Funny KOK Reference

B

bhawk326

Well-Known Member
From yesterday's Adam Rittenberg Big Ten Chat:

"John (Iowa City, IA)

Do think Ken O'Keefe is to blame for the Hawkeyes red zone troubles last week?

Adam Rittenberg

Actually, I think O'Keefe is to blame for all the problems in the world (hunger, disease, war). C'mon, Hawkeyes fans. Make some blocks, avoid penalties and punch the ball in the end zone. Don't blame coaching."

That is entertaining.
 


I think Rittenberg has been a little off balance the last couple of weeks measuring how the Hawkeyes stack up.
 


My understanding is that the "red zone" issues last week were due to KOK being distracted by all the offers he is getting to be a head coach at many D1 schools. His phone is ringing off the hook.
 


I'll accept poor execution by players cost us points in the Red Zone. We know these guys can execute because we saw it the week before at MSU.

Does that completely exonerate KOK? Not in my opinion. The blame for player inconsistency is shared between players and poor preparation by coaches.

Unlike our D (which I know is under scrutiny by many) our offense is inconsistent. You never know which squad is going to show up to the game (or to each drive for that matter). It's not a characteristic unique to this year’s team. KOK shares some of that responsibility.

Also (because I like to beat a dead horse) in one of those red zones appearances, KOK did not fail to disappoint in resurrecting the untimely "I'll take my sweet ol time getting the play into the huddle".

It was only one occurrence, and certainly wasn't a key in our red zone struggles, but it is not fair to let KOK off the hook for the red zone issues.
 
Last edited:


So does he get all the credit for the Michigan State masterpiece or was that due to divine intervention? It is laughable that O'Keefe is to blame whenever we have a less than optimal offensive performance, which isn't all that often by the way, but never the mastermind when things go well.
 


dchawk75 said:
So does he get all the credit for the Michigan State masterpiece or was that due to divine intervention? It is laughable that O'Keefe is to blame whenever we have a less than optimal offensive performance, which isn't all that often by the way, but never the mastermind when things go well.
Click to expand...

Just as he shares in the blame of the poor performances he shares in the credit for good performances. It is not all or nothing.
 


KOK runs an offense designed for ball control and taking a few well designed shots down the field. It isn't designed to put the 30+ points you guys are looking for. It is designed to keep the other team off balance offensively. Not too many offensive minded coaches are willing or capable of doing what he does. Limiting an offense!
 


tubahawk said:
I'll accept poor execution by players cost us points in the Red Zone. We know these guys can execute because we saw it the week before at MSU.

Does that completely exonerate KOK? Not in my opinion. The blame for player inconsistency is shared between players and poor preparation by coaches.

Unlike our D (which I know is under scrutiny by many) our offense is inconsistent. You never know which squad is going to show up to the game (or to each drive for that matter). It's not a characteristic unique to this year’s team. KOK shares some of that responsibility.

Also (because I like to beat a dead horse) in one of those red zones appearances, KOK did not fail to disappoint in resurrecting the untimely "I'll take my sweet ol time getting the play into the huddle".

It was only one occurrence, and certainly wasn't a key in our red zone struggles, but it is not fair to let KOK off the hook for the red zone issues.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? Our offense has been extremely consistent this season, and up until the Indiana game our offense had been one of the best in the nation at scoring TDs on trips to the red zone, and we're still ranked 26th in that category now. We've also only turned it over six times all year. We've been good for about 30 points game in and game out this season. How do you figure we aren't consistent?
 


tubahawk said:
Just as he shares in the blame of the poor performances he shares in the credit for good performances. It is not all or nothing.
Click to expand...

Do you mean the credit for getting our starting RB knocked out the Indiana game because he played him too long in the MSU game even though the game was well in hand at halftime? Yeah, he gets credit for that too.
 


hawkeye12345 said:
Do you mean the credit for getting our starting RB knocked out the Indiana game because he played him too long in the MSU game even though the game was well in hand at halftime? Yeah, he gets credit for that too.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure that's Kirk's call on when to go with the second string, not O'Keefe's.
 






HawkeyeMike23 said:
What are you talking about? Our offense has been extremely consistent this season, and up until the Indiana game our offense had been one of the best in the nation at scoring TDs on trips to the red zone, and we're still ranked 26th in that category now. We've also only turned it over six times all year. We've been good for about 30 points game in and game out this season. How do you figure we aren't consistent?
Click to expand...

It almost felt like two different offensive units played the 1st half of the Arizona game and then the 2nd half.

Consistency and Iowa Offense are not two terms you'll here used together very frequently.
 


tubahawk said:
It almost felt like two different offensive units played the 1st half of the Arizona game and then the 2nd half.

Consistency and Iowa Offense are not two terms you'll here used together very frequently.
Click to expand...

Well believe it or not, you kind of have to change your offense up and go away from running the ball when you're down 20 points at halftime. Iowa's been one of most consistent offensive teams in the country this year. We're not going to put up 40 points a game, but we've been right around 30 almost every game this year, and putting together long drives and not turning over the ball at all.
 


tubahawk said:
Are you kidding me? If Kirk is making all of these decisions is KOK there only to be a scapegoat?
Click to expand...

That's what some want you to believe. KOK is only there to do the HC's bidding. He has no say in the offensive play calls nor personnel. He would probably punt on 2nd down if Ferentz tells him too - or at least that's what some want you to believe.
 


hawkeye12345 said:
That's what some want you to believe. KOK is only there to do the HC's bidding. He has no say in the offensive play calls nor personnel. He would probably punt on 2nd down if Ferentz tells him too - or at least that's what some want you to believe.
Click to expand...

Yeah he would certainly punt on second down if Ferentz for some reason wanted too. Ferentz is the head coach, he has the final say on things. What's hard to understand about that?
 


Oh Lord, here we go again.....

For the 1,873rd time, KOK runs the type of offense that Ferentz wants. Yes, KOK calls the individual formations, personnel packages and plays, but the overall strategy comes from Ferentz.

So if you are upset about how a sequence of plays in a certain drive are called, then KOK is the one to be upset with.

However, if you are upset with the conservative nature of our play-calling. If you are upset that we don't run more trick plays. If you are upset that we don't sling it around 50 times per game, then you need to direct your anger at Ferentz because that's who it's coming from.

And just so you know, Ferentz has the final say on when the starters are pulled for the game (i.e. performance, score, etc). So if you're upset that ARob was still in the MSU game, take it up with Ferentz.

I'm not sure what's so hard to understand about this.
 


hawkeye12345 said:
That's what some want you to believe. KOK is only there to do the HC's bidding. He has no say in the offensive play calls nor personnel. He would probably punt on 2nd down if Ferentz tells him too - or at least that's what some want you to believe.
Click to expand...

That's about the dumbest post I've seen in a while. Do you really think a coordinator would ignore the directives of the head coach no matter how ill advised the coordinator thought the directive was? I can guaranty you no assistant coach would be so stupid as to override Kirk Ferentz. If he did so, he would be looking for a new job on Sunday.
 


This is Hawkeye football. Take care of the ball, manage the clock, keep everything in front of you, tighten it up in the red zone. KOK knows how to throw the ball, they know trick plays, and if need be they can open it up. Norm knows how to stop offenses, don't give up the big play and let them self destruct. This formula appears to be working. So we as fans need to understand this is how it is and I don't think they are going to change it anytime soon. Enjoy what we have, go ahead and question what they are doing, and remember we really do have it good here.
Go Hawks
 


O'keefe is partly to blame for last week's performance but I would give him around 10%. Stanzi wasn't sharp early and audibled into some of the plays on the first drive. He also missed on passes he has been hitting all season. Iowa went away from run when faced with an eight man front, but some of the play designs were silly. Iowa has also successfully ran into eight man fronts this season. Lastly Robinson has been a very solid facet in the passing game and I think that is missing from this discussion. No screens or designed passing plays for TBs in that game. A bit of happy feet from Stanzi with Coker in the backfield early.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.


Latest posts

Share this page






Top