Derrell Johnson-Koulianos Statement on His Time with Iowa Football

[westender]

Whether you like KF or not, there is zero—and I mean zero—chance that any black athlete at all, and any athlete white, black, or otherwise comes here from outside the state of Iowa as long as any current white coach is on staff.

Imagine the absolute field day any opposing coach has had dropped in their lap.

Doyle’s laundry list of accusations is obvious and too widespread to even go into...

They’ll describe how Wallace abuses players that have learning disorders instead of building them up and giving them hope. Writes their GPA on the board to mock them. Tells them how “fucking stupid” they are. “You seen that movie Tropic Thunder? That character Simple Jack...”

And Brian Ferentz has huge meltdown level temper tantrums, throwing shit, wrecking press boxes, screaming, and according to players/parents says racist stuff directly to players. See these news reports about his temper? They’re even from hometown newspapers...

And finally they’ll move onto KF. Tell recruits that KF lets it all happen, tries to keep black players under his thumb and censor them to be more like white kids, and his son Brian is a chip off the old block. Threw CD under the bus but kept his kid shielded. Tell recruits that there’s no way KF didn’t know about CD, they were close sidekicks every day for a quarter century. “Oh, and [insert recruit name], have you read the statement DJK made about Ferentz and the program in general? You sure you want to play for a program like that? Might want to give it a read before you sign that LOI. I’m telling you that as a person—not a coach—even if you don’t come here to play for us. I know that as a father and college football coach myself, I wouldn’t want my son to spend even five minutes there.”

And you know what? Maybe it’s all true...I don’t know.

But demigod worshipers like @WinOneThisCentury just continue to have blinders on and not even consider that former players might be telling the truth. They—like the Paterno-sheep—would defend KF even if they saw him do something with their own eyes. They say, “It had to be a figment if my imagination! It’s impossible!! Kirk is a good man, I’ve seen lots of tv interviews and shook his hand at a golf course once!! I KNOW HE COULDN’T POSSIBLY DO THIS!! He loves all players, he cares for all players!!”

Yet those KF sheep have never met the guy a second in their lives. Not on a practice field, a meeting room out of sight of the media, and especially not in an office with the door shut. But you know the guy’s true heart and personality, right @WinOneThisCentury ? Tell us how you know he’s not capable of any of this stuff (other than your opinion of him from media interviews wearing a Hawkeye polo)...What I do know is you’d fit right in at Happy Valley.

K, so when all the players come out and kneel for anthem now and kids allowed on twitter, how do those coaches spin that? Is that bad too or will all teams be doing it by then? If Kirk goes I am most definitely out and will quit paying attention. I am 100% fine if they all kneel.

This is something I have never understood either, what is magical about twitter? Weren't they allowed Facebook and Instagram, etc? And man thank God such things were not around when I was young.

 

[westender]

Yeah I don't think in this case I will believe much of what DJK states. The thing is you will never in a million years hear Kirk's side of the story on this because he just will never do that.

 

[BVHawk95]

@Fryowa settle man. I respect you but you have a tendency to be all doom and gloom about things. All of our 2020 and 2021 recruits are still 100% on board, and the team is more unified than ever according to insiders.

The national perception of Iowa is not what you think it is. There's not a person I saw on reddit (famous for its rational takes and reluctance to jump to conclusions /s) that takes DJK seriously, and a decent amount of the complaints are shriveling up.

Guys like James Daniels, Mike Daniels, Jaleel Johnson, and several others all had legitimate points to make, but they made clear they were doing so for the good of the program, and they DID NOT want anyone's heads. Unfortunately the Twitter mob got a hold of it and ran with it, but some of those stories are already backtracking or dubious at best.

 

[SteveGarvey1]

Kirk turns 65 in a couple of months. Might just be time for him to ride off into the sunset.

 

[okeefe4prez]

I still don't know about this whole "Ferentz torpedoed my NFL career" stuff. DJK was one of our best WRs in history. He looked like he belonged on the field against OSU, but when you look at the greats who have come out of OSU and who have been consistent starters in the NFL, DJK is simply nowhere that list. McNutt was way better than DJK and barely got a sniff in the League. Remember James Hardy from Indiana, the human highlight reel against Iowa's defense? He also barely got a sniff. Fact is, you have to be really damned good to play WR in the NFL.

The guy who I would say is the most talented receiver ever to play the game was Randy Moss. The guy was just the best out there. But even Randy Moss couldn't overcome the fact that he pissed people off. He was able to overcome the stigma of getting removed from Florida State and a drug issue and get drafted in the first round, which goes to show the NFL will absolutely take you with baggage (imagine how hard it was to get kicked off of FSU in the Bowden era with Randy Moss's talent) if you are good enough to back it up.

A guy I used to work with played college ball in the MAC. He basically told me this: "Some guys just cannot accept the fact that their skill isn't high enough for them to start or play and so they'll become a distraction so they can blame the distraction for their lack of PT." He said that around the time Kap started taking a knee, which coincided exactly with him getting relegated to a second string role. I suspect DJK is in that camp as well. The kid wasn't good enough for the NFL, but he can't handle that, so he has to blame something or someone else and we're seeing that frustration pouring out right now.

Again, teammates and coaches will only tolerate being a cancer or quitting on plays so much before they get pissed off. Even if you're as good as Randy Moss. I loved DJK as a Hawk and his return against OSU is one of the greatest Iowa highlights ever, but the guy needs to understand that if you are roughly a 4th or 5th WR talent and you have a shitload of film of you throwing your arms up in exasperation after an interception or not giving 100% on a block, no NFL team is going to want you because you are going to have to play a shitload of special teams and they already know you're gonna be a pain in their ass when you only see 3 snaps on offense per week.

 

[HawkGold]

[QUOTE="@Fryowa settle man. I respect you but you have a tendency to be all doom and gloom about things. All of our 2020 and 2021 recruits are still 100% on board, and the team is more unified than ever according to insiders.

The national perception of Iowa is not what you think it is. There's not a person I saw on reddit (famous for its rational takes and reluctance to jump to conclusions /s) that takes DJK seriously, and a decent amount of the complaints are shriveling up.

Guys like James Daniels, Mike Daniels, Jaleel Johnson, and several others all had legitimate points to make, but they made clear they were doing so for the good of the program, and they DID NOT want anyone's heads. Unfortunately the Twitter mob got a hold of it and ran with it, but some of those stories are already backtracking or dubious at best.[/QUOTE]

Fry is the Dave Kingman of posting and sometimes trips himself too. All or Nothing. When he does make Big Statements he is rarely off by much.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

I can't get the link to work for some reason (actually, the site has been unaccessible at times today too), but a couple of thoughts.

First, DJK may be telling a complete truth, and we have to respect that, but his credibility and veracity would have to be considered questionable when you look at his time at Iowa. Also, it's important to recognize that in terms of responding, coaches often are very restricted from a legal/privacy standpoint. They frequently are "hand-cuffed" by the department and have little recourse in terms of defending themselves or giving different accounts.

Second, my take on the Iowa "culture" is that what we are seeing in large part relates to a "vision" and philosophy that derives from old-school concepts, and one that has failed to adequately adapt to the cultural changes that have occurred over the past 20 years. Obviously, any statement or action that is overtly racist has to be viewed and dealt with as such. That's not acceptable under any circumstances, but I question if a lot of what we are seeing is simply a perception that Kirk's behavioral expectations are at worse, racist, and at best, out-of-touch.

My personal take having watched Kirk closely for all these years is that he wants his players to be driven, focused, self-disciplined, polite, soft-spoken and good citizens. As such, he doesn't have much tolerance for brashness, individualism, cockiness, trash-talking, etc., etc., much of which could be construed by those coming from different cultural backgrounds as insensitive or even racist. I honestly don't think that Kirk sees it that way at all, but all of this is at least showing us that perhaps he needs to at least look at his expectations and determine how he can adapt without sacrificing his basic tenants. That may be a tall, if not impossible, task for him.

As for those waiting for players to step up in Kirk's (or the staff's) defense, I wouldn't hold your breath. There is no doubt in my mind that many players and former coaches would love to do so, but in this climate of branding anyone who steps outside of the narrative as racist - and the resulting highly punitive ramifications - very few are going to have the courage to do so. Racism absolutely needs to be called out, but, sadly, the current climate is not one that lends itself to open dialogue, and that's a shame.

 

[Fryowa]

@Fryowa settle man. I respect you but you have a tendency to be all doom and gloom about things. All of our 2020 and 2021 recruits are still 100% on board, and the team is more unified than ever according to insiders.

The national perception of Iowa is not what you think it is. There's not a person I saw on reddit (famous for its rational takes and reluctance to jump to conclusions /s) that takes DJK seriously, and a decent amount of the complaints are shriveling up.

Guys like James Daniels, Mike Daniels, Jaleel Johnson, and several others all had legitimate points to make, but they made clear they were doing so for the good of the program, and they DID NOT want anyone's heads. Unfortunately the Twitter mob got a hold of it and ran with it, but some of those stories are already backtracking or dubious at best.

The respect is mutual, but I just disagree. If this staff stays, our recruiting is done imo. There's too much ammo out there and coaches are going to use it to scare kids off. If kids and parents have a Jim Harbaugh, or Matt Campbell, or Paul Chryst in their living room preaching to them about the culture at Iowa being toxic, recruits and parents are going to balk whether it's true or not. This potential recruiting problem is bigger than Daniels, Johnson, or Daniels can fix by tweeting support.

 

[VAHawkFan]

I still don't know about this whole "Ferentz torpedoed my NFL career" stuff. DJK was one of our best WRs in history. He looked like he belonged on the field against OSU, but when you look at the greats who have come out of OSU and who have been consistent starters in the NFL, DJK is simply nowhere that list. McNutt was way better than DJK and barely got a sniff in the League. Remember James Hardy from Indiana, the human highlight reel against Iowa's defense? He also barely got a sniff. Fact is, you have to be really damned good to play WR in the NFL.

The guy who I would say is the most talented receiver ever to play the game was Randy Moss. The guy was just the best out there. But even Randy Moss couldn't overcome the fact that he pissed people off. He was able to overcome the stigma of getting removed from Florida State and a drug issue and get drafted in the first round, which goes to show the NFL will absolutely take you with baggage (imagine how hard it was to get kicked off of FSU in the Bowden era with Randy Moss's talent) if you are good enough to back it up.

A guy I used to work with played college ball in the MAC. He basically told me this: "Some guys just cannot accept the fact that their skill isn't high enough for them to start or play and so they'll become a distraction so they can blame the distraction for their lack of PT." He said that around the time Kap started taking a knee, which coincided exactly with him getting relegated to a second string role. I suspect DJK is in that camp as well. The kid wasn't good enough for the NFL, but he can't handle that, so he has to blame something or someone else and we're seeing that frustration pouring out right now.

Again, teammates and coaches will only tolerate being a cancer or quitting on plays so much before they get pissed off. Even if you're as good as Randy Moss. I loved DJK as a Hawk and his return against OSU is one of the greatest Iowa highlights ever, but the guy needs to understand that if you are roughly a 4th or 5th WR talent and you have a shitload of film of you throwing your arms up in exasperation after an interception or not giving 100% on a block, no NFL team is going to want you because you are going to have to play a shitload of special teams and they already know you're gonna be a pain in their ass when you only see 3 snaps on offense per week.

Perfect.

 

[Fryowa]

K, so when all the players come out and kneel for anthem now and kids allowed on twitter, how do those coaches spin that? Is that bad too or will all teams be doing it by then? If Kirk goes I am most definitely out and will quit paying attention. I am 100% fine if they all kneel.

This is something I have never understood either, what is magical about twitter? Weren't they allowed Facebook and Instagram, etc? And man thank God such things were not around when I was young.

You're assuming most other schools won't be kneeling. Most will.

They'll spin it however they spin it. I'm sorry, but Iowa football is changed from here on out after these events and high school players looking for college homes aren't going to come here if the Ferentzes and guys like Wallace are here. We can disagree.

Kirk is continuing to dig himself in holes by using the "I dno't recall" defense. It doesn't hold water and everyone seems to see it but him. The guy's 65 and it's a guarantee now that his kid ain't going to be the HC at Iowa. Hang it up and walk away. It'd be best for the future of the program.

Please understand, I'm not saying Kirk is guilty of this or that, or that he's not guilty either. I'm saying the perception is there and that's all that matters.

 

[GoHawks24]

I still don't know about this whole "Ferentz torpedoed my NFL career" stuff. DJK was one of our best WRs in history. He looked like he belonged on the field against OSU, but when you look at the greats who have come out of OSU and who have been consistent starters in the NFL, DJK is simply nowhere that list. McNutt was way better than DJK and barely got a sniff in the League. Remember James Hardy from Indiana, the human highlight reel against Iowa's defense? He also barely got a sniff. Fact is, you have to be really damned good to play WR in the NFL.

I had to Google him to see what he's up to nowadays- don't remember hearing about him passing away. Apparently committed suicide by jumping into a river back in 2017. Sad.

NFL career was cut short due to chronic hamstring problems it sounds like, otherwise I think he would've stuck around for a little bit. Reminded me of Megatron a lot with his size and speed.

About a 3rd of his college career TD's had to have been against the Hawks, right? One game he had at least 3 that I remember.

Do not remember that he played a couple of seasons on the IU basketball team as well. Was the runner-up Indiana Mr. Basketball his senior year of HS.

 

[okeefe4prez]

I had to Google him to see what he's up to nowadays- don't remember hearing about him passing away. Apparently committed suicide by jumping into a river back in 2017. Sad.

NFL career was cut short due to chronic hamstring problems it sounds like, otherwise I think he would've stuck around for a little bit. Reminded me of Megatron a lot with his size and speed.

About a 3rd of his college career TD's had to have been against the Hawks, right? One game he had at least 3 that I remember.

Do not remember that he played a couple of seasons on the IU basketball team as well. Was the runner-up Indiana Mr. Basketball his senior year of HS.

Nah, I watched Hardy a bit because I drafted him in fantasy twice and was convinced he would be a freak in the League, but he wasn't fast enough. He wasn't gonna make it. He couldn't get open and he didn't have that Antonio Gates size and aggression to run a box out move and high point a ball in a crowd. It's a lot different high pointing one against Iowa's DB's in that era and doing it against NFL safeties and corners.

At one point I calculated his yards and TDs against Iowa and they were both in the 20s. It was like 27% of his yards and 22% of his TDs were against Iowa or maybe the inverse of that, I forget. It was absurd.

 

[VAHawkFan]

You're assuming most other schools won't be kneeling. Most will.

They'll spin it however they spin it. I'm sorry, but Iowa football is changed from here on out after these events and high school players looking for college homes aren't going to come here if the Ferentzes and guys like Wallace are here. We can disagree.

Kirk is continuing to dig himself in holes by using the "I dno't recall" defense. It doesn't hold water and everyone seems to see it but him. The guy's 65 and it's a guarantee now that his kid ain't going to be the HC at Iowa. Hang it up and walk away. It'd be best for the future of the program.

Please understand, I'm not saying Kirk is guilty of this or that, or that he's not guilty either. I'm saying the perception is there and that's all that matters.

Winning. Nothing...including this, matters more that. If Iowa has a near CFP-level season, Petras is a touchdown cannon, and our team resembles the Holiday Bowl version, recruiting takes care of itself...IF enough has been done to demonstrate real attempts at change. Kids and parents will talk themselves into taking a chance if there's an opportunity to win. See Bob Knight; he was a known tyrant from early on. People talk themselves into all kinds of things.

A middling or lower performing season...yeah, that may result in a bottomless boat.

Iowa is on cliff's edge and the margins to safely pull back are razor thin. But they exist.

 

[westender]

You're assuming most other schools won't be kneeling. Most will.

They'll spin it however they spin it. I'm sorry, but Iowa football is changed from here on out after these events and high school players looking for college homes aren't going to come here if the Ferentzes and guys like Wallace are here. We can disagree.

Kirk is continuing to dig himself in holes by using the "I dno't recall" defense. It doesn't hold water and everyone seems to see it but him. The guy's 65 and it's a guarantee now that his kid ain't going to be the HC at Iowa. Hang it up and walk away. It'd be best for the future of the program.

Please understand, I'm not saying Kirk is guilty of this or that, or that he's not guilty either. I'm saying the perception is there and that's all that matters.

If we saw commits reverse course and some others depart I would say yeah, but if the current group stays together (they being the players) and they seem happy and united I don't think this ends up hurting. If there remains dissension then we probably have troubles. Every commit I have seen so far has confirmed they are on board and sticking with it. And if they win that will ease things as well. If we come out and flop in 2020 then OMFG fire up the FIRE KIRK website. For those that don't care for Brian it probably gives a second strike on the head gig later on, but again if we start cranking out Ws and no glaring issues and we become the Wisconsin of the next 5 or 6 years it is all open. They are gonna get a heavy dose of human resources training coming their way.

I think about half the schools Iowa played at home last year did not come out before the anthem, so they must have really been muting free speech.

 

[MikeyLikesIowa]

It appears this article has been removed. the link is dead and no longer visible in the football section.

I imagine that Rob received a lot of criticism for running it, but I commend his audacity nonetheless. I don't know exactly how much of DJK's story I believe. The only thing I recall that has been confirmed by other players was the trash can incident. The rest of it would be hard to confirm, but he did suggest looking at the tape of the 2010 Ohio State game to corroborate his story about what happened before the game.

 

[iowachief]

Is there anywhere that you can read his whole statement still??

 

[Northside Hawk]

I've been wondering about this the past few days, and with everything that keeps coming out, it's a certainty now- Chris Doyle is a straight up egotistical prick. His statement the other day, one in which he didn't apologize or say he was sorry once, is very telling, IMO. I hope he's ran out of town and never heard from again. Good riddance.

Regarding Kirk, I'm torn. On one hand, how much of what DJK states can we really believe? There's no doubt he has an ax to grind. On the other hand, I can totally believe Kirk having a huge ego and not allowing one player to be bigger than the program itself. If someone corroborates this, or additional acquisitions surface, it may be hard for him to survive this. But then again, he does run Iowa City and it's looking like Doyle being the fall guy may be enough to fend off the dogs.

Could 2020 get any worse? Holy f*ck.

Maybe the tone for 2020 was set in December when Hayden Fry and Bump Elliott passed away within days of each other.

 

[Cyhawk]

I'm hoping there is some finality soon, within the next week. The longer this drags out the worse it will get for everyone.

 

[shonblatt]

I read through DJK's statement twice last night, and slept on it.

The guy freely admits that he repeatedly refused to follow Kirk's directives - and he doesn't know why he was constantly in the doghouse? I found myself thinking that in order for Ferentz to get that angry/vindictive, DJK must have been one serious antagonist over and over.

I'm shocked he lasted on the team as long as he did.

 

[dahlhawk]

Obviously, from a distance, most of us know nothing about the "inside" of a program.

This seems to be a "clash of civilizations." Kirk is more old school, wanting to mold a "team" that functions as one, not as a group of "look at me and my talents" individuals.

Kirk is the commander, Brian is the executive officer and Doyle is the SGT Major in charge of recruit development. Several years ago Kirk made a major shift in recruiting: seeking out the best talent, but also seeking out the best he could find who wanted to play as a team. He backed off of DJK type individuals who at least appeared to him to suck the team out of the team as they sought out the cameras and advertised themselves on social media.

Kids today who are used to be treated like "amazing" people from the early years of their lives are stunned and frightened to find themselves in a system that focuses on a system, a way of playing, thinking, acting, talking, living that is not about them, but about the "all."

On a darker note, this seems to be an unhealthy system in some ways. Kirk is into loyalty, Nepotism, and working "in the dark" often playing dumb when needed. He seems to resent being challenged and transparency. He and his system seem unwilling and unable to tolerate anyone who wants to challenge his power and the system he has in place.

It seems that players who buy into this team goal, who are willing, are given ample opportunities to develop and play. Those who want to shine the light on themselves struggle. The Kirk System will not allow such "what's in it for me" players to hijack the Kirk Plan.

Kirk must take the blame for any blatantly mean, cruel and abusive environments. He is in a very difficult bind, given his Nepotism, favoritism, and other ways of acting...placed in the current "all whites are bad and need to be punished and called out" world.

The DJK world seems somewhat bogus to me. He takes no ownership of who he is and what he has done. It is a one-sided slander attack for his own failures.

The difficult challenge for Kirk is...who, which players, dare to "come out" to defend him even if they feel he is being treated unfairly? What if Stanley, with the Vikings, would do that? How will that affect his standing on an NFL team full of players who would ostracize him for speaking up for a "Racist Coach?" Anyone on the team will be labeled as supporting "racism" if they speak well of the coaching staff or team. This is the danger of "one way think" that is the rage of the land. If you don't support our "bend a knee" actions...you are racist and against us. This is idiot talk and more dangerous than "felt slights" that float about.

Kirk's leadership style, the staff he has selected, his team philosophy all work well, until it doesn't. Now, Doyle appears to be an out of control bully that Kirk has hired and nurtured, an "untouchable." Now Brian is "untouchable" because who would betray the son your hired and are nurturing for the next decades of Kirk Ball?

Hopefully, truth can be sorted out, and all will be held to account as needed. This is a fluid, messy, dangerous situation for sure. It will be interesting and also destructive for many individuals and their families.

Who will speak for truth? Who will stand up to the "mob rule?" Who will stand behind the coaches who are great people?

I absolutely knew the nepotism would end up burning Iowa at some point. Coaches should always earn their way and coaches sons should never be on their dad's staff. Go elsewhere earn and learn your position than return. Kirk has made his bed.