I truly hope that KF learns from his DJK experience

BSpringsteen said:
DJK could have been a Heisman Trophy winner at Iowa.

I hope the next time we have a player with his skill set come into Iowa, KF puts as much time and energy into how to put the ball in his hands as often as possible as he does how to turn him into the person he thinks he should be.

Great hands, breakaway speed, incredible desire and from everything I have heard a great person.

I whole heartedly agree with what Jon said, sometimes you have to let stars be stars, and you also have to let kids be kids.
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Good post you need to let stars be stars sometimes. KF does a poor job with star players and letting them be stars. He is solid with no name players flying low.
 
Saginawbay said:
Good post you need to let stars be stars sometimes. KF does a poor job with star players and letting them be stars. He is solid with no name players flying low.
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While I will miss DJK and his play-making ability, there is a reason he routinely rubbed KF the wrong way. Do I know why that is. Absolutely not. No idea. Like another poster said, was some of this minor. Absolutely from the sounds of it.
But this isn't the NFL. Stars shouldn't be allowed to do what they want, when they want. Follow the same Iowa code everyone else has to. These are still kids. You buy into the program or face the consequences. He's still the player and KF is the coach. That hierarchy still and always should matter.
 
BSpringsteen said:
DJK could have been a Heisman Trophy winner at Iowa.

I hope the next time we have a player with his skill set come into Iowa, KF puts as much time and energy into how to put the ball in his hands as often as possible as he does how to turn him into the person he thinks he should be.

Great hands, breakaway speed, incredible desire and from everything I have heard a great person.

I whole heartedly agree with what Jon said, sometimes you have to let stars be stars, and you also have to let kids be kids.
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I am tossed up on this one. I always yelled at the television on why we didn't utilize him more. He definately has the talent in that position. Not sure if he is Heismann material which has to be really outstanding at WR. eg: Larry Fitzgerald. didn't win. Plus DJK doesn't play for Michigan or Notredame. I would have liked to see him on the field more but that missed time was his responsibilty. He is lucky he produced in the time he had, it just would have been neat to see what he could have done had he stayed in good standing with the staff his whole time here. He will play on sundays and he will be a better man in the leage due to KF.
 
So, since he set all these records, aren't you a little suspicious that KF keeps him off the field? Do you really believe that KF wants a playmaker on the bench? Do you really believe that?

What I believe is that there is more to the story. Kirk's not going to compromise rules/routines for one player.
 
SwirlinLingerie said:
Well, I hope DJK learns from his Kirk Ferentz experience. Whatever was happening behind the scenes that resulted in DJK having to come off the bench at points during his career were rules that nearly all of the other Hawkeye players could follow.

And maybe some of those were the types of routines and practices that molded guys like Dallas Clark, Bob Sanders, Nate Kaeding, Pat Angerer, Shonn Greene, etc., into the type of players they are today.

Also, maybe they were the type of practices and routines that made DJK into the all-time leading receiver at Iowa.

Without any of us knowing what happened behind the scenes, it is hard for me to give the benefit of the doubt to the kid over the man who has been named Big Ten Coach of the Year three times and is of unquestioned character and ethics.
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EXACTLY.

I will only add, for those complaining about underutilization, that when DJK often failed to get open early in his career, that's not on Kirk. And when Stanzi chooses to check down or throw into double coverage instead of a wide-open DJK, as happened several times this year, that's not on Kirk either.
 
I don't think that DJK would have ever won the Heisman trophy at Iowa. That does not mean in any way shape or form that he is not that caliber of player, because he might be. As a wr, I didn't think that anyone could consistently cover him this year. There were a number of times he had his guy beaten silly, only to find us go to another reciever, take a sack or throw off target or high into a stiff wind.

I honestly didnt think there was one team that Derrell could not have abused this season with a few more touches and looks.
 
Hawkeye fans completely overrate DJK. Jon Miller, in particular, overrates what DJK brings to the table. Jon still gets a wood over what Herbie said about DJK out of high school. Don't forget that Tressel knew all that and still opted for Ray Small instead of DJK.

I would agree with Jon that the Iowa coaches could potentially benefit from learning to "manage" ego-guys better. However, Soup was very familiar with it ... and even then we still haven't seen DJK CONSISTENTLY take over games like a truly great WR can. Many fans STUPIDLY and incorrectly tally that up to the coaches underutilizing DJK. However, the fact of the matter is that for all the "jump balls" thrown to DJK for the 4 years that he's been a starter ... I've only counted once or twice when he's actually come down with the ball ... outfighting everybody else. In contrast, Braylon Edwards (who enjoyed the same tutelage) would have games where he'd pull down more jump balls in a SINGLE GAME.

Why do I bring up "jump balls?" Because they give a better measure of how much fight and desire is in a player.

DJK certainly has plenty of talent ... however, he lacks in the "fight and desire" department. Unfortunately, the old addage is true ... you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.

What's really sad is that Stanzi was a pretty darn good QB. He really deserved a WR who would fight more. In warm weather, Stanzi was capable of throwing a lot of pretty perfect balls ... with touch, no less. However, in the cold, when it's harder to throw those balls ... he's been forced to throw more to guys who have a better track record of fighting for balls or going after harder to catch balls (McNutt, Reisner, etc).
 
Anyhow, to reiterate upon my above post ... I'd give DJK a 0% chance to have EVER won the Heisman ... and that's even IF Iowa were to have gone undefeated. He simply wouldn't have deserved it.
 
homerHAWKeye777 said:
Anyhow, to reiterate upon my above post ... I'd give DJK a 0% chance to have EVER won the Heisman ... and that's even IF Iowa were to have gone undefeated. He simply wouldn't have deserved it.
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I would add several other "factors":

The Good

--At his "best", DJK showed he had as much talent as any receiver we've ever had at IOWA. I'm thinking one-handed catches, a couple KOR TDs, tight-rope TDs, etc.

--DJK clearly became a pretty good, if not really good, downfield blocker in his last three years

Now, the Not-So-Good

--How many times did we see deep balls that weren't completed because DJK appeared to "quit" or not "run through" on his route?

--How many dropped balls did we see each and every year?

--Lastly, in the 2009 Indiana game alone, he had at least two balls where he should have "turned into a DB", but instead, the result was an INT

Was DJK "underutilized"? Hard to say. He may have done his biggest "service" by being "good enough" to draw enough attention that McNutt was able to have pretty decent success. He certainly took advantage of his move to full-time KOR. And he was certainly glowing in his praise of Stanzi when there was still a QB battle going on.

It also appears that he was a distraction at times. That may work at Florida or USC. It clearly doesn't under KF. Thank God.

On balance, DJK is certainly one of my favorite players of the 2007-2010 era. But if you had said, "Would you sit DJK if Shonn Greene promised to stay for the 2009 season?", the answer is deceptively simple: "Stay healthy, Colin and Marvin!"
 
I'm not trying to be a smarta** here, so don't read this while imagining the wrong inflection. But when was he a distraction? He's been a little brash ("light some fireworks" comment from this past August in regards to the offense), but never calling guys out, and his statuses/tweets were usually just funny, and didn't become a distraction until the coaches started taking issue with it.
 
VintageHawkeye said:
Seneca Wallace.
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You have to say Pete Taylor's name three time, bow at the alter of Fred Hoiberg, and then convince yourself that Arnaud was anything better than average before you can consider thinking about possibly saying the name of.....I can't even say it, it's so sacred.
 
mj4cy said:
Please point out where I ever mentioned he should have been a Heisman trophy winner.



Unlike DJK, I actually did hear some Heisman talk for awhile with him, but I knew that we hadn't gotten into the meat of our schedule yet that year.
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I guess the better question is why a CyFan mod feels the need to interject his opinion into a non-ISU thread.
 
ShadasRevenge said:
You have to say Pete Taylor's name three time, bow at the alter of Fred Hoiberg, and then convince yourself that Arnaud was anything better than average before you can consider thinking about possibly saying the name of.....I can't even say it, it's so sacred.
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LOL
good work, SR :D
 
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