RobHowe
Administrator
Howe: Buck Stops with Kirk Ferentz
Hawkeye Head Coach Bears Most Responsibility for Iowa Offensive Woes
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Howe: Buck Stops with Kirk Ferentz
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OUTofTOWNHAWK
Well-Known Member
been saying this for years. It’s crazy to me that people let Kirk off the hook and think a new OC would do anything.
Its funny that it’s well known that Kirk has little to do with the defense. It’s the thing that has kept him employed.
Its funny that it’s well known that Kirk has little to do with the defense. It’s the thing that has kept him employed.
HaydenHawk56
Well-Known Member
That said, I think most can agree that Kirk's body of work does not justify firing him....no?
That is not to say that we are not in the beginning stages of a severe downward spiral with an old coach at the end of his rope.
Although I don't support removing all heads at this time.....cutting one head off the hydra can't hurt I think.
That is not to say that we are not in the beginning stages of a severe downward spiral with an old coach at the end of his rope.
Although I don't support removing all heads at this time.....cutting one head off the hydra can't hurt I think.
Fryowa
Administrator
No way you fire Kirk, but at the same time he can’t continue to be obstinate about his kid.
Unfortunately the folks paying the bills are fine with it.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
This is where our AD completely bones us. A good AD would bring in Kurt this week during the bye and have a long talk about his legacy and dangle a portion of the existing buyout in front of him and say "dude, we love what you've done, but we think the program needs some fresh lifeblood" and you give the guy $15 or $20 million to retire at the end of the year, promote Woods to HC, get a new OC and line coach and keep as much intact as possible. I don't think the program is in a terrible place right now, but it could easily be a full on tire fire within 24 months.
Fryowa
Administrator
Yup.
RobHowe
Administrator
You don't fire the winningest coach in program history. He doesn't deserve to be fired at this point. And he's Gary's boss no matter what the signs on the doors say.
This is up to KF, IMO. He's self aware. He needs to change some things. It doesn't have to be a massive overhaul but he needs to get out his his comfort zone on offense. Changes have been made on defense. Again, not wholesale, but evolving to meet modern day college football.
This is up to KF, IMO. He's self aware. He needs to change some things. It doesn't have to be a massive overhaul but he needs to get out his his comfort zone on offense. Changes have been made on defense. Again, not wholesale, but evolving to meet modern day college football.
It felt like he tried to get out of his comfort zone with the Davis hire, and that was mostly a disaster (but 2015, so not all bad). How can Iowa make "KF getting out of his comfort zone" work this time? Does there need to be some kind of ultimatum from AD with regard to structuring of offensive staff? It seems like a difficult problem to fix.
MelroseHawkins
Well-Known Member
This is where I wouldn't mind having a Jamie Pollard.
Prob gunna get crucified for this comment!
MelroseHawkins
Well-Known Member
This is so damn true and what I have always thought. The players feel suppressed and play tight. The coaches coach tight. All are afraid of failing Yes, you don't want plays to fail, but if you play so tight, you are not getting the most out of the talent, players or coaches. It's a hot mess.
"It comes across as a lack of trusting others and limits upside. If you're so afraid to make mistakes that you won't get out of your comfort zone, you're doomed by a razor thin margin for error."
"It comes across as a lack of trusting others and limits upside. If you're so afraid to make mistakes that you won't get out of your comfort zone, you're doomed by a razor thin margin for error."
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
Its not as though KF has never made changes in the face of failure and adversity. We have seen him bench upperclassmen QBs, albeit slower than we would have preferred. He and his best friend parted ways and he brought in a new OC to try and modernize the offense. Turns out that he made a terrible hire of a guy literally no one else wanted to have as an OC, but there was an effort. He changed practice schedules to mornings. He moved slowly to the CASH concept on D to better match spread passing offenses.
The man is not stupid and he knows his offense sucks. Yes, he is loyal to Brian, but I don't think he will keep his son on staff if he is the albatross that sinks his program. I think he honestly believes the OL is the main problem, and I actually think it is too. While I don't see any moves in season, I suspect there will be modest changes in the offensive staff in the offseason. While we would all like immediate and drastic changes to the offense, that usually is not a recipe for success and KF has built a 22 year career on not overreacting. He errs on the side of reacting in a tardy and measured manner, which does not fit our instant gratification culture.
The man is not stupid and he knows his offense sucks. Yes, he is loyal to Brian, but I don't think he will keep his son on staff if he is the albatross that sinks his program. I think he honestly believes the OL is the main problem, and I actually think it is too. While I don't see any moves in season, I suspect there will be modest changes in the offensive staff in the offseason. While we would all like immediate and drastic changes to the offense, that usually is not a recipe for success and KF has built a 22 year career on not overreacting. He errs on the side of reacting in a tardy and measured manner, which does not fit our instant gratification culture.
hawkinn3
Well-Known Member
A guy with this many years and this much success coming off 10 wins (in case you weren’t aware) with this buyout isn’t getting fired anytime soon.
However, this is the beginning of the end. This offense is putrid and we have ceased developing players on offense and the cupboard is bare.
If we hired a new dynamic OC today and recruited great it would be 2 years before we were middle of the road offensively.
What has saved Kirk throughout the years is he doesn’t miss a bowl game more than once (first 2 years aside.) Making a bowl will always matter here, to the ADs, the donors and frankly the fans.
If we don’t make a bowl this year, and next year we promise to be much worse, this is going to get ugly in a hurry.
However, this is the beginning of the end. This offense is putrid and we have ceased developing players on offense and the cupboard is bare.
If we hired a new dynamic OC today and recruited great it would be 2 years before we were middle of the road offensively.
What has saved Kirk throughout the years is he doesn’t miss a bowl game more than once (first 2 years aside.) Making a bowl will always matter here, to the ADs, the donors and frankly the fans.
If we don’t make a bowl this year, and next year we promise to be much worse, this is going to get ugly in a hurry.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Agreed. You ask him to retire and dangle some cash out there and find something of significance to slap the Ferentz name on.
You are right that changes were made on defense. But do you remember how long that took? Chad Greenway made the base 4-3 look amazing because he could cover pretty much anyone, but when Chad left for the NFL it was an utter shitstorm of watching guys like Humpal or Klinkenborg trying to cover guys like Ted Ginn. That lasted for years and was again covered up when we had a good senior class of LBs in 2009 who could ice games, but then promptly turned back into shit until we had Hitchens and Kirksey's unit and then it turned into a disaster again after that until the cash was finally implemented. That was a long process and if implementation of offensive changes is going to take that long we might as well just tear the stadium down and sell it to China for scrap metal because the program will be crushed if this is our offense.
With the rules in play today where the players can come and go, this could be bad sooner than 24 months. We already had that 4 star RB decommit. Could end up with no star-1 star talent. Our offense is the laughingstock of college football. How to you sell that to a kid?
Fryowa
Administrator
Thank you. Too many people here and elsewhere don't understand this.
SwirlinLingerie
Well-Known Member
Do you think there is any chance Barta's employment status will be reviewed? It's not a quick fix, but man, are there a lot of skeletons in that closest. I know Wilson signed off on Kirk's extension, but you'd think the powers that be, including Wilson herself, would question why Iowa owes Kirk $45 million or whatever right now and not $20-25M. Who was looking out for the university's best interest when Kirk signed that contract extension? It needlessly complicated the current situation.
It was a perfectly appropriate time to keep him at the 4-5 year deal with the year added annually. And somebody needed to step in and say the university doesn't feel comfortable going above $20-25M guaranteed money with the pending lawsuits and his son in the #2 position. What was Kirk's leverage there?
I don't know if all the latest national attention puts Barta back on any decision makers' radar, but it would seem like the right time for new leadership within the athletic department.
Allow a new AD to evaluate Brian's position, including his personnel file and whatever comes of this lawsuit. And also have a new AD in place for the head coach transition, whenever that may come. Not sure how decision makers at Iowa, who need to evaluate risk and reputation, would want Barta navigating the choppy waters ahead.
It was a perfectly appropriate time to keep him at the 4-5 year deal with the year added annually. And somebody needed to step in and say the university doesn't feel comfortable going above $20-25M guaranteed money with the pending lawsuits and his son in the #2 position. What was Kirk's leverage there?
I don't know if all the latest national attention puts Barta back on any decision makers' radar, but it would seem like the right time for new leadership within the athletic department.
Allow a new AD to evaluate Brian's position, including his personnel file and whatever comes of this lawsuit. And also have a new AD in place for the head coach transition, whenever that may come. Not sure how decision makers at Iowa, who need to evaluate risk and reputation, would want Barta navigating the choppy waters ahead.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
You can't. These kids want to play in the NFL and no highly touted WR or QB recruit is gonna walk through that door with what is going on right now.
That in and of itself is another can of worms. You're right he's the top of the totem pole and Barta doesn't have the power to do anything. He can't even force KF to fire his own kid who technically reports directly to Barta supposedly. I mean if BF were to get fired wouldn't that have to be from Barta and not KF anyway just due to how they themselves say they structured all that?
Oh I would lean towards that yes it probably needs to be a massive overhaul. The HC up in Wisky was just tossed out due to similar struggles on O. The traditional running the ball like we try to do all the time in a predictable way from the same formations has got to change. He doesn't want to though and BFs situational play calling has just always been head scratching and has gotten worse. So I guess it's in the eye of the beholder on how we define massive overhaul but to me that's kinda what it'd take
The D is fine. Yeah they bend some still but compared to the rest of college football we can't nitpick about that very much. 95 plus schools out there would trade what they have for us in that department hands down.
