ESPN’s Low: What if Iowa had offered Bob Stoops?

SpiderRico said:
He would have said "No" and still went to Oklahoma. He was using Iowa as leverage to get as much as he could out of Oklahoma. And I don't say that to be mean or vindictive. I would have done the same thing in his shoes.
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Interesting narrative. The narrative I follow said that there was no way Iowa was hiring him. Something to do with the female AD at the time. Iowa was just giving Hayden a nod.
 
I honestly don't believe the results would have been much different than Kirk.

Sure, he dug Oklahoma out of the hole they were in, but they were still a top 5 all time program, with all the perception and recruiting advantages that come with that.
 
BVHawk95 said:
I honestly don't believe the results would have been much different than Kirk.

Sure, he dug Oklahoma out of the hole they were in, but they were still a top 5 all time program, with all the perception and recruiting advantages that come with that.
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And they played in a cream-puff conference.
 
SpiderRico said:
He would have said "No" and still went to Oklahoma. He was using Iowa as leverage to get as much as he could out of Oklahoma. And I don't say that to be mean or vindictive. I would have done the same thing in his shoes.
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I think so too. Fry left the cupboard pretty empty. It took KF a couple yrs to get us back to respectability. OK was still OK and we know what Stoops did shortly after taking it. The Iowa gig just didn't compare to OK at that time and he'd have been crazy to have turned down OK for Iowa strait up.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
I think so too. Fry left the cupboard pretty empty. It took KF a couple yrs to get us back to respectability. OK was still OK and we know what Stoops did shortly after taking it. The Iowa gig just didn't compare to OK at that time and he'd have been crazy to have turned down OK for Iowa strait up.
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That's never been the story that I heard. My understanding is that after winning a NC with Florida and having a top five defense every year...he felt dissed when Iowa said they were going to go through their process and interview other candidates. When that happened...he took the Oklahoma job.

Let's face it...Bob Stoops would have elevated the Iowa program as much or more than KF. It's hard to say...but personally I think he has the attitude of playing to win at all times. KF's brand of ball is to play ball control and play the conservative approach when you have a lead. It lends itself to a lot of close games, which is what we have witnessed.
Stoops has always been a much different front runner...he keeps doing what got him the lead and puts his foot between the shoulders and the head. It would have been fun watching him.

Don't get me wrong...I'm a big KF fan...but at times...geez, it's hard to watch us keep things close with poor clock management (gotten better) or flat out conservative calls. The good news...I like the offense that Brian Ferentz has now gotten traction with. It's fun to watch...as it's getting more unpredictable. It's also clear the coaching at the wide receiver position is finally where it needs to be. We have a lot of weapons returning.
 
Wonder what would have happened if KF didn't "blow away" the search committee during the interview process. What if KF didn't interview at all? Bowlsby get his way and hire Terry Allen? Does Bowlsby find someone with Iowa/Fry lineage to hire to appease the majority of the fan base?
 
I seem to remember reading somewhere that even Hayden Fry advised Stoops to take the Oklahoma job. The way I see it, that could mean one of three things:
1.Hayden felt Oklahoma was a better job. (most likely,IMO)
2.Hayden suspected Stoops would not get the Iowa job.
3.Hayden wanted KF to succeed him and not Stoops.
 
Let's flip the script. What would KF have done at Oklahoma? I think he would have done as well if not better than Stoops. Seeing what KF has done with 2 and 3 stars and a few 4 stars here and there, what could he do with the kind of players Oklahoma gets? I don't see Stoops developing the kind of players Iowa can recruit.
 
WinOneThisCentury said:
That's never been the story that I heard. My understanding is that after winning a NC with Florida and having a top five defense every year...he felt dissed when Iowa said they were going to go through their process and interview other candidates. When that happened...he took the Oklahoma job.

Let's face it...Bob Stoops would have elevated the Iowa program as much or more than KF. It's hard to say...but personally I think he has the attitude of playing to win at all times. KF's brand of ball is to play ball control and play the conservative approach when you have a lead. It lends itself to a lot of close games, which is what we have witnessed.
Stoops has always been a much different front runner...he keeps doing what got him the lead and puts his foot between the shoulders and the head. It would have been fun watching him.

Don't get me wrong...I'm a big KF fan...but at times...geez, it's hard to watch us keep things close with poor clock management (gotten better) or flat out conservative calls. The good news...I like the offense that Brian Ferentz has now gotten traction with. It's fun to watch...as it's getting more unpredictable. It's also clear the coaching at the wide receiver position is finally where it needs to be. We have a lot of weapons returning.
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The first paragraph above is the story I heard and that Stoops with his long time Def Coord pedigree and being around top head coaches was just waiting for the UI interview committee to offer him the job right there or soon after. But the UI people gave him the we are looking around, blah blah, so he talked to OU and got that job.

I think Bobby Stoops from Ohio and his uummhhh energy/ personality would have recruited a little better than Kirk overall. I think Stoops would have brought in a more explosive offense and attacking defense. Football would have been different. I think Stoops averages about 1 more win a year that KF but not quite as good as his OU record. Stoops's best OU teams seemed to stumble around and lose some games to inferior teams also like KF. I think OU was better than Florida the year OU lost to Florida in the Champ game because Stoops made some strange, wild decisions and the game got away from him.
 
WinOneThisCentury said:
That's never been the story that I heard. My understanding is that after winning a NC with Florida and having a top five defense every year...he felt dissed when Iowa said they were going to go through their process and interview other candidates. When that happened...he took the Oklahoma job.

Let's face it...Bob Stoops would have elevated the Iowa program as much or more than KF. It's hard to say...but personally I think he has the attitude of playing to win at all times. KF's brand of ball is to play ball control and play the conservative approach when you have a lead. It lends itself to a lot of close games, which is what we have witnessed.
Stoops has always been a much different front runner...he keeps doing what got him the lead and puts his foot between the shoulders and the head. It would have been fun watching him.

Don't get me wrong...I'm a big KF fan...but at times...geez, it's hard to watch us keep things close with poor clock management (gotten better) or flat out conservative calls. The good news...I like the offense that Brian Ferentz has now gotten traction with. It's fun to watch...as it's getting more unpredictable. It's also clear the coaching at the wide receiver position is finally where it needs to be. We have a lot of weapons returning.
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I've heard what you said as well. And I don't know what's true any more then anyone else. I'm just guessing. It'd make sense to want to take over a top 10 program as opposed to attempting to rebuild your alma mater. What if KF hadn't shown some improvement that 3rd season? He could have been on the hot seat. Those first 2 yrs were rough and it'd have been tough to avoid that. Stoops would have known that would've been the case. KF turned Iowa around as fast as anyone really could've. We all just assume Stoops would have taken us higher then KF did... Maybe maybe not to that.
 
peerok said:
I seem to remember reading somewhere that even Hayden Fry advised Stoops to take the Oklahoma job. The way I see it, that could mean one of three things:
1.Hayden felt Oklahoma was a better job. (most likely,IMO)
2.Hayden suspected Stoops would not get the Iowa job.
3.Hayden wanted KF to succeed him and not Stoops.
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or Hayden felt Oklahoma was a better fit for Stoops...and Iowa for KFz. That would seem to make sense as well and kind of encompasses all of the above.
 
SpiderRico said:
He would have said "No" and still went to Oklahoma. He was using Iowa as leverage to get as much as he could out of Oklahoma. And I don't say that to be mean or vindictive. I would have done the same thing in his shoes.
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This basically has been verified as the true version. He had been advised that OK was the better job and wasn't ever coming here. The old "Iowa dissed him" version is the one that we fans leaned on forever. I used to.
 
I think all of it is a moot point. What we know now is that both coaches are very good coaches and probably hall of famers. The difference between the two would have been the talent, and specifically, the skill position talent that they would coach. Geography and conference dictate this more than anything else on the legal side, and I am convinced that no matter who coaches at Iowa will struggle with recruiting elite skill position talent successfully.

That is why I like Kirk so much. He organized a program with respect to his environment and stuck to this plan. I admire him immensely for that.
 
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