I just want to get this post out of the way now

[CP87]

So only rich people who pay the most taxes get to care how the country is run?

Not even close to the same thing. We are all invested in this country, for the most part we do not have the option of living anywhere else.

We all have the option of spending our free-time and discretionary income on a hobby other than following the Hawkeyes.

 

[Cory]

Some don't want to entertain the thought that you probably have to overpay at Iowa once you find a good fit because of some of the inherent demographic challenges.

Or that coaches like Saban, Meyer, Stoops, etc would perform anywhere near at Iowa to what they have done at other stops. I don't think they would

Jon, I totally have to disagree with you on this one. I believe the one difference between Iowa and the other programs you are talking about is a huge devotion to recruiting. To be a great recruiter you have to be tireless and dynamic. For Iowa to make a jump to the next level you need a teaching coach like KF with the dynamic recruiting of a Zook.


To even think the previously mentioned coaches would not have equal to or more success than KF at Iowa is not being honest and having blinders on. Those coaches hire great assistants that have been great recruiters. Sure they lose them from time to time but then they hire the next best coach/recruiter available. I believe KF doesn't feel comfortable hiring people that want to be head coaches or are on the fast track and this leads to hiring marginal recruiters.


IMHO.

 

[CAARHawk]

i would like to expand on hogeye using 8.7 wins per yr when kf's 1st 2 seasons are omitted. since many arent math people i will put it as simply as possible.

this means that on a 3 yr rotation kf wins in yr 1 - 8 games, yr 2 - 9 games, and yr 3 - 9 games...then it would start over.

i know he doesnt actually do this but it does set us up to understand that the pace at which he wins actually is at 8 or more each yr. now he has 7 wins seasons but he also has 10 win seasons and we just have to rebuild every once in a while like 95% of college fb teams. yet our rebuilding yrs are at 7 wins and other schools rebuilding yrs are like 3 wins.

could the grass be greener of course but it could be brown too (just look at our bball program before fran).

i grew up with...if it aint broke dont fix it...mantra. doesnt mean you dont tweak it a little everyonce in a while to keep it fresh but our fb definitely is far from broke.

I love the FUZZY MATH people like to use on this site to make their point. The people who want to bash KF cut off the years that help them make their point and the people who want to praise KF cut off the years that help them make their point.

STOP WITH THE FUZZY MATH.

There is one way to judge KF's HC career at Iowa and that is to judge his entire HC history. When you do this there is one trend that is consistent throughout his tenure.

He wins 7 or less games for three years, and then 8 or more games for three years on a repeating pattern.

Doing this ridiculous mean measurement across seasons to come up with the KF's record over the last ten years actually being 2 years at 8 wins and 1 year at 9 wins, when in fact he has never had that 3 season sequence, is freaking hysterical.

IT IS 3 years 7 or fewer wins, 3 years 8 or more wins repetitively, period. Well, until he breaks that cycle, which considering that 13 game seasons have come to be since he started as HC is very likely. Then you are going to have to go by seasonal winning percentage or the like.

 

[sdschroe]

My response to you was not that the 2007 defense was the problem. But, that your argument that the 2012 schedule is so easy that Iowa can overcome a weak defense is not warranted by recent history.

2007 is a good example of how a weak side of the ball can make it so you can't take advantage of even a weak schedule. Not sure why you bring up 2000 again. As I said before, 2000 is NOT the year to bring up, because the ratio of strong to not-so-strong players and the schedule are more like 2007.

The 2012 Iowa team loses 11 of its best 13 players from the previous season when they went 7-6.* That same 7-6 team may have as many as 6 or 7 players drafted (which is a TON). Minimum of 4. What does that say about the contributions made last year from the returning players? In reality, it was pretty minimal.

I'm not sure how anyone is predicting better than 6 wins for next years team.

* - 2011 Iowa's best players (I'm not a film junkie, so this order isn't perfect):

1) Reiff
2) McNutt
3) Prater
4) Coker
5) Gettis
6) Daniels
7) Binns
8) Vandenberg (returning)
9) Hyde (returning)
10) Zuscevics
12) Bernstein
13) Nielsen

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

I get that we lost a bunch of good players. I also think there is some talent in the wings behind those players. I would also venture to say that Morris and Kirksey played better than Prater last year and should be listed. You could say the previous year in 2010 when 7 were drafted that we shouldn't have had a shot to win 9 games last year, but if you look at the losses to Iowa State and Minnesota, we truly should have won 9 games.

The fact of the matter is that in college football you are constantly asking guys who haven't played at this level to step up and contribute. Did anyone see Bernstine stepping up the way he did last year...certainly he had the potential, but he was far and away our best DB in my opinion. Same thing with Reiff as a RS Freshman and Morris as a true freshman...etc, etc, etc. I think we have some young guys that it's their turn and although they are inexperienced, I think they play above expectations.

The reason I feel we have a shot to win 9 games is that we have a Senior QB who has the ability to take a huge leap forward with Greg Davis. I think he will. Accurate QB's who can move the chains are an equalizer...like Dan Persa was his junior year with NW. He just kept moving the freaking chains with the short passing game. He kept NW in almost every game despite some challenges on the defensive side of the ball over the past few years.

 

[sdschroe]

Prater was 1st team All Big ten from the coaches. HM from the media.

Last year's team also could easily have lost to Pitt. Michigan and Northwestern could have turned out differently if a couple plays go differently, etc. Yes we should have beat ISU, but they were probably a better team than Iowa last year. They were certainly the better team when we got to O.T.

I hope you are right about next years team, but I just don't see it. I think our D-line will be beaten by every O-line they play (even the weak teams on our schedule), and in most cases beaten badly.

A major emergence from Vandy operating in a brilliant new scheme really is the only hope I see for next year. But Vandy didn't exactly light the world on fire last year. Despite a solid O-line and Iowa's best WR ever and a manageable schedule, he completed 58.7% of his passes. His stats were good, yes, but on the road and against good competition he was mediocre.

Persa completed 73.5% of his passes in 2010 and 2011. NW went 13-13 combined in those two years.

Next year's RB's and OL will be completely green. We only have one solid returning WR. I would love to see the Brian Ferentz influence come in and turn Vandy into Brady, CJFed and Hamilton into a college version of Gronk and Hernandez, KMM into Welker, etc. But that is totally dreaming.

 

[CAARHawk]

\ Brian Ferentz influence come in and turn Vandy into Brady, CJFed and Hamilton into a college version of Gronk and Hernandez, KMM into Welker, etc. But that is totally dreaming.

That would be a weird dream.

That's like saying the Ben McAdoo influence when you are talking about Aaron Rodgers, or the Terry Malone influence when you are talking about Drew Brees.

 

[Billso]

It just seems everyone is willing to give KF and this program a pass on the underperformance because of the achievements of 7 years ago.

Weird, I could swear I was sitting in Miami with my son just 2 years ago watching Iowa win the Orange Bowl to finish #7 nationally.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[OUTofTOWNHAWK]

Not even close to the same thing. We are all invested in this country, for the most part we do not have the option of living anywhere else.

We all have the option of spending our free-time and discretionary income on a hobby other than following the Hawkeyes.

Nope it is the same thing. You are saying the people putting up the most money are the only ones that should be able to complain.

 

[Cory]

Weird, I could swear I was sitting in Miami with my son just 2 years ago watching Iowa win the Orange Bowl to finish #7 nationally.

Thanks for the correction.

I believe I also mentioned 2009/2010. If you have zero problem paying top 5 money to finish top 15 four out of every thirteen years then I think you have some very low expectations. I would love to find out where Hayden's pay was compared to the other coaches but I'm too lazy. He accomplished everything KF did in a much tougher football era. I bet he wasn't even close to top 5 money or even top 10.

 

[hogeye]

Jon, I totally have to disagree with you on this one. I believe the one difference between Iowa and the other programs you are talking about is a huge devotion to recruiting.

This comment right here shows how clueless you are about college football recruiting. If you think the only difference between Iowa, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC and other top tier programs is devotion to recruiting then you're living in your own reality.

Again, as I mentioned before, people like you that want to hang Kirk out to dry over being paid top 5 monies without the results of the top 5 programs in the nation are oblivious to reality. And comments like that underscore that fact.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

So your another moronic con?

No. You're just a moronic, negative poster.

 

[Billso]

I believe I also mentioned 2009/2010.

Not in the post I quoted you didn't, where you disparaged people for giving "KF and this program a pass on the underperformance because of the achievements of 7 years ago". And it makes all the difference. My view of KF would be very different had we been strictly mediocre over the last 7 years, and not rebounded from the 2006/2007 troubles.

I am intrigued by your recruiting comment. In your view, what specifically should change about the approach of KF and staff? What are they not doing?

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Some don't want to entertain the thought that you probably have to overpay at Iowa once you find a good fit because of some of the inherent demographic challenges.

Or that coaches like Saban, Meyer, Stoops, etc would perform anywhere near at Iowa to what they have done at other stops. I don't think they would

Jon, of the three coaches you actually named, exactly ONE of those would even consider the IOWA HC job. IOWA would NEVER be in contention for the other two, or a Tressel, a Pete Carroll, etc. That loyalty from KF is worth a ton.

 

[hogeye]

I am intrigued by your recruiting comment. In your view, what specifically should change about the approach of KF and staff? What are they not doing?

It's pretty clear that we're not waltzing into Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Texas and just taking what we want. And we're not taking the plethora of athletes available in our own backyard. You know, like the other top 5 programs can do.

 

[SpiderRico]

Jon, of the three coaches you actually named, exactly ONE of those would even consider the IOWA HC job. IOWA would NEVER be in contention for the other two, or a Tressel, a Pete Carroll, etc. That loyalty from KF is worth a ton.

Jim Tressell was coaching Div I-AA Youngstown State when OSU plucked him away. Are you telling me that if Iowa had extended an offer to Tressell when he was at Youngstown State instead of Ferentz that he would have turned us down? I highly doubt that!

 

[Billso]

It's pretty clear that we're not waltzing into Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Texas and just taking what we want. And we're not taking the plethora of athletes available in our own backyard. You know, like the other top 5 programs can do.

Well played

 

[Golfer]

I'm cautiously optimistic. I have a feeling, nothing more, that we overperform this year. Not to the extent of a BCS Bowl game, but maybe an Outback Bowl.

 

[Cory]

I'm cautiously optimistic. I have a feeling, nothing more, that we overperform this year. Not to the extent of a BCS Bowl game, but maybe an Outback Bowl.

I'm right there with you Golfer. The schedule just sets up well if Iowa doesn't come out flat against a bad team. I think the young additions to the staff keeps everyone on their toes.

 

[Cover3]

Golfer, I have no reasoning to back this up, but I too am feeling like we may surprise a little bit. I'm not expecting anything in particular, but if we avoid major toe-stubbings early, 9-3 is not an unattainable result.