I'll disagree, Drew.
If this program is halfway decent we don't need a guy that prepped in Iowa to secure the Iowa recruits we need to get. We more need a former player that has inroads into Illinois and Michigan.
Your generation gap thinking is not a reason to push for a guy that is just out of school for four or five years instead of a guy that has better connections. Are there a lot of other teams that are that concerned about this sort of thing that they bring in a guy that won't have a generation gap with the players on the team? I think there is probably another position that can handle that, like if there is a way to have a guy on staff like KF has in the former player that is now the "counselor guy" for the football players.
I am probably one of the few guys that feels it is so important to have a former player on staff. I personally want the coach that will give us the best chance to compete. I just don't see how being a former Iowa player , if that is the prerequisite, does that if he doesn't bring everything else that a coach in that position can bring. How that would be a former high school player from Iowa that has no coaching experience, no connections to the AAU circuit outside the state of Iowa and no connections to the high schools outside of Iowa that we need to recruit, well, I just don't see the need for a former player at the expense of getting the right person.
I have to admit that I am so in the minority there that I know I will get slammed to no end. And I don't have anything against Horner or any other former Hawk. I just really want the assistant coaches that give us the best chance to win. Period.