Instant Reaction: More than Just a Loss to Huskers

[mysteron]

Thinking KF will ever "step down" is really silly. Why would he ever release an employer from a contract THEY offered. Foolish to even think its a possibility. Its the University that is to blame for the contract, not KF. If KF has mailed it in or has stopped trying then that's something else, but he's actually the same KF he's always been, it's just not working anymore.

I agree that he won't step down. I also agree he won't be fired. I also agree with people saying he will do everything in his power to hand the program over to Brian.

But you are wrong they OFFERED him that contract. I know that's the story the public has been handed. But every contract he has signed was a contract proffered by his agent. Now if you want to say they OFFERED him a contract that his agent constructed, that's fine. But the largesse ultimately agreed to was driven by the ambition of two men. And neither of those two men held the title: Athletic Director. This subject has become so comical over the years that it' almost to the point that silly people will start posting that the contract was FORCED upon him.

Here's a new SAT question for 2015:
JoePa is to _____________ as KF is to ___________________

It is my real fear both men became bigger than their respective schools. And while Kirk's story will end better, both stories will end unpleasantly. Humility isn't what drives men to the summit of success. Ego is. Kirk isn't evil. He's human. He's as human as everyone on this board.

 

[MoseSchrute]

I agree. He's earned enough that he and his family are set for life. Sure it's a contract that Iowa offered and he is legally owed the money, but if he was such a wonderful stand up guy he could retire and let Iowa move on.

A couple years ago the Minnesota Twins had a Japanese player who didn't pan out and he had a contract guaranteeing over 3 million dollars but since he didn't play well he didn't take the money that was legally owed him. That dude is a stand up guy.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8...s-tsuyoshi-nishioka-cut-waiving-salary-buyout

Bushido Code, man. It still has an effect on the Japanese psyche. It's all about honor.

 

[hawksky]

"And neither of those two men held the title: Athletic Director. This subject has become so comical over the years that it' almost to the point that silly people will start posting that the contract was FORCED upon him."


Dude, get real. Nobody has ever said the contract was forced upon Ferentz. We are only saying that Barta was an IDIOT for offering it to him.

 

[mysteron]

"And neither of those two men held the title: Athletic Director. This subject has become so comical over the years that it' almost to the point that silly people will start posting that the contract was FORCED upon him."


Dude, get real. Nobody has ever said the contract was forced upon Ferentz. We are only saying that Barta was an IDIOT for offering it to him.

He offered it to him upon request. And yes, Barta hasn't really proven himself at Iowa.

 

[ColoradoHAWKEYE]

Evy took over as AD after the 1960 season. We went 5-4 in 1961 and then didn't have a single winning season again until Fry came along. So for all of his refusal to accept anything other than excellence, he didn't exactly preside over a successful football program as AD. So that's not exactly an example I'd want to use, if I were you.

In pretty sure that is exactly what Cincy was saying about FE and about why not to go that route.

 

[hawkphan00]

The only hope is that Gary Barta starts to listen to the fans and change can come. The more I think about it if Gary doesn't stand up he too will be gone. So if I am Gary and you clearly see the fans discontent NOW is the time you approach all those big donors to see if that buy out is doable. Otherwise Gary is riding in the same sinking ship with Kirk. I suspect Gary and or Kirk will continue to hear the noise and will have to submit something to the media that they are shaking up the staff or releasing the head coach. Of course that is my wish and many others but if Gary wants to retain his job, change has to happen.

 

[RocknRollface]

The only other time they've underachieved to this degree was in 2010 (and if we're using hindsight instead of what we expected the team to do in August, you could throw 2008 in there, too). They've underachieved in many other years, but rarely this badly. We had talent at some of our regular strong positions (OL, DT, CB, TE, etc.) and had maybe the best collection of talent at WR we've ever had under Ferentz, which is a position that's played a big role in holding us back at times. I've seen enough of him to this point to go ahead and say it. Tevaun Smith is the most talented WR we've had in at least a dozen years (Mo Brown). But we fail to utilize him often enough for him to make a real impact on the game. No receiver we've had since Brown has had his combination of size, hands, speed and route-running ability. We've had guys who have had some of those traits, but not all of them. To have this kind of playmaking ability on the outside and still be struggling to make much of anything happen through the air is downright embarrassing.

Willies is the most talented receiver we've had possibly ever and KF came up with every excuse he could to not play him.

we had so much wasted talent on offense this year it's unforgivable .

DW, Parker, Wadley Mitchel and Vandenburg all came in together and the one KF chooses to play first and foremost is Vandenburg.

cant find ways to use Powell and Canzeri is so obviously a better back than MW.

To say the game has passed him by is an understatement.

 

[RocknRollface]

Yup. Face it folks. We are on the decline of Iowa football. This will be exactly like Hayden's last two years. Barta and Ferentz will not survive and this will cost all of us a lot of money. Bank it.

Been on the decline since 2005 people are just now starting to accept it.

 

[BILLBUCKNER]

These close hard fought games were the same type of game that KF won early on in his career. But he had a couple of dynamic QBs that could make plays in Banks and Tate. We also had Really special teams with guys that were return threats. Terrific punters and kickers. I have never liked KFs conservative stale approach to offense and its comical watching them run that stretch play with MW. Everything that KF did well at one time doesn't work now. He doesn't work hard at recruiting when you see the ratings of our classes consistently at the lower half of the BIG. The guy caught lightning in a bottle in 2002 to 2005 and 2009. And parlayed that and NFL rumors into contract that most coaches would dream about.

 

[BILLBUCKNER]

The only other time they've underachieved to this degree was in 2010 (and if we're using hindsight instead of what we expected the team to do in August, you could throw 2008 in there, too). They've underachieved in many other years, but rarely this badly. We had talent at some of our regular strong positions (OL, DT, CB, TE, etc.) and had maybe the best collection of talent at WR we've ever had under Ferentz, which is a position that's played a big role in holding us back at times. I've seen enough of him to this point to go ahead and say it. Tevaun Smith is the most talented WR we've had in at least a dozen years (Mo Brown). But we fail to utilize him often enough for him to make a real impact on the game. No receiver we've had since Brown has had his combination of size, hands, speed and route-running ability. We've had guys who have had some of those traits, but not all of them. To have this kind of playmaking ability on the outside and still be struggling to make much of anything happen through the air is downright embarrassing.

Well said..such a waste of talent. He had a huge size advantage against Nebbys tiny corners. Just throw him the ball and let him make plays. We actually had some speedy playmakers in Parker,Powell,Wadley. But the staff can't figure out ways to get them involved. Besides they might fumble. But your JR and Sr can do that and keep playing.

 

[gohawkz]

It depends on how you're defining underachieving, I guess. If you want to look at it and say that a program like Iowa should be better than that over a 10-year span, then yeah, I'd agree with you. I've been (and I think Jon has, too) looking at each season individually and looking at what those teams had to work with. The 2007 team was not very talented, so 6-6 wasn't really that far off the mark for what that team should have achieved. Same thing for 2011, 2012 and 2013. Those teams were all right in the neighborhood of where they should have been, based on each team's talent level. Even in 2005 and 2006, those teams had some pretty significant weaknesses that couldn't really be solved by any coaching strategy. The defensive line was very green in 2005 and it really held the defense back until finally finding a bit of a groove at the end of the year. The 2006 team's linebackers were pretty weak and the wide receiver corps was even worse, plus we had Tate and Albert Young battling through injuries all year.

And while this team does have its flaws (the linebackers definitely aren't our strongest, although the younger guys have some potential; the running back situation isn't really ideal, either, and the safety play has been shaky at times), it's got more than enough talent on both sides of the ball to be at least 9-3, if not better. Most of those other teams that went 7-5/6-6 couldn't say that. The 2010 and 2008 teams certainly could, and I could see an argument for 2005. Not to mention, most of those teams were playing considerably tougher schedules than we had this year.

Is this a joke or am I missing something? You lower expectations for wins because we weren't talented? Do you realize that one of the main things a coach must do is recruit. In the years that we didn't have much talent that is a direct result of Ferentz FAILING at his job.

 

[eveningnewsteam]

The silver lining in losing that game yesterday is KF can't hide behind a very deceiving 8-4 record. The season was dog **** win or lose yesterday, but had it finished 8-4, it would have been painted as a good year. It was a terrible year, look at the schedule. 7-5 with that schedule is accurate for what the season actually was, awful.

 

[rivercityhawk]

Running stretch plays with Weisman shows offensive incompetence. Matt Millen was correct.

 

[RocknRollface]

These close hard fought games were the same type of game that KF won early on in his career. But he had a couple of dynamic QBs that could make plays in Banks and Tate. We also had Really special teams with guys that were return threats. Terrific punters and kickers. I have never liked KFs conservative stale approach to offense and its comical watching them run that stretch play with MW. Everything that KF did well at one time doesn't work now. He doesn't work hard at recruiting when you see the ratings of our classes consistently at the lower half of the BIG. The guy caught lightning in a bottle in 2002 to 2005 and 2009. And parlayed that and NFL rumors into contract that most coaches would dream about.

those close games were also against much stronger completion. Iowa has faced 1 or two legitimately good teams in the last 4 years.

 

[TychoBrahe]

A large part of the problem is that KF is made up a certain way, and people just do not or cannot change character traits.

1. He is so averse to turnovers, almost now to the level of being OCD about it, that he allows that to define the entire philosophy of this team. Examples include not returning most punts, playing Jake over CJ, playing Bullock over Wadley/Parker, and so on.

2. He gets so overly emotionally invested in certain players (like Jake C and Jake Rudock and Marc Weisman) that it clouds his ability to do what the teams needs to do to win, since he just can't seem to be able to pull them from games. Weisman is a great guy, but by putting him as the feature HB you cause a big domino effect in limiting your offense's choices for plays. When Jake looked shaky yesterday, KF didn't pull him.

3. He's really, really old school when it comes to discipline. I would bet that CJ has been 'not in good standing' since some of the public comments he made earlier this year when Willies left, and that this is a big part of why he never sees the field. I can only imagine how much more fun it would be to play for a guy like Bielema compared to KF.

4. He has a 'bunker mentality' when it comes to running his program; not only is he stubborn, he seems almost oppositional-defiant at times, almost daring the fans to dislike what he's doing, going out of his way NOT to do what the fans want (like putting CJ in) to prove some point.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of the personality traits above are admirable, but KF has taken them to an extreme, and they're strangling this team.

 

[cincyhawk]

In pretty sure that is exactly what Cincy was saying about FE and about why not to go that route.

Bingo!

 

[hawkphan00]

A large part of the problem is that KF is made up a certain way, and people just do not or cannot change character traits.

1. He is so averse to turnovers, almost now to the level of being OCD about it, that he allows that to define the entire philosophy of this team. Examples include not returning most punts, playing Jake over CJ, playing Bullock over Wadley/Parker, and so on.

2. He gets so overly emotionally invested in certain players (like Jake C and Jake Rudock and Marc Weisman) that it clouds his ability to do what the teams needs to do to win, since he just can't seem to be able to pull them from games. Weisman is a great guy, but by putting him as the feature HB you cause a big domino effect in limiting your offense's choices for plays. When Jake looked shaky yesterday, KF didn't pull him.

3. He's really, really old school when it comes to discipline. I would bet that CJ has been 'not in good standing' since some of the public comments he made earlier this year when Willies left, and that this is a big part of why he never sees the field. I can only imagine how much more fun it would be to play for a guy like Bielema compared to KF.

4. He has a 'bunker mentality' when it comes to running his program; not only is he stubborn, he seems almost oppositional-defiant at times, almost daring the fans to dislike what he's doing, going out of his way NOT to do what the fans want (like putting CJ in) to prove some point.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of the personality traits above are admirable, but KF has taken them to an extreme, and they're strangling this team.

Brilliant. Perfect analysis and there isn't much more to add. Well put.

 

[tm3308]

In pretty sure that is exactly what Cincy was saying about FE and about why not to go that route.

I wasn't sure, since he suggested going with Gable rather than Ferentz.

 

[PCHawk]

A large part of the problem is that KF is made up a certain way, and people just do not or cannot change character traits.

1. He is so averse to turnovers, almost now to the level of being OCD about it, that he allows that to define the entire philosophy of this team. Examples include not returning most punts, playing Jake over CJ, playing Bullock over Wadley/Parker, and so on.

2. He gets so overly emotionally invested in certain players (like Jake C and Jake Rudock and Marc Weisman) that it clouds his ability to do what the teams needs to do to win, since he just can't seem to be able to pull them from games. Weisman is a great guy, but by putting him as the feature HB you cause a big domino effect in limiting your offense's choices for plays. When Jake looked shaky yesterday, KF didn't pull him.

3. He's really, really old school when it comes to discipline. I would bet that CJ has been 'not in good standing' since some of the public comments he made earlier this year when Willies left, and that this is a big part of why he never sees the field. I can only imagine how much more fun it would be to play for a guy like Bielema compared to KF.

4. He has a 'bunker mentality' when it comes to running his program; not only is he stubborn, he seems almost oppositional-defiant at times, almost daring the fans to dislike what he's doing, going out of his way NOT to do what the fans want (like putting CJ in) to prove some point.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of the personality traits above are admirable, but KF has taken them to an extreme, and they're strangling this team.

This post is one of the better ones I've read on here. The only thing I question is CJ getting punished for his comments. How could Beathard be expected to even know what Kirk's comments on the matter were? If he didn't hear Kirk's comment, and why would he have, then how could he know that the truth he was about to speak directy contradicted what Kirk said?

 

[tm3308]

Is this a joke or am I missing something? You lower expectations for wins because we weren't talented? Do you realize that one of the main things a coach must do is recruit. In the years that we didn't have much talent that is a direct result of Ferentz FAILING at his job.

I'm not saying recruiting isn't part of the job. But saying a team in a given year underachieved isn't really fair, if the players simply weren't good enough to do much better. The 2007 and 2012 teams didn't underachieve. They just had a pretty significant talent deficit and didn't overachieve.