Fitzgerald v. Ferentz: Who is the better coach?

528646 said:
I think KF's record vs Fitz is easy to explain (just like his record against McCarney, etc) - Iowa has "played up" to good teams under Ferentz and "played down" to inferior teams. I think it's a chip on the shoulder type thing. Ferentz has punked several Michigan teams that Iowa had no business beating talent-wise - the Fitz's and McCarney's of the world have returned that favor more than a few times.
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I think the KF record against Fitz and McCarney and a couple of other coaches at lesser teams on the yearly rankings is even more easy to explain. Not only did McCarney and Fitz play with more of a chip on their shoulders but they took more chances. They knew they needed to take chances, run exotic plays because they didnt have the horses. NW and ISU both sell out on defense to stop Iowa and run crazy stunts and blitzes. Many times it works, Iowa plays conservative, and cant make a big play sometimes.

After KF's 2001-04 run a lot of coaches knew they couldnt go head to head with the hawks so you have to play "around" them to win.
 
deanvogs said:
Fitz is the most overrated coach in the B1G. Fitz inherited a jNW team that had won 4, 5, and 5 B1G games in the last 3 years under Walker, so he didn't take over some dumpster fire. He then turned that into 2, 3, 5, 5, 3, 3, 5, & 1 B1G wins. Fitz is entering his 9th season as coach and has yet to really make a mark like Barnett did, or KF has at Iowa.
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1st 10 win season and a bowl victory which the program had not achieved in a very long time. Not quite the mark Barnett made, but it is significant.
 
ChosenChildren said:
OK, here goes:

Fitzgerald record at NW (06 through 13): 55-46
Ferentz record at IA (06 through 13): 59-43

Fitz bowl record during those years: 1-4
Ferentz bowl record during those years: 3-3

Fitz BCS bowl record during those years: 0-0
Ferentz BCS bowl record during those years: 1-0

Fitz January 1 bowl record: 1-1
Ferentz January 1 bowl record: 2-1

Fitz record v. Ferentz: 5-3
Ferentz record v. Fitz: 3-5

Fitz record last 4 years: 28-23
Ferentz record last 4 years: 27-24

Overall, I give a slight edge to Ferentz. Some on this board argue that Iowa should always defeat Northwestern, because Iowa is the better "football school". I disagree. Northwestern has a better academic reputation, and is located in a huge metropolitan area putting them in a strong position from a recruiting standpoint. Northwestern won 2 Big Ten championships in the nineties and another one under Randy Walker prior to Fitz taking over. Iowa won only one Big Ten title in the 10 years prior to Kirk's first year at Iowa. In short, Northwestern was a football school when Fitz took over. Iowa had a good reputation as well, but no better than Northwestern at the time Ferentz took the reins.

Game day coaching? No edge to either. Ferentz has blown some leads, but Fitz blows more.

Players in the NFL? Advantage Ferentz, I believe.
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Yeah a huge metropolitan area with a bunch of dumb students.
 
pumpdog20 said:
Yeah a huge metropolitan area with a bunch of dumb students.
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I think he was trying to say the huge metropolitan area would be a huge draw when trying to recruit kids to NU. Not that NU would get a bulk of their players from Chicagoland.
 
ChosenChildren said:
OK, here goes:

Fitzgerald record at NW (06 through 13): 55-46
Ferentz record at IA (06 through 13): 59-43

Fitz bowl record during those years: 1-4
Ferentz bowl record during those years: 3-3

Fitz BCS bowl record during those years: 0-0
Ferentz BCS bowl record during those years: 1-0

Fitz January 1 bowl record: 1-1
Ferentz January 1 bowl record: 2-1

Fitz record v. Ferentz: 5-3
Ferentz record v. Fitz: 3-5

Fitz record last 4 years: 28-23
Ferentz record last 4 years: 27-24

Overall, I give a slight edge to Ferentz. Some on this board argue that Iowa should always defeat Northwestern, because Iowa is the better "football school". I disagree. Northwestern has a better academic reputation, and is located in a huge metropolitan area putting them in a strong position from a recruiting standpoint. Northwestern won 2 Big Ten championships in the nineties and another one under Randy Walker prior to Fitz taking over. Iowa won only one Big Ten title in the 10 years prior to Kirk's first year at Iowa. In short, Northwestern was a football school when Fitz took over. Iowa had a good reputation as well, but no better than Northwestern at the time Ferentz took the reins.

Game day coaching? No edge to either. Ferentz has blown some leads, but Fitz blows more.

Players in the NFL? Advantage Ferentz, I believe.
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I've officially seen it all. Northwestern is more of a football school than Iowa, and has been for some time?
 
hawkeyebob62 said:
Basically, put Meyer or Saban at Iowa...and they either do no better than KF, OR Iowa ends up on probation.
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This explains why Utah was on probation during Meyer's tenure. Well, I suppose technically they were, but it was inherited from the previous coaching staff. But he also took a Bowling Green program that went 2-9 in 2000 and went 17-3 in his two seasons as head coach; they also weren't placed on probation for anything that happened during his tenure there.

Hate him all you want, but Meyer can definitely coach.
 
I would say Fitzgerald by landslide. If you could only recruit smart kids, it's a way uphill battle. What he's done given their academic standards is unbelievable.
 
hawkforlife9 said:
I would say Fitzgerald by landslide. If you could only recruit smart kids, it's a way uphill battle. What he's done given their academic standards is unbelievable.
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Really? Thats what you call unbelievable?

What do you consider what Stanford has going on right now then?
 
hawkeyebob62 said:
I NEVER said Meyer wasn't successful. I said he wouldn't win at major level unless he was at a "major" school. Like it or not, NW and IOWA are NOT "major" schools in the FBS-Land-of-the-4-team-Playoff Realm.
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Meyer has coached at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and OSU, and his worst season was 8-5 or 8-3. His career record is 128-25. Yet somehow there are a lot of people out there who think he is lucky or something. Unbelievable.
 
Sorry guys, but, the fact NU has such heightened academic requirements, that negates the fact they sit in the 3rd largest metro area in the country.

Iowans like to complain we poor Hawkeyes are at a substantial disadvantage vs the likes of Michigan and OSU (available population base, facilities, money, alumni dollars, etc). Now imagine being at a disadvantage against *every* B1G team...which is what Fitz faces.

For that fact alone, Fitz does more with the talent he gets and is a better coach than KF.
 
HawkIPA said:
Really? Thats what you call unbelievable?

What do you consider what Stanford has going on right now then?
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Stanford, Notre Dame and Michigan are three top tier universities that claim "holier than thou" admissions standards, but surprisingly, few of their recruits would qualify for NU. Stanford adheres to high standards for the most part and siphons away a lot of smart ball players, but the athletic programs can get a few bends and twists of the rules. Northwestern and Duke are examples of what happens when you actually adhere to high admissions standards for football (basketball is a different thing and there is a rumor that Collins got a few freebies a year like Coach K gets at Duke so we'll see if they turn the basketball program around).

Irregardless, hat tip to Stanford for their current stature. They have a very nice program and Ross P. is an idiot for ditching Iowa for Bama rather than for Stanford. I think Stanford benefits a lot because CA is much deeper for recruiting than Illinois and Stanford has a much better brand name and program to sell recruits than Northwestern does.
 
Seth53 said:
Sorry guys, but, the fact NU has such heightened academic requirements, that negates the fact they sit in the 3rd largest metro area in the country.

Iowans like to complain we poor Hawkeyes are at a substantial disadvantage vs the likes of Michigan and OSU (available population base, facilities, money, alumni dollars, etc). Now imagine being at a disadvantage against *every* B1G team...which is what Fitz faces.

For that fact alone, Fitz does more with the talent he gets and is a better coach than KF.
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Northwestern has a major structural problem in that its fans are all alums or people who live relatively close to the stadium. I, and I suspect many others on this board, grew up an Iowa fan because everyone in my family (and virtually everyone in the state in the '80's when I was a kid) was an Iowa fan. Flagship and land grant universities have that built in, multi-generational fan base that Northwestern will likely never have. The alumni base is tiny, too. I'd bet Northwestern's alumni base is among the smallest of legacy Big Ten teams (not the new additions from PSU on) in Chicagoland. Maybe it's bigger than Minnesota's, but I would bet its smaller than every other legacy B1G school.
 
Last 3 Northwestern coaches:


Gary Barnett: 23-33 conference record, won Big 10 title in 4th year.
Randy Walker: 24-32 conference record, won Big 10 title in second year.
Patty Fitz: 27-37 conference record, 0 B10 titles, 8 years.


Pat Fitzgerald: Most Overrated coach in the B10.
 
tm3308 said:
This explains why Utah was on probation during Meyer's tenure. Well, I suppose technically they were, but it was inherited from the previous coaching staff. But he also took a Bowling Green program that went 2-9 in 2000 and went 17-3 in his two seasons as head coach; they also weren't placed on probation for anything that happened during his tenure there.

Hate him all you want, but Meyer can definitely coach.
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Ummm...year-in/year-out, Utah and BGSU have NOT been "major". And I never said he couldn't coach.
 
ICHawk24 said:
Meyer has coached at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and OSU, and his worst season was 8-5 or 8-3. His career record is 128-25. Yet somehow there are a lot of people out there who think he is lucky or something. Unbelievable.
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Please read what I said. I never said he was "lucky". But Florida and O$U are not exactly "challenging". Utah and BGSU were great, but they were still in mid-level conferences.
 
hawkeyebob62 said:
Please read what I said. I never said he was "lucky". But Florida and O$U are not exactly "challenging". Utah and BGSU were great, but they were still in mid-level conferences.
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By all means, keep believing that Meyer is no better of a coach than Ferentz.
 
okeefe4prez said:
Stanford, Notre Dame and Michigan are three top tier universities that claim "holier than thou" admissions standards, but surprisingly, few of their recruits would qualify for NU. Stanford adheres to high standards for the most part and siphons away a lot of smart ball players, but the athletic programs can get a few bends and twists of the rules. Northwestern and Duke are examples of what happens when you actually adhere to high admissions standards for football (basketball is a different thing and there is a rumor that Collins got a few freebies a year like Coach K gets at Duke so we'll see if they turn the basketball program around).

Irregardless, hat tip to Stanford for their current stature. They have a very nice program and Ross P. is an idiot for ditching Iowa for Bama rather than for Stanford. I think Stanford benefits a lot because CA is much deeper for recruiting than Illinois and Stanford has a much better brand name and program to sell recruits than Northwestern does.
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Thanks for teh history lesson on Michigan and Notre Dame, even though I made no mention of any school besides Stanford in mine.
 
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