Ferentz Presser for 9/16

[Knight78]

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein

This doesn't apply in football. Teams will run the same play many, many times. (How many times has Iowa run a zone read run to the short side of the field in the last 16 years?) It may break for a long gain, it may go for a loss. But we ran it time and again and got a LOT of different results.

 

[DJI9424]

Why is this so difficult????

Reporter- Why do you think you are ranked 70th in the country in scoring offense?
KF- Well we just aren't executing right now, need to keep working
Reporter- Coach last year you were ranked 78th and the year before that you were ranked 116th. Do you think it's more likely that things still need to be worked on or that it's a system issue?

Look I understand that KF is just going to dance around the issues and that reporters that have to cover the team on a daily basis don't want to ask the tough questions but it's F'ing belt high fast ball after belt high fast ball.

And for those freaking out about his comments on Greg Davis did you really think he was going to say that he sucks as a coach and his play calling has been horrible? Good luck finding the next OC when you are throwing your previous coaches under the bus.

No one is expecting him to throw GD under the bus but his comments were so over the top, who should take him seriously? Anyone that knows anything about today's college football game knows Iowa's offensive performance has been poor, so why try to hide that fact? IF GD is such a fine coach with so much teaching ability, why isn't he asking KF for the opportunity to instruct the press as to what he is working on and what they are trying to accomplish? It's not like it will be a revelation to the opposing coach but it will be helpful for the press and their readers to understand.

I'd say it's more likely that KF's remarks about GD is he is talking him up to be OC for another team, possibly as soon as next year. Who really knows with KF, he rarely praises anyone as enthusiastically as he did GD today. The question is why GD and why now? I think there's more to the story than what we heard today...of course, maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

 

[Garandx]

False he threw CJ under the bus last year when you he scored a td. Kirk made a point to cry on national tv. Saying they couldnt even get that right.

Oh yeah. They are still scraping CJ off from the underside of the bus.

 

[homes]

Interpretation? NOTHING will change. And for all of us stooges out there (better known as Hawkeye fans), we'll keep asking, but we are the idiots for thinking something will be different. Ferentz has never promised or even remotely represented that anything will be different. We have no one to blame but ourselves, but we're too blinded by our loyalty to acknowledge or accept it. So we go through the drill. Sisyphus didn't have it this bad.

 

[JHHawk]

I need the details. I've never listened to the show. Please advise on time and station. Please post tomorrow if this is still the plan. I will pull off the golf course just to hear it.

Show starts at 7 pm.....it is broadcast on WHO and other Iowa radio network outlets. KF usually gets there about 7:15 and Dolph is the moderator. Calls are unscreened. the phone number is 877- gohawks. It is held in Carlos O'Kellys with a live audience. Callers like Thunder who will seek to embarrass the coach make for an awkward restaurant. Thunder will not call...no one ever does. ...altho I guess one outlaw caller did go ballistic last week, so maybe I am wrong.

 

[NCHawker]

I sort of took heart when I read this... and at the same time visions of Damon Bullock taking a handoff out of the shotgun came to mind.


Q. When you identify your ideal offensive identity, how has that definition changed from camp or has it?

COACH FERENTZ: The comparison I'd give you, we've talked in here ample times about what kind of quarterback we're looking for. You look for one that's going to move the team, get it done. Say the same thing about runningbacks. Fred Russell, Shonn Greene.
So the bottom line is, one thing I'm firm on, I think we have to have the ability to be balanced, and we would hopefully play in a physical nature. We're not going to be a finesse offensive football team. Have the ability to run or pass. That could come out of a three‑wide set, could come out of a one‑wide set. I'm not as hung up on those things.

Probably part of that, you know, it's where you coach, too. You have to recruit to whatever your style is going to be. If you're recruiting, there's ebb and flow, which most places there is. I think you have to have some flexibility there. That's kind of the deal there.
Personally my preference is to be a balanced attack.

 

[PJHawk]

Show starts at 7 pm.....it is broadcast on WHO and other Iowa radio network outlets. KF usually gets there about 7:15 and Dolph is the moderator. Calls are unscreened. the phone number is 877- gohawks. It is held in Carlos O'Kellys with a live audience. Callers like Thunder who will seek to embarrass the coach make for an awkward restaurant. Thunder will not call...no one ever does. ...altho I guess one outlaw caller did go ballistic last week, so maybe I am wrong.

Is Tommy still alive?

 

[docholihawk]

I'd like to thank KF for the press conference. May I suggest next week he send a 5 letter note. DITTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It would save everybody a lot of time and frustration.

 

[SpecialKHawk]

Q. How involved are you in the game plan?
COACH FERENTZ: I spend more time in our offensive room. That's kind of where I hang out. They'll let me. So I'm totally in tune. Not like something is going on I'm not aware of.

Is there any doubt where the blame lies?

Is there any doubt why we cannot play offense? A man that cannot figure out how to use timeouts over the course of 16 years is involved heavily in the offense which year-in-year out is among the worst in the B1G.

I got a kick out the explanation about Willies and Powell being inexperienced more or less contributing to their lack of playing time. Right! Mean while Willies has 2 TD catches and Powell 1 in very limited snaps which is more than Manley, Vandenburg and Hilyer combined. Vandenburg has been in the program just over a year and I believe has never caught a single TD pass but is on the field a ton dropping a key pass last week. Nice job KF and way to hold guys accountable for on the field results!

I could take a lineup that featured CJ, Canzeri, Daniels, Willies and Powell and play a lineup featuring Jake, Weismann, Bullock, Manley and Vandeburg/Hilyer and beat that group by 35 points.

 

[ThunderHawk]

I don't believe you.

I got put on hold during the Vandenfail experiment 3 times during that awful season. Never got put on the air. I have a sneaking suspicion that they like to cycle through the familiar @$$ kissers first.

 

[turfpest]

I will start by saying Paul Rhoads is a goof, and I don't think he is a good football coach..........but........... the story is that Nealy, after fumbling multiple times, is told by the coach at halftime to be ready because they will need him in the 2nd half. If Nealy was on the Hawkshe wouldn't have scored the go ahead TD, he would be sat down for Paki Omeara and maybe play 2 weeks later.

Boat, you are correct. However, Rhoads might be a goof but I guarantee if he had Iowa's talent available he would be playing that talent instead of benching them where they are never heard of again at Iowa. Rhoads has faith in his players doesn't give up on them. Iowa does. We are so screwed the rest of the year.

 

[cincyhawk]

Jon,

He said it was execution, again...

And he's talking about receivers running the wrong routes; and not being open. That might be true for Iowa State - I saw the myopic TV view. But against Ball State and UNI they were wide, wide open several times. 70000 people saw it and it's on the freaking game film.

 

[eveningnewsteam]

They should start having this show 20 minutes after the games are over. We'd all have the police knocking on our doors last Saturday.

 

[MoseSchrute]

If Beathard doesn't play this week, this staff is truly hopeless. Greg Davis should be at the front of the line in trying to convince Kirk to let the other kid have a shot.

 

[skinnykilmer17]

If Beathard doesn't play this week, this staff is truly hopeless. Greg Davis should be at the front of the line in trying to convince Kirk to let the other kid have a shot.

How do you know he isn't? Why do think Weisman had 16 carries on Saturday? Go back and read KF's post game comments after Ball St regarding the lack of running game. Paraphrasing he said we will take a look at it, address it and get to work on Tuesday. He wasn't happy that his converted fullback ( I mean our featured tailback) wasn't getting the rock. I believe he reasserted himself back into the offensive game plan and emphasized to Davis what he wants to see.

I have also sensed in preseason print media interviews the past couple years that Davis has called for more of an open competition at QB. Ferentz has basically squashed that with his comments. And the proof is in the puddin'. Who do you think has won that argument so far this year? And do you think GD was happy his boy Shimonek transferred. Hell maybe GD saw the writing on the wall and encouraged the kid to go home to Texas. Again history shows once a player is entrenched or if he's KF's boy things won't change. Even if the entrenched player is struggling. This goes for Assistant coaches save Parker and Morgan. Thank God for these guys. KF just doesn't like change or risk-taking. Indisputable.

Look I am no fan of GD. Wrong and desperate hire but ultimately he was the "safe" option for KF. But make no mistake this steaming pile of offensive ineptitude that we have seen for over a decade sits on the desk of one man. I believe he meddles just enough to make the job of OC miserable, if not impossible. And makes an already poor OC look like a bumbling idiot. Why would Davis push to get more talent and speed at receiver and then not even use it? Because our head coach has no offensive creativity. He doesn't trust it. He was an OL coach for Christ sakes. He has no vision beyond 5yds from the line of scrimmage. He loves to sight former RB's like Russell and Greene but how often does he praise WR's? He doesn't value or understand that part of an offense. He's probably still living in the 70's and looking for the next Rocky Blier and Franco Harris.

I would love to know ( or maybe not) what goes on inside Fort Ferentz but I would not be surprised to learn there is disagreement and control issues between KF and GD. These two options are just awful for modern day offensive college football.

 

[NCHawker]

As I imagine the chaos in the offensive room....drawing up plays that should have been nailed down 2 years ago...and whatnot.

Every week is a new season... laying down the track just before the engine comes came to mind.

 

[homes]

As I imagine the chaos in the offensive room....drawing up plays that should have been nailed down 2 years ago...and whatnot.

Every week is a new season... laying down the track just before the engine comes came to mind.

A Wallace and Grommet reference. An applicable to Iowa football, too. Very nice.

 

[DDThompson]

As I imagine the chaos in the offensive room....drawing up plays that should have been nailed down 2 years ago...and whatnot.

Every week is a new season... laying down the track just before the engine comes came to mind.

RRRRROOOOOOFFFFFLLLLL.
Nail, meet Hammer.

 

[ssckelley]

I think I would rather listen to someone drag their finger nails down a chalk board than read or listen to a KF presser.