!

Same reason Fran doesn't drive down the road and check out the talent at Indian Hills. Both are fools in that department.

 

[iowalaw]

Well, it is now almost January and the ONLY LB Kirk and son have managed to land to plug the gap that was the worst LB corp in the Big 10 this year was....wait for it...2 star Justin Jinning, whose only other offer was powerhouse New Mexico. Clearly he and all other 2 stars are the next Bob Sanders, but for the love of God, isn't there a single LB in the entire country who the coaches could convince to come to Iowa for a huge opportunity at early playing time? Isn't that what kids are looking for? Isn't that what we have to offer? It's not complicated. With our facilities and history of success at LB, how hard of a sell is this for this staff??

Next, how is our DB recruiting going? Lowdermilk is gone this year...who do we have coming in? NO ONE. Not one safety or cb recruit on board.

Finally, there is DL recruiting. We graduate our two best DL. They are replaced by...2 star Michael Slater (offers from Buffalo and Austen Peay) and 2 star legacy Brady Reiff (offer from South Dakota State). I mean seriously, if I weren't a die hard Hawk fan, this pathetic recruiting and ignorance when it comes to planning future lineups would be comical.

 

[Caddy]

Well, it is now almost January and the ONLY LB Kirk and son have managed to land to plug the gap that was the worst LB corp in the Big 10 this year was....wait for it...2 star Justin Jinning, whose only other offer was powerhouse New Mexico. Clearly he and all other 2 stars are the next Bob Sanders, but for the love of God, isn't there a single LB in the entire country who the coaches could convince to come to Iowa for a huge opportunity at early playing time? Isn't that what kids are looking for? Isn't that what we have to offer? It's not complicated. With our facilities and history of success at LB, how hard of a sell is this for this staff??

Next, how is our DB recruiting going? Lowdermilk is gone this year...who do we have coming in? NO ONE. Not one safety or cb recruit on board.

Finally, there is DL recruiting. We graduate our two best DL. They are replaced by...2 star Michael Slater (offers from Buffalo and Austen Peay) and 2 star legacy Brady Reiff (offer from South Dakota State). I mean seriously, if I weren't a die hard Hawk fan, this pathetic recruiting and ignorance when it comes to planning future lineups would be comical.

This shows just how bad our staff is. Immediate playing time to offer, and we still can't get any recruits to come here. Anyone that thinks this program is going to recover is simply kidding themselves. Recruiting is on the downhill slide, the cavalry is not coming.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

Iowa should actually have a good Dline next year. Darian Cooper, Drew Ott, Jaleel Johnson, Faith Ekakitie, Meier. LB's should be better and the corners and safetys will have more experience. Iowa SHOULD have a good team, but like this year, it comes down to the guys on the sideline running the show.

Our DT's next year won't be as good as Davis and Trinca-Pasat. Meier was marginal and was part of the problem we had setting the edge with our run defense. Our defense can be good next season. But, we're going to have the exact same problem with our lbs.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

kfootball doesn't utilize the JUCO philosophy (for the most part-there are a few obvious exceptions) because he believes in "the process." To kfootball, it makes perfect sense to take a 2 & 3 star player and wait 2 or 3 seasons for them to be ready. That approach does have success at the individual player level. But it doesn't necessarily translate into a better team. kfootball appears to be incapable of making an "on the fly" personnel decision, not injury related, because that is not his "process."

 

[iowalaw]

What makes Kirts subbornness regarding recruiting JUCOS even more alarming is the fact that the best QB (Brad Banks), OL (Marshall Yanda), and RB (Shonn Greene) in the Ferentz era have all come from JUCOs. When you strike gold with guys like that, who were studs immediately when they arrived on campus, it is hard to argue against bringing in JUCOs to improve our talentless roster next year. Yet, when there is a clear need at certain positions, his lone JUCO recruit in the past two years was a punter that would not even be first string on many high school teams.

 

[PJHawk]

What makes Kirts subbornness regarding recruiting JUCOS even more alarming is the fact that the best QB (Brad Banks), OL (Marshall Yanda), and RB (Shonn Greene) in the Ferentz era have all come from JUCOs. When you strike gold with guys like that, who were studs immediately when they arrived on campus, it is hard to argue against bringing in JUCOs to improve our talentless roster next year. Yet, when there is a clear need at certain positions, his lone JUCO recruit in the past two years was a punter that would not even be first string on many high school teams.

Greene never played JUCO - he played one year at prep school at Milford Academy.

 

[hawkphan00]

Just think what happens if we get injuries? I mean for the most part we had zero injuries this year. What if Spearman and or Jewell go down? I suppose we have another stud from Elk Horn waiting in the wings but come on. Last I checked any big time program starts fellas that are 200lb and run a 4.5 40. Pretty sure we got none of those. Kirk loves those cats that are from small town Iowa that aren't highly sought after so he can fill time in his press conferences (Think Morris). He rarely raved about Hitch last year and he was clearly our best lb. He's the one playing today not Morris but all Kirk would talk about was how great a kid James was and a student of the game. Who cares Kirk. Play the best players and recruit better Players.

 

[iowalaw]

Hawkphan makes a good point. I never thought of it, but Ferentz did gush all over Morris throughout his career just as he gushes all over Jake. Neither are top notch talents, and neither were even the best at their position on the team, but boy did kirk have a crush on them due to them being clean cut choir boys. I hate to say it, but I think there are a lot of less talented players in lower profile positions who see playing time over better players simply because they are liked.

 

[NCHawker]

Last year at this time, I started a post about the need to mine the JUCOs for LB talent. At the time, we had three senior LBs and virtually no one else saw playing time at the position. We had not been recruiting the position very well in recent years, and we needed to go after a JUCO that we could plug in and hit the ground running. Rather than doing that, Kirk failed to plan ahead, brought in a second scholarship punter from JUCO, then did some recruiting in Cedar Rapids.

Now, in big ten play, we are starting Josey Jewel...a guy who, by all accounts, is a hard worker and a good kid. But he is also a guy who, two years ago, was playing small-town Iowa high school football and did not sniff a scholarship offer from a single D1 school. We didn't even have to beat out the MAC or Arkansas State for this guy. Because we whiffed on so many other guys, Josey got an offer to come to Iowa. Is he athletic and talented enough to go toe to toe with running backs from Nebraska and Wisconsin? Or is he more suited, at this point in his career, for bringing down the RB with 5.3 speed from Lin-Mar?

Next year, we are going to have some more big holes to fill. Our OL and DL graduate several kids. Are we going to put our heads in the sand and allow the next freshmen walk-on to fill their roles, or are we going to go out and actively recruit guys who can come in and play right away? We have zero JUCO commits so far, and I don't even think we are in on any? Good strategy?

I don't follow recruiting, so maybe those who do could answer this question. Is it a fact that Iowa did not recruit linebackers from the juco ranks or is it just that they were not successful in landing linebacker(s) ?

 

[SmokeTownHawk]

kfootball doesn't utilize the JUCO philosophy (for the most part-there are a few obvious exceptions) because he believes in "the process." To kfootball, it makes perfect sense to take a 2 & 3 star player and wait 2 or 3 seasons for them to be ready. That approach does have success at the individual player level. But it doesn't necessarily translate into a better team. kfootball appears to be incapable of making an "on the fly" personnel decision, not injury related, because that is not his "process."

When you consistently get the results KF has in recent years so much for the vaunted "process." With one of the best JUCO football programs in the country in our back yard one would think Iowa would be all over it to the point of locking down that talent. Take a cue from Bill Snyder. It could mean the difference between 7-5 and 9-3 or better.

 

[iowalaw]

Nothing exposed our embarrassing failures at LB recruiting over the past 5 years more than yesterday's game against TN. We had basically an NFL defensive line and yet a crappy team with a .500 record was averaging 10 yards per play in the first half. Simply pathetic. Bo Bower and Josey Jewel taking on 5 star recruits? It's just not a fair matchup.

 

[Igothawked]

When you consistently get the results KF has in recent years so much for the vaunted "process." With one of the best JUCO football programs in the country in our back yard one would think Iowa would be all over it to the point of locking down that talent. Take a cue from Bill Snyder. It could mean the difference between 7-5 and 9-3 or better.

Yep, this just chaps my a$$. Especially when the lack of talent in the program is glaringly obvious. Who are the most recent Juno players? The punter, Powell, and the center who never played?
Meanwhile K state is starting a QB that played two hours away. It just makes no sense and shows how complacent he has become.

 

[thetrza]

Nobody misses a chance to bump their own thread like this guy. He never fails.

 

[iowalaw]

Good news - it sounds like the staff went out, left no stone unturned, and landed a LB recruit! That's right, a week before signing day, we finally got us a LB...a 1 star kid out of Humbolt with ZERO other offers. Here's to Brian Ferentz and our tireless recruiters and visionaries who realize that we don't need any new LBs to play until their redshirt senior seasons 5 years from now.

Last year at this time, I started a post about the need to mine the JUCOs for LB talent. At the time, we had three senior LBs and virtually no one else saw playing time at the position. We had not been recruiting the position very well in recent years, and we needed to go after a JUCO that we could plug in and hit the ground running. Rather than doing that, Kirk failed to plan ahead, brought in a second scholarship punter from JUCO, then did some recruiting in Cedar Rapids.

Now, in big ten play, we are starting Josey Jewel...a guy who, by all accounts, is a hard worker and a good kid. But he is also a guy who, two years ago, was playing small-town Iowa high school football and did not sniff a scholarship offer from a single D1 school. We didn't even have to beat out the MAC or Arkansas State for this guy. Because we whiffed on so many other guys, Josey got an offer to come to Iowa. Is he athletic and talented enough to go toe to toe with running backs from Nebraska and Wisconsin? Or is he more suited, at this point in his career, for bringing down the RB with 5.3 speed from Lin-Mar?

Next year, we are going to have some more big holes to fill. Our OL and DL graduate several kids. Are we going to put our heads in the sand and allow the next freshmen walk-on to fill their roles, or are we going to go out and actively recruit guys who can come in and play right away? We have zero JUCO commits so far, and I don't even think we are in on any? Good strategy?

 

[deanvogs]

Good news - it sounds like the staff went out, left no stone unturned, and landed a LB recruit! That's right, a week before signing day, we finally got us a LB...a 1 star kid out of Humbolt with ZERO other offers. Here's to Brian Ferentz and our tireless recruiters and visionaries who realize that we don't need any new LBs to play until their redshirt senior seasons 5 years from now.

He is walking on. Plus Iowa already has 2 LB recruits. My Gawd you are a dipsh!t.

 

[Playmaker]

-----Or is he more suited, at this point in his career, for bringing down the RB with 5.3 speed from Linn-Mar?

After the Illinois St. game, we may be wishing we had Linn-Mar talent.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Kirk has had a rotating depth problem....this year it was linebackers...a couple years ago no DL.... no RB.... no WR...it's always something.

Short-sightedness combined with lazy recruiting.

 

[g11]

Kirk has had a rotating depth problem....this year it was linebackers...a couple years ago no DL.... no RB.... no WR...it's always something.

Short-sightedness combined with lazy recruiting.

I've talked about this before, there's zero margin for error with Kirk's build em' up developmental style. Any players that don't make it 4 years in the program hurts bad. Which, recently has been a pretty big problem. When they make it, you see some pretty special players, but they tend to get countered by massive holes some place else on the team.