Derrick Willies

[tksirius]

Say what you want about the kid, but this is pretty cool.

http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/texas-tech-red-raiders-derrick-willies-video-box-jump-twitter-032716

 

[ArvadaHawk]

That's all well and good, but if he can't block he shouldn't see the field. No sense in having a 6'-3" / 225 track athlete with good hands with that kind of athletic ability on the field if he can't block.

 

[trj]

Say what you want about the kid, but this is pretty cool.

http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...derrick-willies-video-box-jump-twitter-032716

Bruh, why are you doing this? Why are you rehashing this same ol crap? He will likely get away with more under Ryan Gosling than he did with KF. Unless it is in the NFL or maybe the CFL CJB ain't never throwing a TD pass to DW in a real game.

 

[deanvogs]

That's all well and good, but if he can't block he shouldn't see the field. No sense in having a 6'-3" / 225 track athlete with good hands with that kind of athletic ability on the field if he can't block.

His talent was never a questions. His heart and his head were. Too bad he pizzed away his opportunity here, he only has himself to blame.

 

[ColumbusHawk]

Say what you want about the kid, but this is pretty cool.

http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...derrick-willies-video-box-jump-twitter-032716

Typical, nothing positive or intelligent from the OP. He, she, it or whatever thinks they are being cute.

 

[tksirius]

Typical, nothing positive or intelligent from the OP. He, she, it or whatever thinks they are being cute.

Please stop stalking me, Margaret.

 

[deanvogs]

Please stop stalking me, Margaret.

Oh Snap! What beef does Oprah have with Margaret?

 

[1hawkeye1]

Another Derrick Willies thread? Soooooo played.

 

[SpecialKHawk]

You can say what you want about the situation but DW was likely the missing piece to an even greater run last year. Give CJ T Smith on the left & D Willies on the right with Vandeburg working the slot instead behind our running game. That's pretty freaking elite by Iowa standards. Might rival 2002 good.

We will never know now.

 

[deanvogs]

You can say what you want about the situation but DW was likely the missing piece to an even greater run last year. Give CJ T Smith on the left & D Willies on the right with Vandeburg working the slot instead behind our running game. That's pretty freaking elite by Iowa standards. Might rival 2002 good.

We will never know now.

Disagree totally. I'd bet if DW was in that locker room, no way he is pulling the rope in the same direction of the team if he doesn't feel like he is getting enough balls thrown his way. I'd bet we don't have an undefeated regular season if we had him on the team last year. He would have still been limited behind MVB, Smith and Hillyer. No way does he act like a good teammate all year long.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

He probably had 3 years to be the #1 receiver at Iowa. Obviously a great athlete. But he hasn't been in Iowa City for over a year. Remember, it was his choice to leave. It'll be interesting how he does at TT., but to me he's just another college WR now, no different than any other potentially talented wr that didn't want to play here.

 

[SpecialKHawk]

Disagree totally. I'd bet if DW was in that locker room, no way he is pulling the rope in the same direction of the team if he doesn't feel like he is getting enough balls thrown his way. I'd bet we don't have an undefeated regular season if we had him on the team last year. He would have still been limited behind MVB, Smith and Hillyer. No way does he act like a good teammate all year long.

Your opinion. I recall CJ's interview when he made it sound like he was disappointed to see DW go. We have all seen the kind of character CJ has so I trust him.

This likely became a war of wills between the head coach and the player. The head coach who has good principles but is extremely stubborn. The player that had 10x the ability of guys he was buried behind on the depth chart, knew it and teammates knew it. The player that torched our defense in open scrimmages which has not happened since. He even made a few big plays early in the season. There was also a war of wills about getting CJ on the field the year before and look how that turned out this past year. It nearly broke the fan base and some fans have not returned to Kinnick yet.

Unfortunately we just do not get difference makers like DW all that often at WR so it's disappointing to see that squandered. You can use all the fancy team jargon you want but he could have been the difference. Big time players make big time plays. Big time plays win games and that's as good as anything for team morale.

 

[thetrza]

I thought DW was CJB's roommate when they were Freshman and he left the team. I think all the internet fans were convinced both guys were going to leave. Didn't one of his high school coaches go on a crazy rant on social media then everyone starts talking about his family and where he grew up and stuff.

 

[deanvogs]

Your opinion. I recall CJ's interview when he made it sound like he was disappointed to see DW go. We have all seen the kind of character CJ has so I trust him.

This likely became a war of wills between the head coach and the player. The head coach who has good principles but is extremely stubborn. The player that had 10x the ability of guys he was buried behind on the depth chart, knew it and teammates knew it. The player that torched our defense in open scrimmages which has not happened since. He even made a few big plays early in the season. There was also a war of wills about getting CJ on the field the year before and look how that turned out this past year. It nearly broke the fan base and some fans have not returned to Kinnick yet.

Unfortunately we just do not get difference makers like DW all that often at WR so it's disappointing to see that squandered. You can use all the fancy team jargon you want but he could have been the difference. Big time players make big time plays. Big time plays win games and that's as good as anything for team morale.

I'm not surprised that you left out the fact that CJ tried to talk Willies out of leaving. Why would CJ do that if he felt Willies was being treated so unfairly?

How was this a war of wills between the head coach and player? The position coaches also decides who plays, as WR come in and out all game long. It wasn't just a head coach thing. Not only that but Willies quit the team, he quit over social media. He then said he wanted to come back over social media, then he said he didn't want to come back. KF later that year let Sean Welsh leave the team and miss all of Spring to deal with a "situation". We still don't know what that is, and KF let that student athlete leave to do whatever it was he needed to do. If Willies would have handled this situation with just 1 single ounce of maturity, he would still be on this team. Unfortunately he didn't, and therefore he dug his own grave. KF has never ever been unfair to his players. He let DJK do what he does, he had Pat Angerer and Louis Trinca Pasat both sit down in his office to quit, only to advise them to take some time away, and make the decision later. They both stayed and they both excelled at Iowa. KF is stubborn, I totally agree, yet there has never been an instance where KF is unreasonable with his players. He gives them tons of slack and rope to work though issues and difficulties of D1 football.

 

[SpecialKHawk]

I'm not surprised that you left out the fact that CJ tried to talk Willies out of leaving. Why would CJ do that if he felt Willies was being treated so unfairly?

How was this a war of wills between the head coach and player? The position coaches also decides who plays, as WR come in and out all game long. It wasn't just a head coach thing. Not only that but Willies quit the team, he quit over social media. He then said he wanted to come back over social media, then he said he didn't want to come back. KF later that year let Sean Welsh leave the team and miss all of Spring to deal with a "situation". We still don't know what that is, and KF let that student athlete leave to do whatever it was he needed to do. If Willies would have handled this situation with just 1 single ounce of maturity, he would still be on this team. Unfortunately he didn't, and therefore he dug his own grave. KF has never ever been unfair to his players. He let DJK do what he does, he had Pat Angerer and Louis Trinca Pasat both sit down in his office to quit, only to advise them to take some time away, and make the decision later. They both stayed and they both excelled at Iowa. KF is stubborn, I totally agree, yet there has never been an instance where KF is unreasonable with his players. He gives them tons of slack and rope to work though issues and difficulties of D1 football.

The head coach is in charge in every program. Nothing happens without the consent of the head coach. If the head coach walks-in and says I want player X to be first team that's a done deal. Position coaches coach per the philosophy and vision of the head coach. They certainly have input but nothing happens without the head coach's approval. That's the way it should be as they get the glory for wins and ridicule for losses. It's not healthy to have an innocent bystander coach... If that's the situation a program has major issues.

The opportunity to have a special player from
an Iowa WR standpoint was lost anyway we chalk it up. It's over now so I am guilty of rehashing it but I cannot help but wonder what could have been.

 

[GesterHawk]

Seriously, let the kid go like he let his team go.
Let it be in the past, like he let his opportunity to be Hawk be in the past.

He made his choice to walk out on his team in the middle of a season, that tells me enough about the kind of teammate he was.

How anyone can pine for a kid who thought himself bigger than his team is beyond me.

Oh, and the kid he was losing playing time to, which most likely lead to him taking his ball and going home, led the Hawks in receptions last year.

 

[PCHawk]

To me there is absolutely no difference between leaving your team at the end of the season and leaving your team mid season. Unless of course you're a vital part of the team the season you leave. As a coach, you can't let a player walk all over you. But a teenager making a rash decision, then changing his mind, doesn't classify as walking all over you. In my opinion anyway. I don't think Ferentz wanted any part of his prima dona attitude so I highly doubt there was a real option for Willies to come back. Look at all the good teams tho. They're full of prima donas. Also a player who decides to quit because he thought he was treated unfair (right or wrong) doesn't necessarily mean he was a cancer in the locker room.

 

[Tate4Heisman]

I'm not surprised that you left out the fact that CJ tried to talk Willies out of leaving. Why would CJ do that if he felt Willies was being treated so unfairly?

How was this a war of wills between the head coach and player? The position coaches also decides who plays, as WR come in and out all game long. It wasn't just a head coach thing. Not only that but Willies quit the team, he quit over social media. He then said he wanted to come back over social media, then he said he didn't want to come back. KF later that year let Sean Welsh leave the team and miss all of Spring to deal with a "situation". We still don't know what that is, and KF let that student athlete leave to do whatever it was he needed to do. If Willies would have handled this situation with just 1 single ounce of maturity, he would still be on this team. Unfortunately he didn't, and therefore he dug his own grave. KF has never ever been unfair to his players. He let DJK do what he does, he had Pat Angerer and Louis Trinca Pasat both sit down in his office to quit, only to advise them to take some time away, and make the decision later. They both stayed and they both excelled at Iowa. KF is stubborn, I totally agree, yet there has never been an instance where KF is unreasonable with his players. He gives them tons of slack and rope to work though issues and difficulties of D1 football.

There is no way you can say that there has never been an instance where KF is unreasonable with his players. Willies isn't the first guy on the team that the fans have wondered why he isn't getting more playing time. What happened none of us know, but I am guessing that in like most instances there is fault to be had on both sides. Who at Duke thought Coach K was lieing about what he said to the Oregon player until the audio surfaced. KF is stubborn and more likely to go with a player that he trusts over an underclassmen that may be more talented. Tate and Anton talked about this in one of their podcasts.

 

[PCHawk]

I'm not surprised that you left out the fact that CJ tried to talk Willies out of leaving. Why would CJ do that if he felt Willies was being treated so unfairly?

How was this a war of wills between the head coach and player? The position coaches also decides who plays, as WR come in and out all game long. It wasn't just a head coach thing. Not only that but Willies quit the team, he quit over social media. He then said he wanted to come back over social media, then he said he didn't want to come back. KF later that year let Sean Welsh leave the team and miss all of Spring to deal with a "situation". We still don't know what that is, and KF let that student athlete leave to do whatever it was he needed to do. If Willies would have handled this situation with just 1 single ounce of maturity, he would still be on this team. Unfortunately he didn't, and therefore he dug his own grave. KF has never ever been unfair to his players. He let DJK do what he does, he had Pat Angerer and Louis Trinca Pasat both sit down in his office to quit, only to advise them to take some time away, and make the decision later. They both stayed and they both excelled at Iowa. KF is stubborn, I totally agree, yet there has never been an instance where KF is unreasonable with his players. He gives them tons of slack and rope to work though issues and difficulties of D1 football.

The first sentence of your post makes it sound like you're arguing the other side. CJ wanting Willies back means Willies must not have been a bad teammate. CJ and Wllies were in the exact same boat. CJ is just a little stronger willed. That doesn't make Willies a bad kid. And of course CJ is going to try to get him to stay, even if he thinks he's getting screwed.

 

[deanvogs]

There is no way you can say that there has never been an instance where KF is unreasonable with his players. Willies isn't the first guy on the team that the fans have wondered why he isn't getting more playing time. What happened none of us know, but I am guessing that in like most instances there is fault to be had on both sides. Who at Duke thought Coach K was lieing about what he said to the Oregon player until the audio surfaced. KF is stubborn and more likely to go with a player that he trusts over an underclassmen that may be more talented. Tate and Anton talked about this in one of their podcasts.

Hold on. Why do posters think a kid who is a whole 4 or 5 games into his college career should be DEMANDING his playing time? The simple fact is he was a Fr who was finding his way like 99% of FR before him. He was clearly behind KMM and Tevaun, and was firmly planted in the next group (MVB, Powell, Hillyer, and Willies). Each player was getting into games and getting snaps.

if your point is that every player 4 or 5 games into their career is getting screwed over by KF with not enough playing time, then I disagree. More goes into than just hey I think I'm the bomb and super talented. Take Wadley for instance, he had to overcome his fumbling issues and he had to get better off the field keeping his weight up. Those things matter to this staff, and they make those things perfectly clear to the players. If you think these things shouldn't matter or don't apply to you just because you think you are special, then this program isn't for you.

It is like posters for some reason don't value developing the player. It is actually in Willies best interest to make him work harder on and off the field. As a coach your carrot is playing time, if you do X and Y you get rewarded with playing time. KF is interested in getting the most out of his players, he isn't interested in letting his standards of what he expects from all his players to be jeapordized by a RS FR who thinks he "deserves" more.