If Ferentz coached in the SEC...

[BILLBUCKNER]

If you don't think KF would be successful at a high profile SEC school, you are sadly mistaken. Look at Nick Saban as a prime example. Saban and KF both come from the Belichek coaching tree. Both run similar, pro-style offenses and defenses. Saban's record at MSU was 25-22-1 his first 4 years at MSU. His 5th year, MSU went 9-2 but he took the LSU job and didn't coach them in the Florida Citrus Bowl. His 1st 3 years at LSU, he went 8-4, 10-3 and 8-5.

There is a built-in recruiting advantage because of geography, lower academic standards and booster "creativity" that the Big Ten, especially Iowa, doesn't have. If KF was willing to compromise his principles and coach at a place like Alabama or LSU, he would be competing for championships because he is that good of a football coach.

If KF is as good a coach as you say,then why does he struggle mightily against ISU,NW,MN and MAC schools for gosh sake! Iowa has a huge advantage over any of those schools,so it must be coaching.

 

[JHHawk]

The SEC does have much more talent than the Bigten. If we were a middle of the pack SEC team, we would still be in the top 20 (or better) in national recruiting rankings each year.

I looked at the last 4 years recruiting rankings. The SEC has 7,5,7,6 teams in the top 15 over the last 4 years. The Big Ten had only OSU and Michigan crack those top 15 in any of the years.

So yes, the SEC has a ton more talent than the Big Ten.

 

[mbchawk]

If Ferentz were at any other place other than Iowa (including the not for long NFL), he would have been long gone. In the NFL he'd be a line coach somewhere as his coordinator capabilities are zero. His inability to consistently beat the patsies of the Big 10, Big 12 and MAC is ridiculous. Oh, I forgot to include the powerhouse DII program UNI.

 

[hoffahawk]

If KF is as good a coach as you say,then why does he struggle mightily against ISU,NW,MN and MAC schools for gosh sake! Iowa has a huge advantage over any of those schools,so it must be coaching.

Why does any school lose or struggle with a team that they have more talent than? It's why you play the game!!!!

Don't get me wrong I am just as ****** as anyone that we lose to teams that we have no business losing to but that is the way our O and D are set up. It keeps lesser teams in the game just as it keeps us in games where other teams have better talent. It allows us to win games we might not have any business winning and on the flip side allows lesser teams to beat us from time to time.

Look the Central Michigan loss is absolutely inexcusable and if you don't feel that KF is a good coach that is fine anything that someone says on a message board isn't going to change your opinion.

 

[UIHawkGrad]

C'mon man. Say what you want about Saban's rep or demeanor or whatever, but KF can't hold Saban's jock in a basket. Not in maintaining a successful program, and sure as hell not on gameday. I get you like Kirk, but get real.

I get it, you don't like Kirk. I didn't say anything about Saban's rep or demeanor. Just making the point that Saban's teams had average records until he went to the SEC with it's built-in recruiting advantages. I am not saying Saban is not a good coach but, if given the same opportunity, KF would be very successful running a high profile SEC program.

We will probably never find out but my argument is just as valid as yours.

 

[hoffahawk]

If Ferentz were at any other place other than Iowa (including the not for long NFL), he would have been long gone. In the NFL he'd be a line coach somewhere as his coordinator capabilities are zero. His inability to consistently beat the patsies of the Big 10, Big 12 and MAC is ridiculous. Oh, I forgot to include the powerhouse DII program UNI.

That is your opinion. As I said before there is no reason to argue situations that are impossible to prove either way but just know that is your opinion and not a fact.

 

[SpiderRico]

If Ferentz were at any other place other than Iowa (including the not for long NFL), he would have been long gone. In the NFL he'd be a line coach somewhere as his coordinator capabilities are zero. His inability to consistently beat the patsies of the Big 10, Big 12 and MAC is ridiculous. Oh, I forgot to include the powerhouse DII program UNI.

Why is there the assumption that he'd have the same results, record-wise, at a top level SEC school? Like a previous poster said, KF and Saban's resumes their first 5 years at Iowa and MSU, respectively, are pretty similar. I'd argue that MSU has more inherent recruiting advantages than Iowa, but somehow, KF was able to have better results at Iowa than Saban did at MSU. Doesn't that make KF a better coach since Iowa/MSU are about as close as you're going to get to an "apples to apples" comparison?

You need to ask yourself.....why the uptick in results in the SEC over the last 7-10 years? Like I said previously, it's coaching. There are no more Curley Hallman's or Gerry DiNardo's at LSU...it's Saban, then Miles. There are no more Sparky Woods or Brad Scott's at South Carolina anymore....now it's Steve Spurrier. At Arkansas, there was no more Danny Ford or Joe Kines...until Petrino embarassed himself and was fired, there was no denying he was a helluva coach. At Georgia, there are no more Ray Goffs or Jim Donnan's...it's now Mark Richt. No more Ron Zook's at Florida, it was Urban Meyer and now Will Muschamp (jury's still out on him).

One thing about the SEC that hasn't changed since about time eternal.....they've had players. Always have and always will. But the reason for the uptick in the ability of the schools in that conference ain't because they are getting even better players....it's because, as a conference, they have easily the best roster of coaches in the country.

 

[borgy]

I think KF proved and/or decided in the middle 2000's that he doesn't have a lot of success with loads of 4* and 5* players.

He can't handle their egos and doesn't blend them in well with the working class Joe's he likes. He would rather 'cherry pick' the MAC for guys with chips on their shoulders.

KF in the SEC? Short lived.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

How has KF done in bowl games against the SEC? Maybe that would tell us something about if he could make it in the SEC. I'm sure his talent level was much less than the SEC teams he's played, since they get all the best athletes. IMHO, coaching shows up most in the bowl games. You know what you have, you have 2 weeks to prep your team and have them ready.

 

[franstheman]

I will always maintain that football is a game won in the trenches. If you look at Iowa we have one of the highest rates of NFL draftees of any program in college football. They are mostly on the O and D lines. In fact I believe it was last year or 2010 where we had more dlineman in the league than any other college team. The SEC does get great playmakers but Ferentz' lines on both sides of the ball have been able to push the SEC teams around in bowl games thus our winning record against the conference under Ferentz.

 

[HawkAttack]

It's a mixture of both.See 2010. Our Johnnies and Joes were better than our opponent's almost every week. Problem was that our x's and o's were worse almost every week. Also, I think the coach is also responsible for getting those Johnnies and Joes to come to their program.

No offense, but just stating that it's a coach's responsibility to get great talent doesn't negate the cold, hard fact that Iowa is historically a hard place to consistently attract elite talent. That's just a fact. Les Miles is probably the only coach in college football who could learn a thing or two about clock management from KF yet he is a national championship winning coach. At least partly because his overall talent level makes it easier to mask those x&o flaws. A coach having a bad day can be more easily forgotten when a supremely talented player makes a great play to seal the game in the 4th quarter. It's much easier to get those players when your school is in a state like Louisiana, which is among the leaders in NFL players per capita and is sandwiched by talent-rich Texas on one side and the rest of the SEC region on the other. The numbers are overwhelmingly against a state like Iowa where there is little homegrown elite talent and the sport itself requires so many players on a roster. It's just math. No amount of 'we have to give 110%' speeches will ever change that. This is why Iowa is and always will be a school that doesn't have a quick hook if a football coach has a few years of mediocre results in between spikes of legitimate conference title contention.

I'm not saying x&o's have nothing to do with it, I'm just saying it's less important than the talent on the field and the overall talent depth up and down the roster. It's not a coincidence the programs that consistently recruit the highest rated talent are usually the same ones in contention for BCS games in November. Auburn won a NC because of Cam Newton, not because of coaches like Gene Chizik.

 

[racerhawk]

If you don't think KF would be successful at a high profile SEC school, you are sadly mistaken. Look at Nick Saban as a prime example. Saban and KF both come from the Belichek coaching tree. Both run similar, pro-style offenses and defenses. Saban's record at MSU was 25-22-1 his first 4 years at MSU. His 5th year, MSU went 9-2 but he took the LSU job and didn't coach them in the Florida Citrus Bowl. His 1st 3 years at LSU, he went 8-4, 10-3 and 8-5.

There is a built-in recruiting advantage because of geography, lower academic standards and booster "creativity" that the Big Ten, especially Iowa, doesn't have. If KF was willing to compromise his principles and coach at a place like Alabama or LSU, he would be competing for championships because he is that good of a football coach.

Spot freakin on.

 

[HawkIMalaise]

Let me start off by making sure it's clear I am a BIG TIME Ferentz supporter. But let's say for the sake of saying that Ferentz was the coach at a middle of the pack SEC team like Tennessee, Arkansas, Auburn and the situation was the same. Same record. Few mediocre bowls, few January bowls a few conference titles, few coach of the year awards, all the NFL draft picks, the huge salary, the close losses to huge rivals like Minnesota, Iowa State, etc... and quite a few big upsets along with some blow-outs of huge rivals. Would he have a job for 14 years?

You serious Clark? SEC does not tolerate mediocre football. Mississippi St would have fired him by now.