Glenn Mason Territory

eyekwah

eyekwah

Well-Known Member
Some on this board really need to appreciate what Iowa football has been able to accomplish. As one of the boards senior citizens there are some younger fans that do not remember some of the ugly past. Kirk Ferentz is an excellent coach and advocating a change is nonsensical.

Arizona Fires Mike Stoops: Life After Glen Mason Territory - SBNation.com

Definition:
"Back in my blogger infancy, i coined a term called Glen Mason Territory to describe when a coach achieves at a higher-than-normal level at a given school (probably a second-tier BCS program that hadn't won in a while before he showed up) but cannot ever break through to the next level; he keeps making bowl games and winning, say, 6-8 games a year, but fans begin to get impatient. The crazies begin to start yelling things like "settling for mediocrity!" on talk radio and message boards, season ticket sales begin to fade, and even the rational fans in the base (the SBN readers, naturally) begin to start wondering if a change is needed. [...]
Voluntarily making a change should only be done when you absolutely know your current coach is not going to deliver; you could make the mistake of replacing a coach who wins seven games a year (which is what Glen Mason did over his past eight seasons) with one who wins four. There is no easy, correct decision when you reach Glen Mason Territory."
​
 


I was just talking to someone yesterday about Glen Mason. He had solid, competitive teams. Yet, Minny "reached for the next level." Well, they found it.

I've been attending games for a few decades now. Sure, I get frustrated, but now is the time to hang in there. We'll be fine.
 




I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I DESPISE this argument. Who says that by letting Ferentz go, we would be required to hire someone who isn't as good? Where is that in the coaching search rule book? It is certainly possible that we would find someone who could do better. The Glen Mason/Mr. Davis references are just infuriating.

I don't want Ferentz canned. But this would never be an argument that I would use to defend him. Because it's ridiculous.
 


tm3308 said:
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I DESPISE this argument. Who says that by letting Ferentz go, we would be required to hire someone who isn't as good? Where is that in the coaching search rule book? It is certainly possible that we would find someone who could do better. The Glen Mason/Mr. Davis references are just infuriating.

I don't want Ferentz canned. But this would never be an argument that I would use to defend him. Because it's ridiculous.
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I would use the following arugment:

Ferentz is successful. Ferentz is a good coach.

There are plenty of examples of pretty smart people who THOUGHT they were getting a better coach, but weren't. Richrod would also be another perfect example.

edit: In other words, I think you're missing the point. You despise an argument, but you seem to not understand it. People became frustrated and wanted something better, only to realize that that "next level" is not attainable by many (see multiple examples noted arleady).

The real problem is that when a team has a bad stretch, a bunch of whiners start calling for the HC's job, and fail to see the big picture. Iowa is a solid upper division B10 team. They won the Orange Bowl two years ago, and despite a very disappointing year last year, beat #10 Mizzou in a lesser bowl.

Iowa may (?) go on to have a reasonably good year. It all starts on Saturday.

Look, everyone knew Iowa lost a lot of talent of last year's team, and that this year would be a challenge. Last year was the real disappointment.
 
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tm3308 said:
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I DESPISE this argument. Who says that by letting Ferentz go, we would be required to hire someone who isn't as good? Where is that in the coaching search rule book? It is certainly possible that we would find someone who could do better. The Glen Mason/Mr. Davis references are just infuriating.

I don't want Ferentz canned. But this would never be an argument that I would use to defend him. Because it's ridiculous.
Click to expand...

I agree. It's the chicken little argument. There have been many programs that have improved tremendously by going after a change in leadership.

I don't want Ferentz canned either. Right now we are paying the price for horrible recruiting in '08 and '09 as well as the price for player defections. The good news is there is talent on this team, it's just young and undeveloped at this point. We are staring at about another year of rebuilding and there is nothing that can really be done about it. Well, besides maybe playing our young players now and expediting the process.

I still maintain that it's time for Ferentz to really earn his money and bring in some new blood to this coaching staff.
 


racerhawk said:
I would use the following arugment:

Ferentz is successful. Ferentz is a good coach.

There are plenty of examples of pretty smart people who THOUGHT they were getting a better coach, but weren't. Richrod would also be another perfect example.
Click to expand...

And I'm sure there are examples where pretty smart people THOUGHT they were getting a better coach, and they were. Which is why I hate this argument. Getting a worse coach is far from the only outcome, but that's the only one that people choose to see.
 


racerhawk said:
I would use the following arugment:

Ferentz is successful. Ferentz is a good coach.

There are plenty of examples of pretty smart people who THOUGHT they were getting a better coach, but weren't. Richrod would also be another perfect example.

edit: In other words, I think you're missing the point. You despise an argument, but you seem to not understand it. People became frustrated and wanted something better, only to realize that that "next level" is not attainable by many (see multiple examples noted arleady).

The real problem is that when a team has a bad stretch, a bunch of whiners start calling for the HC's job, and fail to see the big picture. Iowa is a solid upper division B10 team. They won the Orange Bowl two years ago, and despite a very disappointing year last year, beat #10 Mizzou in a lesser bowl.

Iowa may (?) go on to have a reasonably good year. It all starts on Saturday.

Look, everyone knew Iowa lost a lot of talent of last year's team, and that this year would be a challenge. Last year was the real disappointment.
Click to expand...

I fully understand the argument. Which is why it frustrates me so much. You can't just say "well look what happened with the basketball program" or "look what happened to Nebraska/Michigan", and treat that as a solid reason to keep Ferentz. That's making decisions out of fear of failure. Perhaps that's why it's so frustrating to me. It's a lot like how Ferentz coaches at times.
 


Every coaching change is made with the intention of hiring a better coach. A majority of those coaching changes fail.

Kirk is an above average coach. Odds are his replacement is not as good. But it is possible Iowa hires the exciting, winning, charismatic coach that the nattering naboobs of negativity are all clamoring for.
 


burky247 said:
I agree. It's the chicken little argument. There have been many programs that have improved tremendously by going after a change in leadership.

I don't want Ferentz canned either. Right now we are paying the price for horrible recruiting in '08 and '09 as well as the price for player defections. The good news is there is talent on this team, it's just young and undeveloped at this point. We are staring at about another year of rebuilding and there is nothing that can really be done about it. Well, besides maybe playing our young players now and expediting the process.

I still maintain that it's time for Ferentz to really earn his money and bring in some new blood to this coaching staff.
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I think it's a chicken little argument to entertain the idea of firing one of the better coaches in the country. The sky is in fact not falling, and there have been a few lengthy threads about "letting KF go." THAT's the chicken little argument.

It's people who go 'round the bend about a few losses that are the ones who are freaking out. It's ironic that a few of you use the chicken little argument when so many of the other chicken hawks are freaking the hell out right now. end rant.

Having said that, I do agree that KF needs to earn his money and possibly bring in some new assistants...
 


An couple of alternatives to hiring a new coach would be:

A: Move the U of I to a state with a much larger population so recruiting would be easier
B: Move the state of Iowa to a warmer climate
C: Cheat
 


Kirk Ferentz statistically over his career and in the last 5 years is a 7-5 coach.

No, I don't think that is good enough.
 




racerhawk said:
I think it's a chicken little argument to entertain the idea of firing one of the better coaches in the country. The sky is in fact not falling, and there have been a few lengthy threads about "letting KF go." THAT's the chicken little argument.
.
Click to expand...

I can buy that as well.
 




I think there are alot of Clone fans and other schools fans that are dressed up in sheeps clothing on here trying to stir the drink more then anything. I really really hope that real Hawk fans aren't as crazy as some of the things I've been hearing and reading lately.
 




Section136 said:
What are your expectations?
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My expectations roughly:

To go into conference play at no worse than 3-1 every year.

To go into the last week of the season being in a position that a win gets you a the division championship. NOT TO WIN IT EVERY YEAR, just to go into the last game of the season with that being on the line.

Whatever record that amounts to is fine with me, and if it turns out that we go 7-5 (4-4) this year and that we are playing for Indianapolis when we are in Lincoln, than it is a successful season in my books.
 






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