I am sorry if this sounds mean spirited....

[InGoodCo]

Just remember we're Iowa, we can't expect better than an offense that ranks near the bottom of the entire nation. We just can't get the type of players to score points here.

I still say if we have an offense that ranks right in the middle of the nation we win 8-9-10 games a year with our schedule. This is with the "feel good story" recruits we get.

And even better, we're more fun to watch. If we're going to settle for 7-8 wins a season, can we at least have a team that's fun to watch?

Iowa has the 4th highest win percentage in the B1G over a 16 year time span, that style of play is NOT a determent to Iowa's success, it's the key. Having a program that consistently wins 7 or 8 games isn't settling, it's upper half of the nation. I lose so much respect for Hawkeye fans on this site.

 

[InGoodCo]

You guys do realize this thread was started by a troll, right?

I think Ferments gave it away - still - I don't have anything better to do and I am not ashamed of that.

 

[Hawk90]

Amen - we got ding dongs ripping on Bo fricking Bower on here.

Pretty sure that is not what he is talking about, .....high school kids, not slow small town linebackers that have no business playing in the Big Ten/Beau Bower.

 

[Hawk1960]

---

Is that what it has come down to? Especially given our pathetic Pre-Season schedule. And no, I'm not realky sorry other than having to single out Try Hard Kids who sleep in their Hawkeye Jam Jams. BTW, Hayden got run out of town for a lot less.....what was his winning % as a double digit favorite?

LOL at you Playmaker ... while you continue trolling you just missed another tackle for loss by the first team all American Josey Jewell from Decorah, Iowa.

 

[InGoodCo]

Pretty sure that is not what he is talking about, .....high school kids, not slow small town linebackers that have no business playing in the Big Ten/Beau Bower.

No, pretty sure this is frowned on too @RobHowe - Get a life

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Iowa plays faster than they are because they play sound and assignment football, so they are usually in the correct positions. There are two different kinds of speeds we are talking about. I can see both sides of this argument.

I coach a 5th grade youth league basketball team. Last Monday at practice we were working on plays which involved our pick-and-rolls. I was instructing them to when going off the pick with the ball to have in their mind the 3 potentials options for the play. Already know or be aware of what could develop ahead of time. 1) Drive if no defender stays or switches on you. 2) Hit the guy that picked for you on the roll. 3) Hit he opposite post if his guy leaves to pick you up. I tell them those are the 3 things you want to look and be ready for driving off this pick, as this will allow you to play faster. I used these exact words.

Point is preparation and understanding allows players to play faster, separate from just the speed of the player factor.

Nobody eptimizes that on the football side for Iowa better than Jewel.. It's not that his first and second step are faster then everybody elses at his position it's that he is always starting to take it a split second sooner. He processes plays and reads the other teams QB/RB and interior Olineman almost within a split second of the snap. Jewell isn't the fastest, strongest or most athletic LB there's ever been but he'll never take a back seat to anyone. I think Desmond King was similar at his position. He just played smart. Took great angles on the ball in the air. He could have been an outfielder the way he can track balls down I bet.

 

[Hawk90]

No, pretty sure this is frowned on too @RobHowe - Get a life

Perhaps, you have been triggered and should go to your safe place snowflake. I think Bower is a big boy, on scholarship.

 

[InGoodCo]

Perhaps, you have been triggered and should go to your safe place snowflake.

nah, I'm good - but being harassed by you seems out of line too @RobHowe

 

[mopkins]

Too many of you are just delusional. How many Power 5 teams would gladly trade their last 15 seasons for Iowa's? 80% of schools?

How many schools have ended their season ranked inside the top 10 over the past 15 years? Iowa has done it FIVE TIMES. That's 3 more times than Notre Dame. That's 2 more times than Michigan. That's 1 more time than Wisconsin. That's 1 more time than Auburn. That's 1 more time than Florida. That's 5 more times than Nebraska. That's 1 more time than Stanford.

Get your heads checked.

 

[vork22]

in 15 Iowa beat 2 top 25 teams, won in Madison, Evanston and Lincoln. That wasn't a weak schedule year. Ask the NFL coaches and brass if Iowa is considered like all those other programs. Iowa isn't elite EVERY season, that's what this comes down to for the 7-5 guys... and the argument that defenders make is ... show me who is besides a handful of programs

Iowa has been an elite caliber team once or twice in the last 40 years and 2015 we were not elite. Sorry but playing an FCS school and no games against Michigan, Penn State or the OSU is a weak schedule. We got beat by the one decent team that we played and got embarrassed by the one elite team that we played. It was a great year but it was a result of the schedule.

 

[westender]

Kirk's winning % .5965, 7.15 wins on a 12 game schedule. We are essentially a 7-5 program under him.

So why do the whiners keep watching? Why not do something less stressing? Kirk is not going anywhere. Take up a nice calm fall hobby. Those coming on here and whining constantly are just pissing into the wind.

 

[westender]

Honest question: is it the system we run or the type of players we recruit that constantly leave us looking slower and less athletic than equal competition?

Outside of Wadley and ISM this years team lacks this speed and athleticism. This isn't something new. If we go back through the last 10-15 years speed has been a consistent issue.

Just looking for some clarification on why this is. I won't claim to be an expert, but this appears to be an issue to me and others I've spoken with.

Iowa does a lot of linebackers in coverage type stuff and yeah in general a linebacker is not gonna hang with a WR or RB forever. They generally will be slower and that is not just an Iowa thing.

I guess we should just go get all the track guys to go out for football.

 

[Thawki]

7-5, no off field issues, a warm spot in December. This is what we are. Until the boosters step up, this is what we will always be.

Why do we always have a safety that is a small town Iowa white guy? Because he works hard. He is a heck of a practice player. Who cares if he continually gets burned. He is a Ferentz guy.

While I kind of get what the original post is saying, whether I agree with it or not, do you realize who those “small town Iowa white guy“ dbacks are? They are not holding this program up. Quite the opposite. Off the top of my head: Greenwood, Sash, Bowen. I am sure others could come up with more of them.

7-5, no off field issues, a warm spot in December. This is what we are. Until the boosters step up, this is what we will always be.

Why do we always have a safety that is a small town Iowa white guy? Because he works hard. He is a heck of a practice player. Who cares if he continually gets burned. He is a Ferentz guy.

Maybe we always have that guy because his name is Sash or Greenwood or Bowen or Considine or insert other name here of many who fit your description. Oh, wait, those guys were just REALLY, REALLY good players. They don’t fit your profile. I guess because your profile is incorrect. You just don’t want to use facts to support it.

Maybe there are some that get burned, at all positions and from other states. Your statement is crap as it portends to DBs, though.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Playmaker aka "Haymaker" is weak and pathetic. It won’t be tolerated on here. Period.

Criticize the coaches. They get paid. Don't drag teenagers working their asses off for a scholarship into your agenda.

FIFY

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Hayden got run out of town... what alternate history do you subscribe to?

Dude, it's Haymaker. He throws 'em all the time.

 

[InGoodCo]

Iowa has been an elite caliber team once or twice in the last 40 years and 2015 we were not elite. Sorry but playing an FCS school and no games against Michigan, Penn State or the OSU is a weak schedule. We got beat by the one decent team that we played and got embarrassed by the one elite team that we played. It was a great year but it was a result of the schedule.

Good point, and you're not wrong, I'd also put that # of years out a little further then 40 years. So, it's an Iowa thing for sure, we have hundreds of years of data to draw on. Iowa doesn't make it's B1G schedule so it wasn't like Iowa ducked those teams. They also schedule 2 power 5 teams when very few other programs were doing so. What coaches do people want to come to Iowa to make it an elite team annually? Not a snarky question - Honestly, what is the answer? If Iowa fans are fed up with KF - who do you want Iowa to go out and get?

 

[hawkeyebob62]

I agree it's our scheme. Teams have figured out our zone run blocking scheme. It's also REALLY obvious outside of Wadley that we don't have speed on the team (or we don't allow it to breathe) because every team plays 10 men in the box against our offense, daring us to go deep. Now that might change if we could actually hit one of those passes, but until we do, and score off of it, teams will continue to load the box.

I think Jewell is a good player. I don't know how he'll translate, or if he will at the next level. I think his numbers are inflated by the fact that Iowa cannot get off the field on 3rd down. When opposing offenses run 80-90 plays and you never leave the field, it's a reason why your tackle numbers will be high. He also seems to cover for Bower a lot. Again, not saying he's a crap player, but can't just look at the numbers.

Our best hope for a bowl game is to play a team that runs the option.

If our speed sucks that bad, why are 98% of the overthrows to a receiver who actually got behind the defender?

 

[DBAHawkFan]

If our speed is that good, why are the WR being overthrown?

 

[Locker67]

----Always 7-5? We've won more than 7 games in 3 of the last 4 years haven't we?

Is that what it has come down to? Especially given our pathetic Pre-Season schedule. And no, I'm not realky sorry other than having to single out Try Hard Kids who sleep in their Hawkeye Jam Jams. BTW, Hayden got run out of town for a lot less.....what was his winning % as a double digit favorite?

I don't think Hayden was ran out of town. I think his health reasons had a lot to do with him retiring. I may be wrong but I don't remember him going coaching someplace else after he left Iowa.

 

[InGoodCo]

If our speed is that good, why are the WR being overthrown?

Maybe it's the QB making his 6th start? Maybe the line isn't giving him time? I wish it was always as black and white as us fans wanted it to be. We lost cause the team wanted it more I bet.