Iowa fans need to start being realistic.

I will tell you why Clemson has moved up to be at the top of the ACC and it has less to do with Clemson and more to do with Bobby Bowden being forced out of Tallahassee and the downfall of Miami. Someone was going to rise up and take the torch.

Clemson hired a 100 mph head coach who hires the best assistants, Period, End of story, Just like Saban
 
They are better in one gigantic and extremely important respect. They have an accountability requirement in their athletic dept that we don’t have and that’s a gigantic one

Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue and NW all are more accountable than Iowa? Lets see:

Illinois had a coach that won what, 6 games in 4 years before they fired him and hired Lovie? Lovie hasn't exactly set the world on fire there and he is still there.
Minnesota fired Claeys because of the assault stuff, Kill retired because of health, and the dude before him won like 1 or 2 games the year he was fired.
Purdue had a guy that won a total of 9 games in 4 years before hiring Brohm. And Purdue wont make a bowl game this year.
NW has had Fitz since 06, has done very well for a program that hasnt had much success, but is a dumpster fire this year. Should they fire him?

Common thing above is that those programs all went to the basement of the basement and attendance and revenue was nothing. At Iowa, revenue is great, attendance is great, we go to bowl games and more often than not go to higher tier bowl games.

So my question is, if those programs are so much more accountable and successful, what program would you trade Iowa's for right now? Or would you have traded for over the last 5, 10 or 20 years?
 
And I can shoot bullet holes into your fabled star rating system. The fact that Nicholas Baer and Diamond Stone currently play at the same professional level tells you all you need to know about star ratings.

Thats only half truth. Sure its flawed, but look at the number of 5 star recruits compared to 2 star recruits. Some will develop and make it big.
Just imagine this developmental ability if we started out with great talent!
 
Thats only half truth. Sure its flawed, but look at the number of 5 star recruits compared to 2 star recruits. Some will develop and make it big.
Just imagine this developmental ability if we started out with great talent!
Star ratings, like AP rankings, are both flawed. But there are haters on these boards who will diss weekly rankings every time Iowa is in the top 25 by denouncing them as the opinions of clueless media sheep.

At the same time they refer to the star ratings with the fervor of the Dead Sea Scrolls everytime we settle for too many walk-ons from South Dakota (like Chad Greenway) or rural Iowa (Dallas Clark) or settle for too many two and three star recruits.
 
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Campbell does not have Iowa state on the same level as Iowa. Have they been to a big 12 title game? You do realize Kirk Ferentz has 3 National Coach of the year award right? I agree 100% that Brian Ferentz has a long way to go and may not ever get there as an OC, but no we don’t have the talent.the 3 teams that have beaten us have higher rated players across the board than we do.

ISU is 3-2 in their last 5 games against to 10 rated teams. Iowa is 1-12 against .500+ teams in the B1G over the last three seasons. kirk ferentz has two B1G championships in 21 seasons. the last one was 15 years ago. brian ferenz has had training wheels in the form of kirk's bestie KOK for his entire tenure as OC and our offense has sucked the entire time. i have to admit that when i learned yesterday that iowa is 1-12 with brian as OC against conference teams that finish .500+, it really backed up the perception i had about iowa. we are a bottom feeder in the B1G. we've been passed up by WUs and MSU and jNW and Goofey are working their asses off to also pass us up. I am tired of our best win of the season being ISU, when we do beat them. ISU has become OUR Super Bowl. we simply do not contend for anything in the B1G, anymore. that's bullshit and that's unacceptable.
 
ISU is 3-2 in their last 5 games against to 10 rated teams. Iowa is 1-12 against .500+ teams in the B1G over the last three seasons. kirk ferentz has two B1G championships in 21 seasons. the last one was 15 years ago. brian ferenz has had training wheels in the form of kirk's bestie KOK for his entire tenure as OC and our offense has sucked the entire time. i have to admit that when i learned yesterday that iowa is 1-12 with brian as OC against conference teams that finish .500+, it really backed up the perception i had about iowa. we are a bottom feeder in the B1G. we've been passed up by WUs and MSU and jNW and Goofey are working their asses off to also pass us up. I am tired of our best win of the season being ISU, when we do beat them. ISU has become OUR Super Bowl. we simply do not contend for anything in the B1G, anymore. that's bullshit and that's unacceptable.

MSU and NW look really good right now don't they?

The 1-12 stat is real, however, it has to be taken in context. We had a chance to win every one of those games in the 4th quarter, but didnt make it happen. So that tells me we are competitive with everyone, we just need to tweak some things rather than blow it all up.

I know Stanley has taken a ton of blame for all of it as well as Brian, but the common denominator in every one of those losses is we cant run the ball. At home, on the road, wherever, we cant run against really anyone and especially against anyone with a pulse on defense. It has been a long time since we have had an experienced and cohesive offensive line, and all the way back to Greene over a decade ago since we have had a bell cow back. Stanley would have been a great quarterback during his time if we had a competent running game. That is why Wisconsin is better right now, because their o line, blocking schemes and backs can run when everyone knows they are running. We cant do that and haven't in a long time.

To be better, we need to be bullies on the offensive line, something with our resources we are fully capable of doing. Polasek has had enough time to improve this but hasn't so he needs to go. We need some power in the backfield. Goodson will.be great but he needs to get stronger. We have missed a lot on the backs in recruiting and that has left us a gaping hole. Its unfortunate because I think Eno would have fit in nicely here.

I know it sucks to be patient, but the sky isn't falling. If we can go back to running the ball we can win a lot of those games. However, if ferentz doesn't make any changes in the off season it would be hard pressed to think we fare any better against the good teams.

On the other side, we have got to stop the run on these teams. We haven't been able to do that when it mattered in all these games even though the stats show we are a good run defense team.
 
ISU is 3-2 in their last 5 games against to 10 rated teams. Iowa is 1-12 against .500+ teams in the B1G over the last three seasons. kirk ferentz has two B1G championships in 21 seasons. the last one was 15 years ago. brian ferenz has had training wheels in the form of kirk's bestie KOK for his entire tenure as OC and our offense has sucked the entire time. i have to admit that when i learned yesterday that iowa is 1-12 with brian as OC against conference teams that finish .500+, it really backed up the perception i had about iowa. we are a bottom feeder in the B1G. we've been passed up by WUs and MSU and jNW and Goofey are working their asses off to also pass us up. I am tired of our best win of the season being ISU, when we do beat them. ISU has become OUR Super Bowl. we simply do not contend for anything in the B1G, anymore. that's bullshit and that's unacceptable.
If you're going to do statistical comparisons, you have to use similar statistics.

Iowa State is 4-9 vs their last 13 .500+ conference opponents. Iowa is 2-3 vs their last 5 top 10 opponents, and it's worth noting that all 5 of Iowa's previous top ten opponents finished the season there, whereas only 2 of ISU's have.
 
I just want to address the Hawkeye faithful that are once again ready fire Kirk Ferentz as they are every year until we get to 9 wins and then they are reminded that’s what we are. Iowa in both football and basketball is developmental program that is in that second to higher third tier every year. Then every 5th year or so we have a breakout season and get to 11 or 12 wins. Outside of that we are a 8 and 9 win team nearly every season. No matter who coaches at Iowa that is where they will be. We are not Bama, Clemson or Ohio St. We reserve the right to be critical, but also need to be careful what we wish for. Florida St is a blue blood program who is seriously considering hiring Neon Dion Sanders (who has zero coaching experience) to be their new head coach after 2 back to back losing seasons. Notre Dame (another blue blood) has 1 top 5 win since 2000. Michigan, well they have had 4 coaches since Ferentz was hired and they have the same number of big ten championships as we do in that time frame. Iowa fired Mr. Davis Davis after 13 seasons in which he won 13 NCAA tourney games. Seemed like a great move at the time right? Well in the 20 years since, Iowa has won 4.... yep that’s right we have won 4 NCAA tourney games in 20 years! Iowa is not a power house and they never will be. We may not be great, but we are consistently good which is more than what can be said for a lot of teams in states with much higher populations and multicultural metro areas.
You need to be realistic bub! When the announcers (Todd Blackledge who happened to be a pretty darn good QB) says what the heck are you doing waiting until you're out of it to try to be more aggressive? That's an issue. While most of us DON'T expect to EVER compete for a national title some of us have the audacity to think once in awhile just once in awhile when you have ENOUGH talent and a senior QB to compete for a West title. We have 3 games left are, despite the commander's comment, are OUT of the Big 10 race. That's unacceptable THIS year.
 
I just want to address the Hawkeye faithful that are once again ready fire Kirk Ferentz as they are every year until we get to 9 wins and then they are reminded that’s what we are. Iowa in both football and basketball is developmental program that is in that second to higher third tier every year. Then every 5th year or so we have a breakout season and get to 11 or 12 wins. Outside of that we are a 8 and 9 win team nearly every season. No matter who coaches at Iowa that is where they will be. We are not Bama, Clemson or Ohio St. We reserve the right to be critical, but also need to be careful what we wish for. Florida St is a blue blood program who is seriously considering hiring Neon Dion Sanders (who has zero coaching experience) to be their new head coach after 2 back to back losing seasons. Notre Dame (another blue blood) has 1 top 5 win since 2000. Michigan, well they have had 4 coaches since Ferentz was hired and they have the same number of big ten championships as we do in that time frame. Iowa fired Mr. Davis Davis after 13 seasons in which he won 13 NCAA tourney games. Seemed like a great move at the time right? Well in the 20 years since, Iowa has won 4.... yep that’s right we have won 4 NCAA tourney games in 20 years! Iowa is not a power house and they never will be. We may not be great, but we are consistently good which is more than what can be said for a lot of teams in states with much higher populations and multicultural metro areas.
With respect to basketball we don't pay players under the table so we will not be able to effectively compete for more than an occassional Sweet 16 spot in basketball.
 
With respect to basketball we don't pay players under the table so we will not be able to effectively compete for more than an occassional Sweet 16 spot in basketball.

Aren't we looking at 20 years bince our last sweet 16? Or do you mean that one we had in the NIT a few years ago?
 
It is not unrealistic for Iowa to win the west every 2 or 3 years or at least be in the running in late November most years. It is not unrealistic for Iowa to beat other ranked teams and to win the west and be on par with Wisky year in an year out.
 
These are the type of threads that allow the Ferentz regime to average 7.5 wins a year, Fan apathy is what the Ferentzs and Barta require. Keep the expectations at 7 or 8 wins a year, Schedule a couple powder puffs and there you go.

Lets forget the fact that we have one of the best fan bases in the nation and an athletic department that will pay, and are one of the best programs at generating revenue, and we have an easy press corp, and some fantastic facilities.

But fans like you are the reason we are where we are. You are a defeatist. We cant win, so why try?
 
These are the type of threads that allow the Ferentz regime to average 7.5 wins a year, Fan apathy is what the Ferentzs and Barta require. Keep the expectations at 7 or 8 wins a year, Schedule a couple powder puffs and there you go.

Lets forget the fact that we have one of the best fan bases in the nation and an athletic department that will pay, and are one of the best programs at generating revenue, and we have an easy press corp, and some fantastic facilities.

But fans like you are the reason we are where we are. You are a defeatist. We cant win, so why try?
Dude I agree with everything you just said! Amen brutha! The Miller & Deace podcast is 100% correct yet Kirk is in his little ivory tower hasn't figured out that his zone style and concept can't dominate at LOS like it once did. Wake the hell up Kirk.
 
Lets forget the fact that we have one of the best fan bases in the nation and an athletic department that will pay, and are one of the best programs at generating revenue, and we have an easy press corp, and some fantastic facilities.

Everyone has pretty much the same shit now. The TV money has equalized things. Will we draw more fans to watch a 6-6 team than LSU when they are 6-6? Maybe. Big deal. Every big state school that has had even a moderate taste of success in the past 20 years has a good fan base unless there is absolutely no hope. There's really nothing that special about Iowa over most other big state schools unless you're talking about Rutgers or Indiana or some other team where the fans have lost all hope forever.
 
These are the type of threads that allow the Ferentz regime to average 7.5 wins a year, Fan apathy is what the Ferentzs and Barta require. Keep the expectations at 7 or 8 wins a year, Schedule a couple powder puffs and there you go.

Lets forget the fact that we have one of the best fan bases in the nation and an athletic department that will pay, and are one of the best programs at generating revenue, and we have an easy press corp, and some fantastic facilities.

But fans like you are the reason we are where we are. You are a defeatist. We cant win, so why try?
Barta laughingly bought in to Fran's plea from his agent that all these schools are inquiring about Fran...for what?!
 
By the way, we just got the same thread in the basketball forum. The wrestling forum has one every year Brands gets worked by Penn State. How many sports do we have to be told to "just settle for what's given to you, you rubes" until someone notices that Iowa athletics as a whole is mostly trash?
 
I just want to address the Hawkeye faithful that are once again ready fire Kirk Ferentz as they are every year until we get to 9 wins and then they are reminded that’s what we are. Iowa in both football and basketball is developmental program that is in that second to higher third tier every year. Then every 5th year or so we have a breakout season and get to 11 or 12 wins. Outside of that we are a 8 and 9 win team nearly every season. No matter who coaches at Iowa that is where they will be. We are not Bama, Clemson or Ohio St. We reserve the right to be critical, but also need to be careful what we wish for. Florida St is a blue blood program who is seriously considering hiring Neon Dion Sanders (who has zero coaching experience) to be their new head coach after 2 back to back losing seasons. Notre Dame (another blue blood) has 1 top 5 win since 2000. Michigan, well they have had 4 coaches since Ferentz was hired and they have the same number of big ten championships as we do in that time frame. Iowa fired Mr. Davis Davis after 13 seasons in which he won 13 NCAA tourney games. Seemed like a great move at the time right? Well in the 20 years since, Iowa has won 4.... yep that’s right we have won 4 NCAA tourney games in 20 years! Iowa is not a power house and they never will be. We may not be great, but we are consistently good which is more than what can be said for a lot of teams in states with much higher populations and multicultural metro areas.

Very solid! Look at the teams who have difficulty finding quality coaches. Nebby has been scrambling for 10+ years now. Illinois has gone thru a bunch.
 
MSU and NW look really good right now don't they?

The 1-12 stat is real, however, it has to be taken in context. We had a chance to win every one of those games in the 4th quarter, but didnt make it happen. So that tells me we are competitive with everyone, we just need to tweak some things rather than blow it all up.

I know Stanley has taken a ton of blame for all of it as well as Brian, but the common denominator in every one of those losses is we cant run the ball. At home, on the road, wherever, we cant run against really anyone and especially against anyone with a pulse on defense. It has been a long time since we have had an experienced and cohesive offensive line, and all the way back to Greene over a decade ago since we have had a bell cow back. Stanley would have been a great quarterback during his time if we had a competent running game. That is why Wisconsin is better right now, because their o line, blocking schemes and backs can run when everyone knows they are running. We cant do that and haven't in a long time.

To be better, we need to be bullies on the offensive line, something with our resources we are fully capable of doing. Polasek has had enough time to improve this but hasn't so he needs to go. We need some power in the backfield. Goodson will.be great but he needs to get stronger. We have missed a lot on the backs in recruiting and that has left us a gaping hole. Its unfortunate because I think Eno would have fit in nicely here.

I know it sucks to be patient, but the sky isn't falling. If we can go back to running the ball we can win a lot of those games. However, if ferentz doesn't make any changes in the off season it would be hard pressed to think we fare any better against the good teams.

On the other side, we have got to stop the run on these teams. We haven't been able to do that when it mattered in all these games even though the stats show we are a good run defense team.

defending B1G West champion is having a restructure season. MSU passed us when we were both in the Leaders Division.
 

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