I got chills reading this ....

H

homerHAWKeye777

Well-Known Member
Nice article about leadership

Like Mike, Wanna be Like Mike - Iowa Official Athletic Site

The part that got me the most ....

James Ferentz said about Mike Daniels .... "Mike is leading those guys in a way that few guys can lead. ..... Mike is very intense, he's into everything. If he doesn't like the way a young guy is behaving, he gets right in their face and lets them know about it. ..... The way he is able to convey his message is really good. He brings guys in, he doesn't push them away. I think he's going to lead and show those guys how to push through the grind of a season."

Myself and others are on record stating that stronger leadership on D really would have helped the 2010 season to be better ... perhaps a good bit better. Specifically, it seemed like the 2010 D lacked a guy who would really be an "enforcer" on the D. As a result, the D really seemed to lack that extra bit of mental toughness that is needed to step up and excel, even in the face of adversity.

If what James Ferentz says is correct about Mike Daniels ... we just might have our man for the 2011 season. I cannot impress upon fellow fans enough here how critically important that leadership is to the success of our beloved squad.

I'm excited! Reading the above article just made me that much more excited about our 2011 squad.

One last tidbit that reinforces my excitement:

Mike Daniels said .... "The leadership was there (in the past), but this is the best I've seen because it was more so from the older guys. .... Now you see it from the younger guys as well, starting to step up and take care of the younger guys -- guys that are only a year younger than them, but they look at it as their job to help them get used to how we do things around here."

The implication there is pretty critical. Young guys are stepping up in leadership roles too. That not only helps out the squad leadership-wise ... but it also better helps to foster the family atmosphere in the locker room. It reinforces the team as a unified whole ... rather a group of cliques and/or factions. When guys are all working together as brothers ... working together towards a common goal ... then there's little that they cannot accomplish!
 
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I get the sense James Morris will be this kind of leader to. Starting some this year and especially next year with Nielsen leaving. It will also be nice to have Prater in the secondary as that didn't have a strong leader either. Sash had fire but didn't seem to be a strong leader I guess you would say. Greenwood was always the quiet type.
 




Ronco said:
Where the chills part come in?
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I get chills thinking about the Hawks actually being capable of having a pretty special 2011 season. The very fact that Iowa's leadership might be good is incredibly promising.

I know that sometimes folks get chills simply from observing great play or something truly awesome. However, ANTICIPATION is also capable of being the source of chills. I'm excited about the possibility of the 2011 squad being awesome.

Does that make more sense?
 




I liked that as well. Then add in Norm behind the seat, and hold on guys. I got a feeling, this one looks like shes about ready to start firing on all cylinders. I just dont know if we can get by Wiskey. I would love to say yes, but I cant. They are going to be tough this year as well.
 


olddude said:
I liked that as well. Then add in Norm behind the seat, and hold on guys. I got a feeling, this one looks like shes about ready to start firing on all cylinders. I just dont know if we can get by Wiskey. I would love to say yes, but I cant. They are going to be tough this year as well.
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Well if we even get to Wisconsin, that means we will have had a great season and will be playing in the Inaugural Big Ten Championship game. Not to mention, a chance to get the Heartland trophy back to Iowa City in an intense rivalry game with a BCS berth on the line. I'll take those odds!
 


JugadorHawk said:
Well if we even get to Wisconsin, that means we will have had a great season and will be playing in the Inaugural Big Ten Championship game. Not to mention, a chance to get the Heartland trophy back to Iowa City in an intense rivalry game with a BCS berth on the line. I'll take those odds!
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you hit the nail on the head
 




That comment makes me think of Ray Lewis (I know LB-DL but still). Another thing that was said that I liked was, when Vandy said he had the guys out there playing catch. I sure hope he does well, we need Coker thru all the games. You know KF coaches these kids on being infront of the camera, but just like KF, when they say something you can just about take it to the bank.

So I think we should turn this thread into a "positive" thread.
#1 Like Mike
#2 Vandy and friends
 




I agree completely with homer on this one. In fact, this time last season I was very vocal about being concerned with not having a Mitch King or Pat Angerer type of player that would take on the enforcer leadership position. Everyone kept telling me I was wrong because we had the best leader ever in Stanzi. Unfortunately, Iowa needs leaders that are feared by the other players. If you look at our best seasons under Ferentz, we always had at least that one player who kicked the other players' butts if they got out of line(maybe with a small exception in 2004). Players like Barr, Sanders, Cole, King, and Angerer meant so much more to the Iowa program than just what they did on the field.
 


This will end up being one of those “Iowa” kinds of seasons…..of course homer knows very well my feelings on leadership, this team and the fan base. As I look back on 2008 and 2009 the fanfare was very similar to this year. There was a little more momentum coming into 2009 but there was still concern over Stanzi, K & K departing, no Shonn Greene and the usual our coaches suck stuff. And 2008 was definitely a “sour” forecast by many. The point being we aren’t in uncharted territory here and the leadership is PARAMOUNT. The talent is there…

On that note I just don’t get the reviews………

Let’s start with the 9 supposed returning starters…..Auburn has 6 and I guarantee you they don’t have more current NFL talent on their team than us. Yet they are preseason 15ish by most…..see that’s the thing, Iowa has proven time after time they have MORE NFL talent in the wings and if memory serves (didn’t go thru my old Mags to verify yet) there was at least one other season where we had 9 returning starters and still won double digits games.

Furthermore what of those 9 returning starters…………..

Steele for whatever reason lists us with 5 returners on O yet doesn’t include Coker as one nor does he include Gettis. Gettis who began last year as a starter and Coker who finished the year….He does go on to say three guys rotated at OG but honestly I see 7 starters and a couple other O-linemen who have started……I also saw a TE who saw at least half the snaps…..

On D he says Nielsen started 8 games but doesn’t include him as a returning starter?!?!??! Binns he also doesn’t include as a starter……though he does mention a very good 2009 if I remember correctly.

So in short the 9 returning starters balloons pretty quickly to 13! That doesn’t even count the fact that we played 4 frosh Lbers and 2 frosh DB’s in very important minutes as the season closed.

Honestly if you want a reason why Iowa excels when poorly thought of start right here…..prognosticators grossly over evaluate last season’s results and grossly under evaluate how many guys ended up having to play important snaps as a result of injuries and what not. When freshmen get pressed in to duty it typically pays huge dividends the following year and this Iowa team in particular has proven this many times in recent seasons.

It’s actually nearing the time when I stay off these boards and I’ll confess my passion isn’t quite there yet this year. Because we don’t really know, but if the leadership is there this is a 10 plus win team and I truly believe they are going to flat roll up on some teams.

Chad
 


burky247 said:
I agree completely with homer on this one. In fact, this time last season I was very vocal about being concerned with not having a Mitch King or Pat Angerer type of player that would take on the enforcer leadership position. Everyone kept telling me I was wrong because we had the best leader ever in Stanzi. Unfortunately, Iowa needs leaders that are feared by the other players. If you look at our best seasons under Ferentz, we always had at least that one player who kicked the other players' butts if they got out of line(maybe with a small exception in 2004). Players like Barr, Sanders, Cole, King, and Angerer meant so much more to the Iowa program than just what they did on the field.
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I would consider Roth to be that guy on the 2004 team.
 


Section136 said:
I would consider Roth to be that guy on the 2004 team.
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Drew Tate also played a similar role that year. He wasn't afraid to get in your face, even as a sophomore. IIRC, I believe I even heard a story about Tate getting into it with Roth. Dude was fearless.
 


Section136 said:
I would consider Roth to be that guy on the 2004 team.
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Duh on my part. You're absolutely right. He was the enforcer that year. He completely slipped my mind for some reason.

Tate was a great vocal leader and he would get in your face. But he didn't really provide that "fear factor" that scared players straight. At least in my opinion.
 


tm3308 said:
Drew Tate also played a similar role that year. He wasn't afraid to get in your face, even as a sophomore. IIRC, I believe I even heard a story about Tate getting into it with Roth. Dude was fearless.
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Good call on Tate. Story I heard was that Roth either picked off a screen pass or picked up a Tate fumble in practice and was show boating and high stepping into the end zone. Tate didn't take too kindly to that and chased after him and tackled him and they got in a a wrestling match in the end zone.

Tate is my favorite Hawk of all-time.
 


cmhawks99 said:
Let’s start with the 9 supposed returning starters…..Auburn has 6 and I guarantee you they don’t have more current NFL talent on their team than us. Yet they are preseason 15ish by most…..see that’s the thing, Iowa has proven time after time they have MORE NFL talent in the wings and if memory serves (didn’t go thru my old Mags to verify yet) there was at least one other season where we had 9 returning starters and still won double digits games.

Furthermore what of those 9 returning starters…………..

Steele for whatever reason lists us with 5 returners on O yet doesn’t include Coker as one nor does he include Gettis. Gettis who began last year as a starter and Coker who finished the year….He does go on to say three guys rotated at OG but honestly I see 7 starters and a couple other O-linemen who have started……I also saw a TE who saw at least half the snaps…..

On D he says Nielsen started 8 games but doesn’t include him as a returning starter?!?!??! Binns he also doesn’t include as a starter……though he does mention a very good 2009 if I remember correctly.

So in short the 9 returning starters balloons pretty quickly to 13! That doesn’t even count the fact that we played 4 frosh Lbers and 2 frosh DB’s in very important minutes as the season closed.
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While I don't expect an uber-special season in '11 ... I think that we'll observe a Hawk squad that comes ready to play ... and one that will be awful fun to watch. For fans itching for really special seasons .... our O is going to be insane-good in 2012 and our D is going to be insane in 2013. I'm willing to state those prognostications as FACT.

What I like about the '11 season is that the O has a chance to be on par with the '08 O ... and I consider that to be a VERY good thing ... AND the D is loaded with wiley veterans. While the D isn't necessarily manned with a ton of multi-year starters ... it ISN'T like the group is lacking in experience. Some of my favorite examples that I believe point to a precedent for the Hawk D are:

'05: We replaced an entire front 4 on D, we had a guy at the LEO spot who simply wasn't "natural" there, and we had a new starter at safety (who wasn't particularly good in coverage). What's more, the '05 D really didn't have the leadership that we're accustomed to having. Despite all of the above short-comings ... the D still managed to develop into a good group by the end of the season. Furthermore, the D still managed to be effective when it came to scoring D even though we gave up plenty of yards.

CONTRASTS with '11 - The main factors that counted as weaknesses for the '05 D simply aren't present with regard to the '11 D. First off, rather than manning the DL with guys who were SO and FR ... as they were in '05 ... the '11 DL will be comprised largely of 5th year SRs and exceptionally promising underclassmen. Even though I expect that Iowa may have to deal with some green play at safety in '11 .... as safeties go, neither Miller nor Hyde are liabilities in coverage. As for leadership ... just refer to the OP in this thread.

'08: A lot of folks like to point out that entering the '11 season Iowa is simply fielding too many first-year starters to be very good on D. However, if you look at the '08 season, Iowa actually was fielding EVEN MORE first-year starters on the D. Specifically, 3 of the 4 starters in the secondary were first-year as regular starters (Fletcher, Spievey, and Sash), 2 of the 3 starters at LB were first-year starters (Angerer and Hunter), and 2 of the 4 starters on the DL were first-year starters (Clayborn and Ballard). Thus, despite fielding a staggering SEVEN new regular starters on D ... the '08 D still managed to be an exceptionally impressive one. An important thing to remark here is that veteran upperclassmen like Fletcher and Angerer, while not being regular starters before, still proved to be exceptionally important contributors for the Hawk D that season. It's also pretty remarkable to note that the remaining 5 guys were comprised of 3 redshirt SOs, 1 true SO, and 1 RS FR .... in other words, we had 5 starters who were awfully young. Also, it's worth noting that of those 5 guys, only Fletcher had ANY prior D1 starts under his belt (4 stars as a SO and 4 starts as a JR).

COMPARISONS/CONTRASTS with '11 - In '11, 2 of the 4 starters in the secondary will be first-year regular starters (Lowery/Castillo and Miller), 1 of the 3 starters at LB will be a first-year regular starter (Kirksey/DiBona/Hitchens), and 2 of the 4 starters on the DL will be first-year starters (Bigach/Carl Davis and Daniel/Alvis). In other words, the '11 D that is already being somewhat maligned by pundits actually returns TWO MORE REGULAR STARTERS than Iowa's '08 D! Furthermore, of the new starters, 2 guys already have prior starts under their belts (Castillo and DiBona), Miller is a guy who played like a quality starter against Mizzou, and Alvis is a guy who is likely a "sure thing" if he can remain healthy. On top of all that, Lowery has generated some pretty insane buzz ... the last two guys who generated about as much buzz out of the secondary was Sash and Spievey ... and Sash proved to arguably be the 2nd best SS ever during the Ferentz era ... and Spievey just might have been a "best ever" CB for us. Heck, there was even talk that Carl Davis was a guy who the coaches felt could have contributed for us as a TR FR if the need had arisen. The group of "candidates" competing for the open starting spots in '11 is comprised of 1 SR (Daniel), 2 RS JRs (Bigach and Castillo), 2 RS SOs (DiBona and Alvis), 4 TR SOs (Lowery, Miller, Kirksey, and Hitchens), and 1 RS FR.

'02: Yep, a lot of Iowa fans probably forget how much inexperience we had on D in '02. 2 of the 4 starters in the secondary were first-year regular starters (Allen and Pagel ... Pagel was much like Bradley Fletcher in having prior starts, but I wouldn't count him as a "regular starter"), 1 of the 3 starters at LB was a first year starter (Worthy), and 3 of the 4 starters on the DL were first year starters (Babineaux, Hodges, and Clauss). Furthermore, Cole had just gotten moved to DT for DE.

COMPARISONS/CONTRASTS with '11 - Much like the '11 D, the '02 had to replace A LOT of experience and talent. However, they did just that .... and managed to field arguably the best run D that Iowa has fielded during Ferentz's tenure. Of course, the '02 D was rather weak in coverage ... however, as a whole I'd say that that will not be a weakness of the '11 D. Quite frankly, I anticipate that the '11 D will be pretty decent against the pass and will not be great against the run ... however, I believe that they will be GOOD ENOUGH against the run in order to get the job done.
 


The 2005 and 2010 teams had similar situations in that they lost NFL players from a dominant defensive unit, but had guys coming back who were rated higher than the guys they lost. The problem is that Greenway and Hodge had an extremely green and undersized line, just like Clayborn and Ballard had an extremely green set of linebackers.

Also, both sets of stars were forgone conclusions to be high draft picks (Ballard's drug test hurt his stock.)
 


CAARHawk said:
The 2005 and 2010 teams had similar situations in that they lost NFL players from a dominant defensive unit, but had guys coming back who were rated higher than the guys they lost. The problem is that Greenway and Hodge had an extremely green and undersized line, just like Clayborn and Ballard had an extremely green set of linebackers.

Also, both sets of stars were forgone conclusions to be high draft picks (Ballard's drug test hurt his stock.)
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My impression of what you're getting at is that '05 and '10 were similar because each defensive unit was effectively "lamed" at an entire position-group due to youth/inexperience ... and that ended up hurting the D as a whole.

A contrasting point of those two units was that the '05 D has the benefit of enjoying better personnel continuity throughout the entire season ... thereby allowing the youth to "find their legs" and better push-forward their development. The '10 D's group of LBs continued to get thrashed at LB throughout the ENTIRE season ... thereby killing our personnel continuity. That then had a significant impact on what the D could consistently execute ... and it also impacted the development of the D as a WHOLE (although guys like Morris, DiBona, Miller, and Hitchens certainly progressed as INDIVIDUALS).
 


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