Guest View: Is Ferentz Legacy Fading?

I really don't think they have the ability to change.
Ferentz had a golden opportunity to do just that with these coordinator hires and he went the absolute safest way possible. He's not going to change; us expecting that is just wishful thinking.
 
I have never felt that KF was the perfect fit for Iowa in 1999. I was concerned hiring a guy whose coaching experince at that point was limited to oline. Now 14 years later we have a head coach thats coaches like a position coach. But I feel he did a very smart thing way back then. He hired coordinators who had the experience he lacked. Norm had been a DC in the Big10 and SEC for many years. KOK had OC and head coaching stints before coming to Iowa. Now that experience is gone. I doubt GD is the answer at OC. I doubt even more he will be replaced anytime soon. Phil will be fine I believe. So where does Iowa go from here ? Nobody knows. Sadly I dont think Kirk knows either.
 
I do feel one thing: Brian Ferentz should not be our OC next year. But, neither should Greg Davis.

As a hypothetical lets assume Kirk feels this way too. What do you do? The obvious end-game is to get Brian into the OC position. It seems premature to put him in that position, but Davis has been so ineffective that risking another season with him as OC could be detrimental to KF's tenure at Iowa.

The choices I see are;

1. Let Davis go and throw Brian into the fire.
2. Keep Davis for another year (or two) until you feel Brian is ready. (and risk your own job)
3. Let Davis go and bring in another OC for a year or two to mentor Brian. (But what decent OC would sign-up for that gig?)

If you're Kirk, what do you?
 
The Greg Davis situation is like a bad marriage. You thought it was the right move, but things fell apart. Time to move on before you have kids and things get more complicated. You let it linger in hopes it gets better and all you get is more regret.
 
As a hypothetical lets assume Kirk feels this way too. What do you do? The obvious end-game is to get Brian into the OC position. It seems premature to put him in that position, but Davis has been so ineffective that risking another season with him as OC could be detrimental to KF's tenure at Iowa.

The choices I see are;

1. Let Davis go and throw Brian into the fire.
2. Keep Davis for another year (or two) until you feel Brian is ready. (and risk your own job)
3. Let Davis go and bring in another OC for a year or two to mentor Brian. (But what decent OC would sign-up for that gig?)

If you're Kirk, what do you?
One who wants to be a HC within 5 years.
 
I guess I'm missing something. Just what provides any indication that Brian Ferentz is prepared to be an OC in big time football after just one year of coaching at Iowa? How do we know that we won't be getting a thirty year younger version of the same mindset?
 
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What if the problem isn't Greg Davis? What if the problem is the previous staff's (and carryovers on this one, to a degree) increasing failure to spot and successfully recruit the talent required to compete in a changing BoneG? Or, what if Davis' scheme requires a different kind of athlete and Iowa recruiting is only beginning to catch up with that adjustment? Do you still toss him after one bad year?
 
I don't know about that being substantiative piece -- after I read it sounded more like a rant than anything else.

Some of these guys would have fired Hayden Fry after his record in the 92,93,94 seasons. Would that have been a good idea?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with knowing who you are and paying to those strenghts. If Iowa was losing big every time out and there was a question of effort -- then maybe you have a construct for criticism. But the effort is there and we just are not winning the close games now. When we start -- all these 'problems' go away.


Does it really matter if the effort is there if we're consistently losing to the worst programs in one of the worst conferences in football? Should these guys get a blue ribbon for their effort?
 
I don't know about that being substantiative piece -- after I read it sounded more like a rant than anything else.

Some of these guys would have fired Hayden Fry after his record in the 92,93,94 seasons. Would that have been a good idea?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with knowing who you are and paying to those strenghts. If Iowa was losing big every time out and there was a question of effort -- then maybe you have a construct for criticism. But the effort is there and we just are not winning the close games now. When we start -- all these 'problems' go away.

The problem is bigger than just "losing the close games." The problem is the teams we are now in close games with (Central Michigan, ISU, Indiana, Purdue) ... We are not talking about close losses to Ohio State, Wisky, Michigan ...

Good, well thought out article. I agree ... Kirk should cut the ties with Davis and do it now. Don't wait a year or two ... This is not working-- for whatever reason. If a fifth year senior quarterback can't grasp the system or concept then I don't expect too much from the current qbs on the roster.
 
I strongly disagree with anyone saying that we shouldn't get rid of Davis. He needs to get out of here quickly..If this offense is that damn hard and complex to figure out then it needs to go, let's get real.

The losses this year justify it Davis needs to be sent packing. If Davis stays KF is going to pay dearly for it..
 
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The problem is bigger than just "losing the close games." The problem is the teams we are now in close games with (Central Michigan, ISU, Indiana, Purdue) ... We are not talking about close losses to Ohio State, Wisky, Michigan ...

Good, well thought out article. I agree ... Kirk should cut the ties with Davis and do it now. Don't wait a year or two ... This is not working-- for whatever reason. If a fifth year senior quarterback can't grasp the system or concept then I don't expect too much from the current qbs on the roster.

Exactly! I was arguing about this with someone yesteday.. The issue isn't that we're unlucky in close games. Luck tends to even out over time.

The issue is that we are in a situation against teams like Central Michigan where back luck can actually cost us the game. A bad break in a game shouldn't get you beat when you're playing one of the worst teams in the MAC, or a winless Purdue team, etc.

Or 6 points against ISU.. You can't blame that loss on bad luck when your offense can't muster more than 6 freaking points.
 
I guess I'm missing something. Just what provides any indication that Brian Ferentz is prepared to be an OC in big time football after just one year of coaching at Iowa? How do we know that we won't be getting a thirty year younger version of the same mindset?

Not sure where all this negative vibe for BF is coming from, do you really thing he wouldn't be better then what we are seeing from Davis? It's a known fact that BF is not his fathers clone. KF stated just as much as he commented that now BF finally gets a chance to see what the suggestions he sent to him in past years will pan out now first hand. BF was part of a successful coaching staff that included Coach O' Brien that just this year resurrected the Penn St program and made a 2nd string QB in McGloin into the leading passer in the B1G. You just don't work on a staff like New England and not be prepared to coach and the rumor was that BF was in consideration to get the OC job at New England. I know, I know rumors are rumors but we all know where there's smoke there's got to be a little fire. I'd be okay with this transition heck it can't be any worse then what we see on the field now. Further more after seeing how Penn St. manhandled the Hawks I say give him the keys. I'd rather see KF go down with family then with an old haggard Davis.
 
Can someone name me a coach that's left New England and been successful? I honestly can't think of one off hand. I suppose you can say O'Brien, but I don't know that 10 games is enough of a body of work to make that claim yet.....
 
I don't know about that being substantiative piece -- after I read it sounded more like a rant than anything else.

Some of these guys would have fired Hayden Fry after his record in the 92,93,94 seasons. Would that have been a good idea?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with knowing who you are and paying to those strenghts. If Iowa was losing big every time out and there was a question of effort -- then maybe you have a construct for criticism. But the effort is there and we just are not winning the close games now. When we start -- all these 'problems' go away.

While Fry had also built up good will from the rose bowls and good years, had he been "asked to retire" after those 3 seasons, he would not have been allowed to run the program into the ground and leave the cupboards completely bare for the next coahc (Kirk) like he did. A team with the lineman, Tim Dwight, Tavian Banks, etc underperformed consistently because of, you guessed it, bad QB play. Until we change the way we play offense, I see no reason any good Wr's or QB's would want to come to Iowa.
 
As has been said, a big part of the problem is the horrendous recruiting classes of 2008 and 09 and the high volume of deflections. We have few veterans to lead or even fill-out the 2deep which is not a good formula for a developmental program.
 
They only won 7 games because they couldnt hold up at the line of scrimmage against good teams.

This should actually be a test question to determine which Iowa fans are knowledgeable and which are not. 1997 was so far from a stacked team. 1997 had two great playmakers at the skill positions and nothing else on offense. They didn't have anyone to grind out tough yards or move the chains over the middle. Banks was a homerun hitter who struck out a lot. Dwight was an all purpose player trapped at the WR position. OL was average.

They had a fairly stout defense with DeVries, LaFleur, Clark, Cooks, Thigpen, Atkins, & Gibson.

The 1996 team was far better with a much better OL and overall depth across the board.
 
As a hypothetical lets assume Kirk feels this way too. What do you do? The obvious end-game is to get Brian into the OC position. It seems premature to put him in that position, but Davis has been so ineffective that risking another season with him as OC could be detrimental to KF's tenure at Iowa.

The choices I see are;

1. Let Davis go and throw Brian into the fire.
2. Keep Davis for another year (or two) until you feel Brian is ready. (and risk your own job)
3. Let Davis go and bring in another OC for a year or two to mentor Brian. (But what decent OC would sign-up for that gig?)

If you're Kirk, what do you?
 

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