In-state football recruiting miss that has hurt the most

C

CP87

Well-Known Member
Mosai Newsome picking Nebbie got me thinking about this: which in-state kid that Iowa was definitely after but picked a different school was the biggest miss (in hindsight)?

Ones that immediately come to mind are Lazard, Pierschbacher (sp?), Darbaroh. Any other obvious ones?
 
Lazard really doesn't hurt because we weren't getting him anyway.

Recent memory I'd definitely say Pierschbacher. He's a guard at Bama, but he was slated for Tackle with us, right smack in the middle of a period of strikeouts/busts in recruiting Tackles (Cyrus Kouandjo is an out of state guy that comes to mind, also to Bama ironically). We ended up having to start two guards in Myers and Boettger (along with Croston), who, although fine players, did not have the footspeed and pass blocking ability you'd expect from a tackle. I'd argue that with Pierschbacher on one side of the line, our pass pro in '15 and '16 would have been markedly better, possibly translating into a few wins (Northwestern in '16 in particular).
 
Of the in-state misses this decade, I'm dead serious when I say the biggest miss might be punter Matt Haack. With Iowa's playing style, having an NFL-quality punter can be a big, big difference maker. Not offering him early or pursuing him very hard was a bizarre move, but the blow was softened by him not going to any of Iowa's rivals.

Going back to last decade, losing David Barrent and Dan Hoch in back-to-back years stung. And it would have been nice to have Adrian Arrington; back-to-back 6-6 seasons in '06 and '07 may not have happened with an extra weapon of his caliber. Finally, he wasn't the 4-star that some of the others were, but there's always a "What if" factor with Dorian Davis. He played as a true freshman and true sophomore on a pair of very, very good Tennessee teams before playing on the best Cincannti team ever in '09. What would Iowa have been like with him on the '08 and '09 teams? What if he had redshirted at Iowa and was a 5th year senior in '10?
 
BVHawk95 said:
Lazard really doesn't hurt because we weren't getting him anyway.

Recent memory I'd definitely say Pierschbacher. He's a guard at Bama, but he was slated for Tackle with us, right smack in the middle of a period of strikeouts/busts in recruiting Tackles (Cyrus Kouandjo is an out of state guy that comes to mind, also to Bama ironically). We ended up having to start two guards in Myers and Boettger (along with Croston), who, although fine players, did not have the footspeed and pass blocking ability you'd expect from a tackle. I'd argue that with Pierschbacher on one side of the line, our pass pro in '15 and '16 would have been markedly better, possibly translating into a few wins (Northwestern in '16 in particular).
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We probably win the Big 10 championship game with him at tackle.
 
thejumper5 said:
Of the in-state misses this decade, I'm dead serious when I say the biggest miss might be punter Matt Haack. With Iowa's playing style, having an NFL-quality punter can be a big, big difference maker. Not offering him early or pursuing him very hard was a bizarre move, but the blow was softened by him not going to any of Iowa's rivals.

Going back to last decade, losing David Barrent and Dan Hoch in back-to-back years stung. And it would have been nice to have Adrian Arrington; back-to-back 6-6 seasons in '06 and '07 may not have happened with an extra weapon of his caliber. Finally, he wasn't the 4-star that some of the others were, but there's always a "What if" factor with Dorian Davis. He played as a true freshman and true sophomore on a pair of very, very good Tennessee teams before playing on the best Cincannti team ever in '09. What would Iowa have been like with him on the '08 and '09 teams? What if he had redshirted at Iowa and was a 5th year senior in '10?
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I knew there was another WR that went to Michigan, but I couldn't think of the name. Thanks for coming up with it.
 
thejumper5 said:
Of the in-state misses this decade, I'm dead serious when I say the biggest miss might be punter Matt Haack. With Iowa's playing style, having an NFL-quality punter can be a big, big difference maker. Not offering him early or pursuing him very hard was a bizarre move, but the blow was softened by him not going to any of Iowa's rivals.

Going back to last decade, losing David Barrent and Dan Hoch in back-to-back years stung. And it would have been nice to have Adrian Arrington; back-to-back 6-6 seasons in '06 and '07 may not have happened with an extra weapon of his caliber. Finally, he wasn't the 4-star that some of the others were, but there's always a "What if" factor with Dorian Davis. He played as a true freshman and true sophomore on a pair of very, very good Tennessee teams before playing on the best Cincannti team ever in '09. What would Iowa have been like with him on the '08 and '09 teams? What if he had redshirted at Iowa and was a 5th year senior in '10?
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How the hell have you been Jumper!
 
BVHawk95 said:
Lazard really doesn't hurt because we weren't getting him anyway.

Recent memory I'd definitely say Pierschbacher. He's a guard at Bama, but he was slated for Tackle with us, right smack in the middle of a period of strikeouts/busts in recruiting Tackles (Cyrus Kouandjo is an out of state guy that comes to mind, also to Bama ironically). We ended up having to start two guards in Myers and Boettger (along with Croston), who, although fine players, did not have the footspeed and pass blocking ability you'd expect from a tackle. I'd argue that with Pierschbacher on one side of the line, our pass pro in '15 and '16 would have been markedly better, possibly translating into a few wins (Northwestern in '16 in particular).
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i would add that pierschbacher played a position where he would have received one-on-one instruction from kirk. this burst the "OL university" bubble a bit. i hold kirk to task, but he really was one of the better OL coaches Iowa has seen. kirk does know OL. it was a big miss.
 
Northside Hawk said:
Would have been kinda nice to have David Johnson to at least complement the short side stretch run wizardry of Mark Weisman.
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That was where I was going to go. Offered him a grey shirt I believe and he said no... If Iowa would have just offered him a full ride he'd have been a Hawk... Think of the damage he could have done between running and receiving for us. Good lord. And as you said timing wise he'd have been there during the lumbering Weisman years... Huge what could have been
 
I got to go with Pierschbacher. Tough to blame the coaching staff much for that one considering we came off of a 4-8 season that included a home loss to Central Michigan who was a mediocre MAC team, not even on a NIU or Western Michigan level AND Alabama coming in with their offer. But that one hurt the most IMO because we were pretty weak at the tackle position sans Brandon Scherff for a few years there. Imagine Scherff and Pierschbacher bookending our Oline
 
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It has to be Pierschbacher...but David Johnson would be a close second. Johnson is a beast...he would have been special in Iowa's offense getting the ball on a regular basis. Dude made waves in the NFL.
 
WinOneThisCentury said:
It has to be Pierschbacher...but David Johnson would be a close second. Johnson is a beast...he would have been special in Iowa's offense getting the ball on a regular basis. Dude made waves in the NFL.
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I wonder what's worse in people's eyes. Missing on a recruit because they decided to go somewhere else or because they were misevaluated. I kinda think the DJ one hurts worse because it was an avoidable mistake.
 
PCHawk said:
I wonder what's worse in people's eyes. Missing on a recruit because they decided to go somewhere else or because they were misevaluated. I kinda think the DJ one hurts worse because it was an avoidable mistake.
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From all I have read on Johnson and Iowa, it is not that they did evaluate his play right, they just might have misjudged his character. From what I understand they were concerned with his effort and commitment on plays where he was not featured. Who knows, maybe that gave Johnson an chip on the shoulder and helped make him into what he is.
 
CP87 said:
Mosai Newsome picking Nebbie got me thinking about this: which in-state kid that Iowa was definitely after but picked a different school was the biggest miss (in hindsight)?

Ones that immediately come to mind are Lazard, Pierschbacher (sp?), Darbaroh. Any other obvious ones?
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This is the first post I have made in about 8 months. I enjoy reading the opinions and the insight of my fellow hawkeye fans, but most of the time don't have much to add. I am confident I am older than most of you therefore you might understand when I am naming an Iowa player who graduated in 1979 from Davenport Central high school: Roger Craig. Roger was a phenomenal running back who played for four years for the Cornhuskers. He ran for over 2500 yard in college while averaging six yards per carry. His success for Iowa, if he had chosen to play for the Hawkeyes, would probably have been similar. He went on to play 11 years in the NFL. His teams made the playoffs each of those 11 years. Roger was the first NFL player to rush for over 1000 yards and receive passes for over 1000 yards in the same season. He was selected to the Pro Bowl four times.
 
army vet 1969-70 said:
This is the first post I have made in about 8 months. I enjoy reading the opinions and the insight of my fellow hawkeye fans, but most of the time don't have much to add. I am confident I am older than most of you therefore you might understand when I am naming an Iowa player who graduated in 1979 from Davenport Central high school: Roger Craig. Roger was a phenomenal running back who played for four years for the Cornhuskers. He ran for over 2500 yard in college while averaging six yards per carry. His success for Iowa, if he had chosen to play for the Hawkeyes, would probably have been similar. He went on to play 11 years in the NFL. His teams made the playoffs each of those 11 years. Roger was the first NFL player to rush for over 1000 yards and receive passes for over 1000 yards in the same season. He was selected to the Pro Bowl four times.
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I was well aware of Roger but didn't know if the OP intended to go back to the pre Kirk era, let alone pre Hayden. Craig obviously had a phenomenal career at the prep, college and pro levels. I suppose one could go all the way back to Jay Berwanger if they chose to do so. Or Preston Pearson, who I believe lived in Waterloo for part of his childhood. How about a more recent in state miss-Cedar Rapids Washington prep Dedric Ward.
 
deanvogs said:
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How the hell have you been Jumper!
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Been good, just not as able to post as much with work being a lot busier the last couple years and not as passionate about it as I used to be. Still lurk, but I don't have the passion for for the anonymous internet arguments (I blame Trump for that) nor as much passion for following recruiting (I blame Karan Higdon for that).
 
CP87 said:
Mosai Newsome picking Nebbie got me thinking about this: which in-state kid that Iowa was definitely after but picked a different school was the biggest miss (in hindsight)?

Ones that immediately come to mind are Lazard, Pierschbacher (sp?), Darbaroh. Any other obvious ones?
Click to expand...

Arrington
 
At the time, Christian French was a giant miss. I think Oliver Martin hurt worse than Darboah. Ross P is by far the worst though. That cost us a chance to get murdered by Bama in the playoff. That would have been sweet.
 
It is also hard to project kids from one team to another- especially when one plays 4-3 and the other is 3-4.
 
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