Gavin Williams

Nah. They think Iowa is heaven. They think ghosts of baseball players come back and play games in a baseball field made from a cornfield. Or maybe they think that Iowa is a great state to ride a bicycle through. Or maybe they think Iowa is a showcase for international long distance runners.

Are you quoting Walton? Who won't ride a bicycle through IA in July because the weather is much nicer in San Diego. The only color commentator I've ever heard randomly bringing up Walcott, IA during a game. Love that guy.
 
I’m way too lazy to compile this list, but I’d love to see the recruiting star ranking of each starter on this year’s super bowl teams.

Here's an article about last year's Super Bowl (Patriots-Eagles) and the ratings for the starters:

https://www.sbnation.com/college-fo...atriots-eagles-high-school-recruiting-ratings

Though 17 out of 22 Patriots starters were rated at least three-stars, the Patriots average star rating sits at 2.7, thanks to five unrated recruits.

The Eagles on the other hand, skew much, much higher, with an average star rating of 3.5. Recruiting fans scanning the Eagles’ roster will be familiar with those like Nelson Agholor, Tim Jernigan, Brandon Graham, Nigel Bradham, Ronald Darby, and Alshon Jeffery.

Let’s get nerdy
  • Five-stars: The Patriots have one, while the Eagles have five.
  • Four-stars: The Patriots have four, while the Eagles have seven.
  • Three-stars: The Patriots have 12, while the Eagles have seven.
  • Two-stars or lower: The Patriots have five, while the Eagles have three.
Thirty-nine percent of the Super Bowl starters were four- or five-star recruits. To put it another way, about two in every five Super Bowl starters were four- or five-star recruits, but only about one in every 770 recruits are rated as such. So yes, your odds of starting in the Super Bowl are, unsurprisingly, much higher if you were a superstar recruit in high school.
 
Here's an article about last year's Super Bowl (Patriots-Eagles) and the ratings for the starters:

https://www.sbnation.com/college-fo...atriots-eagles-high-school-recruiting-ratings

Though 17 out of 22 Patriots starters were rated at least three-stars, the Patriots average star rating sits at 2.7, thanks to five unrated recruits.

The Eagles on the other hand, skew much, much higher, with an average star rating of 3.5. Recruiting fans scanning the Eagles’ roster will be familiar with those like Nelson Agholor, Tim Jernigan, Brandon Graham, Nigel Bradham, Ronald Darby, and Alshon Jeffery.

Let’s get nerdy



    • Five-stars: The Patriots have one, while the Eagles have five.
    • Four-stars: The Patriots have four, while the Eagles have seven.
    • Three-stars: The Patriots have 12, while the Eagles have seven.
    • Two-stars or lower: The Patriots have five, while the Eagles have three.
Thirty-nine percent of the Super Bowl starters were four- or five-star recruits. To put it another way, about two in every five Super Bowl starters were four- or five-star recruits, but only about one in every 770 recruits are rated as such. So yes, your odds of starting in the Super Bowl are, unsurprisingly, much higher if you were a superstar recruit in high school.

5 unrated recruits....amazing when you think about it.
 
Are you quoting Walton? Who won't ride a bicycle through IA in July because the weather is much nicer in San Diego. The only color commentator I've ever heard randomly bringing up Walcott, IA during a game. Love that guy.

Nope. Just listing off a couple of things that Iowa is internationally known for: Bix 7, RAGBRAI, Field of Dreams.
 
I dont think it's amazing at all. There are thousands and thousands of unranked kids every year. It would be more amazing if less turned out that good.

So you aren’t surprised that every recruiting service and 120ish d-1 football teams didn’t notice 5 players (22%) out of a super bowl winning NFL team’s starting lineup?
 
So you aren’t surprised that every recruiting service and 120ish d-1 football teams didn’t notice 5 players (22%) out of a super bowl winning NFL team’s starting lineup?
Not in the slightest. Do you realize how many high school football players there are in America?
 
So you aren’t surprised that every recruiting service and 120ish d-1 football teams didn’t notice 5 players (22%) out of a super bowl winning NFL team’s starting lineup?

You do realize that quality football is played at the D2 and D3 levels as well as the NAIA, right?
 
Come on man. You sound like some sleazy salesman. You said it is realistic for fan to expect Iowa to win 9 or 10 games. If it is realistic, how many years out of 5 should they hit that number? You seem upset that they fell one game short of your expectation, so which is it?

Sigh.
OK. I'll break it down for you. I'll try to be thorough -

I said a great brand like Iowa Football (excuse my positivity) could have MORE 9/10 wins regular season than they do.

MORE 9/10 win regular seasons.

Not AVERAGE, like you said TWICE.
AVERAGE is a totally different concept. Did you know that?
AVERAGE is, well... AVERAGING 9/10 wins a season.
I'd run through the math for you, but I think you probably get it.
Averaging 9/10 wins a season, like you said, is winning a hell of a lot more games that just having some more 9/10 win seasons.

Iowa has had like five 9+ wins in the regular season in 20 years?
Actually, that's not bad at all.
And I am not anywhere close to wanting KF gone.
Just saying, I wouldn't be upset about it either.

I know, I know...
Perhaps a few of us are just a little too optimistic to think Iowa could have a few more huge seasons.
But why should we not be optimistic?
 
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Sigh.
OK. I'll break it down for you. I'll try to be thorough -

I said a great brand like Iowa Football (excuse my positivity) could have MORE 9/10 wins regular season than they do.

MORE 9/10 win regular seasons.

Not AVERAGE, like you said TWICE.
AVERAGE is a totally different concept. Did you know that?
AVERAGE is, well... AVERAGING 9/10 wins a season.
I'd run through the math for you, but I think you probably get it.
Averaging 9/10 wins a season, like you said, is winning a hell of a lot more games that just having some more 9/10 win seasons.

Iowa has had like five 9+ wins in the regular season in 20 years?
Actually, that's not bad at all.
And I am not anywhere close to wanting KF gone.
Just saying, I wouldn't be upset about it either.

I know, I know...
Perhaps a few of us are just a little too optimistic to think Iowa could have a few more huge seasons.
But why should we not be optimistic?


Who DOESN'T want more 9/10 win regular seasons? Everyone does. Yet you say we should expect more, then you say what we have done "isn't bad". Which is it? If you would have said I wish, or I want us to have more 9/10 win season, I'm right there with you brother. When you say we SHOULD EXPECT more of them, that is where I think it is important to see just how fee of teams can actually get to that number frequently.
 
This season is a prime example of why “wins” isn’t always the best barometer.

Sure we won 9 games and I don’t think anyone should be getting out the pitchforks or anything like that, but the truth of the matter is Iowa likely underperformed this year. Our crossover games were against the 3rd best team and the 5th best team in that east, and we played in one of the weakest P5 divisions in the country in the B1G West.

Sagarin has us as the 10th best team in the country and I tend to agree our talent level was there. We had two All American level tight ends, an All American level safety / hybrid linebacker, and two All BIG level defensive ends.

With the schedule we had an the talent we had this should have been more like a 10/11 win team that made a trip to Indy.

That’s the thing with Kirk, it seems he often underperforms with some of our more talented teams (see 2010), and he often overperforms with some of the lessor talented teams (see 2015). All told it usually ends us in the 8-9 win level, which is admirable.

I believe Iowa’s goal every season should be to win the west. Clearly they aren’t going to do it every year but I would think they should at least go 2 out of 5 years or better. Seems to me with an improving Nebraska and Minnesota it’s only going to get tougher, and likely make us regret not winning the west with an opportunity like we had this year.

I am optimistic though as I feel the recruiting has been solid over the recent cycles and should lead to some talented teams over the next few years. Hopefully KF and the staff can turn that into a few trips to Indy.
 
^ Solid post.

I never expect more than 8 wins from Kirk.

It may not show in the rankings but you do get a sense that our recruiting has picked up. Special shout out to Bell, Wallace, Copeland and of course Morgan.
 
So you aren’t surprised that every recruiting service and 120ish d-1 football teams didn’t notice 5 players (22%) out of a super bowl winning NFL team’s starting lineup?

The talent scouts stick with covering the most productive high schools and more obvious stand out talent. Local college recruiters are a lot more likely to spot diamonds in the rough and guys from smaller high schools that don't much attention.
 
Who DOESN'T want more 9/10 win regular seasons? Everyone does. Yet you say we should expect more, then you say what we have done "isn't bad". Which is it? If you would have said I wish, or I want us to have more 9/10 win season, I'm right there with you brother. When you say we SHOULD EXPECT more of them, that is where I think it is important to see just how fee of teams can actually get to that number frequently.

Expecting more 9/10 win seasons, and saying what we currently do "isn't bad", are not mutually exclusive.
So, to answer your question: which is it? I say both.

Iowa's had one 9+ win regular season in the last 9 years.
Just one.

Do I expect more?
Well, certainly not with our current coach.
Do I think Iowa Football (evidently I think the brand is stronger than you do) should expect more huge seasons?
I sure do!

Now, I'm pretty sure I know what you're going to ask next:
OK and once they reach that next level, then what? Will you expect more? And possibly some National Championships?

And that discussion is futile at this point.

I'll say it again.
I think Iowa Football is a strong enough brand to crank out more 9+ win regular seasons than they currently do.
I can't be any more clear than that. I really don't think that is unreasonable.
 
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