Hawks not close to Natty Champ caliber

Face it. I watched clemson but not the second game. ND is damn good and they got manhandled. Clemson loses an all american DTackle and they say his replacement is like the #15 ranked NFL draft number for that position, a non starter. Their wideouts are awesome, they have a great QB with enough wheels to extend plays and pick up key yardage. Superb RBs.

#11 for Clemson was a former safety and now lbkr at about 230 lbs, 6'2"ish and the announcers said he runs a 4.3. Venebles is a crazy good DC and he had #11 spying on QB Book and totally took Notre Dames run game away. Book did little in the run game and their backs did little. And to play a Spy on a QB in a game you have to have 10 other great players.

Iowa has talent, they have enough talent to win the West, even win a Big 10 Champ. But they do not have the talent to beat current teams loaded like Clemson and Bama unless it was a 1 in a 100 stars perfectly aligned combination of Iowa playing perfect and the other team making crazy mistakes. That can happen but the chances are very minimal.

And the worst part of it is the Hawks would have to beat a Clemson in the Semi then beat a Bama type team in the Champ game. That makes it 1 in a 100 times 1 in a 100 or about 1 in 10,000 chance of happening. Ouch.

Tremendous difference in speed and power with these teams. Geez Auburn had 3 receivers on the field at one time who were faster than Rondell Moore of Purdue. How would we cover them?

I hope one day the stars align and we see the hawks in the final four and then at least in the Champ Game.
Iowa is designed for close games, and hitting 7-5, with some upside possible if opportunities are seized.

When Iowa plays a real contender, the differences in play-makers is stark.

Iowa is a slow sailing, luxury ship/tanker, that eases through the waves to the port of call, named bonuses, longevity, legacy.
 
Well the good news to what the OP is saying is neither are the rest of the schools out there... I get what he's saying. The gap between the top 2 schools and the rest of the country was on full display last night.
One of the best the BIG has to offer in Michigan took their lumps in what was basically a road game for them with however many starters they had sititng out I think it was 4 of them. We'll see how OSU does..

Iowa couldn't hang with Bama or Clemson. I don't think that's breaking news right now it's pretty much a given.

Yep. Unfortunately, every year, no one can hang with Alabama or Clemson. Frankly, I am losing interest in the playoffs because the same two teams are in it each year, and look to be for the foreseeable future.

The bowls have been really pretty bad this year except for a couple of games. Hope that is different tomorrow. Unless Iowa wins in a blowout :)
 
He wasn't trying hard enough. Not trying is not the same thing as not trying hard enough. For 4 million a year, he better be trying hard enough. You better be trying harder than Greg Davis.


Semantics?

Maybe. I think he is trying hard enough. He just reached a level of contentment. Nothing wrong that, not a character flaw, many people become content with where they are in life. One of the reasons I am okay with Brian Ferentz being on the staff, even being the OC is that the old man has to do more for it is even realistic that BF is his successor. I think that contentment went away when the legacy thing became real.
 
Semantics?

Maybe. I think he is trying hard enough. He just reached a level of contentment. Nothing wrong that, not a character flaw, many people become content with where they are in life. One of the reasons I am okay with Brian Ferentz being on the staff, even being the OC is that the old man has to do more for it is even realistic that BF is his successor. I think that contentment went away when the legacy thing became real.
Disagree wholeheartedly. Any decision to hire Greg Davis when nobody else would, cannot be trying very hard. Looking for a new P5 OC isn't supposed to resemble Where's Waldo.
 
Iowa needs to develop 3* players. The developement of those (NFL) players takes 3-5 years. Putting 1-2 players in the NFL isn't going to reflect a top 5 program because the NFL-calibre players are still a year or two from being NFL-calibre players.

While football is still a trenches game, and Iowa does well there, the difference is skill position players and, obviously, Iowa doesn't do well there.

Somebody said if we're not that far off from NC contenders if we plugged a Brad Banks, Tavian Banks, and Marvin McNutt in the skill spots. o_O

yeah....okay. Like Iowa has ever had "once-in-a-generation" players playing all at the same time at the skill spots.
I understand your point, but nobody can make the jump from high school to the NFL. Every school is a developmental school in that regard.
So if that's the case either we are taking kids who need to add so much weight and muscle they won't be ready for a couple of years. Which ok then.
Or we are taking kids that need more work in fundamentals and learning the game. Which is then the job of the coaches to get them up to speed very quickly. Which we have seen a bunch of underclassmen and freshman playing in the past couple of years. So I think we are good there.
Then you have the unteachable stuff. Wadley having great feel for where everyone is at on the field.
Speed. Cj's will and drive.
My point is yes I think we need to evaluate what we are looking for in skill positions. Goodson looks like a good get.
But we can't have a kid that is years away from physically being ready and who is also years away from understanding the technique and game.
If that's the case, either the coaches suck, which all evidence points to that not being the case. Or the system is to hard, which with so many freshman playing in the last couple of years, probably isn't the case. They need to gain weight and muscle. Which sucks, but ok. Or they just don't have the it factor, the drive or will or whatever the ones like CJ and Wadley and probably TJ have.

So what actually separates a top 5 school in producing NFL players from competing with the likes of Alabama??
Well I don't know, but it isn't rocket science and there is a reason.
As was said, our lines are pretty good most of the time. Alabama good? Well we don't know either way.
Our db's are pretty good most of the time.
So we know what is working. That's the first step in figuring out the problem.
As for weight?? Hmmm I could see that being a big factor on the lines, but come on I don't think anyone gives a crap if a wr is 6'2 or 6'3 (just saying an inch or so) or weighs 165 or 180. If they do they are they are not looking at the right things. So who cares if a wr out of hs is going to gain 10-20 pounds, question is can he play while doing it. Weight and muscle affect depth more than anything. Because if they have to gain before they are ready, they can't be in the running to play or be back up.
What we need is someone on the staff that is dedicated to nothing but watching football and who is very skilled at picking skill players. That's their job.
Now I would gladly move to ia city and do that. But I don't have a resume to say I would be good at it, but I just know.
Because we are to hit and miss in that area.
 
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So Iowa can play 1-aa teams and Mac teams but Alabama can’t?
'bama is supposed to be the pinnacle of college football and in a whole 'nother universe with regards to recruiting, talent and coaching. But hey, I don't make the schedule. As long as teams can get away with scheduling easy teams I'm certainly not going to stop them.
 
I'd be ok with one game like that if it can replace Iowa State.

Go look at where Iowa was before Hayden Fry, is that what you want to go back too? We are closer to being like Illinois than being an Alabama. You have irrational expectations for this football program and KF. I'll agree that this season was a huge disappointment but I'm still please with the job KF has done overall.
I have irrational expectations because I expect the billionaire coach to play a road intersectional game every other yr like nearly all other teams do? Just flip it with the clown series so we always have a non con road game to prep us for conference. Like I said, this staff will never compete for a national title. Save the “we were close” crap because those teams were frauds as they were slaughtered in bowls. At least we’d give our alums some variety and travel opportunities
 
Here are the records of a certain team over a consecutive 15 year stretch between 1994-2008 - not that long ago.

5-6
8-4
7-5
7-5
3-8
6-6
9-3
7-5
7-6
9-4
6-5
8-4
8-5
9-4
7-6

And now they're being discussed as a team Iowa can never compete against. Will it happen for Iowa? Maybe, maybe not. But never? As in, never ever? I feel sorry for those of you who feel that way. That must be a brutal existence.
Records mean nothing unless you know who is being played
 
True.
All more the reason we need some aggressive recruiting methods.
There is no reason surplus players shouldn't be interested in Iowa Football.
Go study North Dakota states roster sometime. Let me know how many kids from Florida and the south you see. Minnesota used to get a ton . They are all over the north and midwest. Kirk is simply too lazy to commit to it. More likely, he prefers the “midwest work ethic nonsense”. That only takes you so far.
 
What’s wrong with being a fan of a program that is 99.9% clean(we’ve had our moments), 99% of the time is in a bowl game and of that 99% 75% of the time is in a NYD bowl game? We will always pull off a big win or near big win within the conference and more often than not go undefeated out of conf although that’s not too impressive when you look at our OOC schedule. There are many programs that can’t say that. Pre Saban Alabama, Post Spurrier and post Urban Pre Mullen Florida, pre Dabo Clemson, Texas, Georgia...the list can go on and on. We have it good and need to appreciate it. The ups and downs most programs have we don’t.
I would love to see a national ABC 7 pm game like 1992 Miami at Kinnick but that’s not what Ferentz wants to do.
We are paying this man and his entire family over $6 mill year for one win this yr over a p5 opponent with a winning record. He never leaves the state in September, has to only win three conference games per yr to make a bowl, get a huge bonus and to get extended. He’s put his entire family and friends on scholarship and then hired them (including extended family). He has top 10 facilities and is paid top 10 money. National media has printed story after story about the incredible loyalty the school and fans have for him without the results of others in his pay bracket
 
Agree. The 2009 Hawkeyes would have given the 2009 Tide a run for their money... Talked at depth with some 'Bama fans right after Thanksgiving in 2009 down in Orlando. They thought Iowa was going to go undefeated and play in the BCS championship game w/ them until NW. Of course they thought Iowa was going to be a contender in 2010 too.
Lol. Fantasy land
 
How cute. If you go over their schedule you will see every season is interlaced with opponents that even Iowa on a bad day would have little problem with.
We’ll never know and furthermore how would you know? Iowa isn’t nearly as good as you think it is. It certainly isn’t to the outside world. The Appalachian States and Mercers would open Our eyes up if given the chance
 
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