Iowa JUCOs under KF

[uihawk82]

no way was I talking to you, the ones I am talking about know who they are, they are the same ones who hate anything positive about what is going on

Are you saying I hate anything positive about the Hawks? You dont know me or what I am talking about.

I remember Hayden Fry playing his third string QB in games. YOu explain to me how or why I shouldnt be concerned for a program I have been totally following since 1958 when we cant get our backup QB one snap in a 4-8 season. I like KF but he was irresponsible this year with this Offense.

You tell me one thing I have said where I say I am hating something positive with the hawks.

 

[KirkNOTCharisma]

To hawkfarmer:

6 JUCOs brought in 10mo. ago​

Position	Name	From
QB	Sokol	Arizona
RB	Dawson	IWCC
OL	Simmons	IWCC
DE/DT	Rathjen	ICCC
DB	Skradis	IWCC
DB	Smith	ICCC

To you other gentlemen (or ladies, Ms. Freaky):
I've seen a few people complain about this JUCO "problem" being KF doesn't recruit JUCO players, especially at positions of need. I think this stems from a lack of information and can cause people to react negatively. In reality, KF DOES actively recruit them but recruiting and landing recruits are a different story. In addition to recruiting them to Iowa if they're not from local JUCOs, he also has to make sure they'll be ready academically. 3 of them we've been recruiting went to different schools.

Now some of this is easy to overlook and borderline obscure so I understand the negative reactions if you weren't aware of this. I simply suggest that before posting negative things without knowing for sure, you take a second to do a quick fact check.


So stepping away from the negativity, look at our team coming back! We've got a lot of returning experience which is super positive. As for the offense, next year Iowa will be back to full strength and will be better than they have in years. Just look at a few of the returning players from each group -

Offensive Line 2014​

Year	Name	Height-Weight	Caliber (stars)	Experience
RSJR	Scherff	6'5 - 310	3	Starting
RSSR	VanSloten	6'7 - 292	3	Starting
RSSR	Boffeli	6'5 - 290	3	Starting
RSSO	Donnal	6'7 - 302	4	Starting
RSSO	Blythe	6'3 - 275	4	Starting
RSSO	Walsh	6'4 - 270	4	Likely to get starting experience this year
SR	MacMillan	6'6 - 290	3	Likely to get starting experience this year
RSSR	Clark	6'4 - 288	3	Likely to get PT this year
N/A	Ward	6'5 - 275	4	Coming off RS
N/A	Keppy	6'5 -290	3	Coming off RS
RSSO	Simmons	6'3 - 295	3	JUCO transfer

Note: Notice there are no 2*


Running Backs 2014

Year	Name	40 Speed (reported)	Height-Weight	Caliber (stars)
SO	Garmon	4.4	6'1 - 200	4
JR	Bullock*	4.5	6'0 - 195	2
RSSO	Canzeri	4.5	5'9 - 180	2
RSJR	Dawson**	4.5	6'2 - 220	3
RSFR	Hill	4.5	6'0 - 210	3
RSFR	Malloy	4.4	6'0 - 180	3
JR	Weisman	4.6	6'0 - 225	2
RSSR	Rodgers (FB)	N/A	5'10 - 230	3
RSSR	Reisen (FB)	N/A	6'2 - 231	2

* - Bullock may move to slot receiver since he was there last spring
** - JUCO transfer, 5th best in class (behind Derby, Morris, Hoch who ended up at Missouri, and Scherff)

​

Wide Receivers 2014

Year	Name	40 Speed (reported)	Height	Caliber (stars)
SR	Cotton	4.5	6'1	3
SR	Schumpert	4.6	6'3	3
RSJR	KMM*	4.6	6'0	2
RSSO	Hillyer	4.5	6'4	3
SO	Smith	4.4	6'2	3
N/A	Mabin**	4.4	6'2	3
N/A	Wilson**	4.4	6'1	3

* - Led team in receptions and yards in 2013
** - Coming off RS

Tight Ends 2014​

Year	Name	Height-Weight	Caliber (stars)
SR	CJF	6'7 - 265	4
JR	Hamilton	6'5 - 248	4
RSSO	Duzey	6'4 - 235	3
RSSO	Kreiger-Coble	6'4 - 235	3

That's not a bad group of players for the QB to work with. The QB may be inexperienced but the players around him are not, and the speed at the skill positions is improving which is a good sign.

FIFY I think.. If I ruined it just tell me

 

[HawkinGoferLand]

^^ nicely done mr interpreter !

 

[vgshwk]

Iowa has on occasion dipped into JUCO ranks to fill some gaps. Definitely not common practice for KF but he has certainly gotten some winners.

2000 DL Derrick Pickens
2001 WR CJ Jones
2001 QB Brad Banks
2002 QB Nathan Chandler
2004 CB Walner Belleus
2005 OL Marshal Yanda
2006 LB Bryon Gattas
2008 RB Nathan Guillory
2010 OT Dan Heiar
2011 C Eric Simmons
2011 QB Cody Sokol
2013 WR Damon Powell
I'm sure I missed some, but this is what I came up with.


From list above, Pickens, Jones, Banks, Chandler, Yanda were all home runs . Belleus was a key contributor in 2004 before leaving school and starring at UDub playing all over the field. Gattas contributed for 2 yrs, though not a major factor.

Guillory and Heiar never saw the field, and Guillory barely saw campus before transferring. Heiar had a drinking prob.

The book is out on Simmons and Sokol as both redshirted this, their 1st yr on campus. Powell will have a chance to contribute next season with them.

The biggest gripe in regards to JUCO recruiting is we don't seem to fill obvious areas of need nor do it often enough (for example due to high attrition on DL, we needed some upper classmen to come in and contribute). Powell fills an area of immediate need: speed and play making ability on offense.

Fans site teams like KSU and Boise St that rely heavily on JUCOs as to reasons why Iowa should, however admission standards are much different than at Iowa. Iowa seems to be very selective and not very successful in landing JUCO targets.

Beckman at IL has 5 JUCO commits so far after Zook took 8 in 7 yrs as HC. From recent article:

The biggest barrier for Illinois in landing junior college players — the 2012 roster had none and in Ron Zook's seven seasons, the program had eight total — is having them qualify academically.
"You narrow your pool down quite a bit as far as junior college guys because of the academic standards," Golesh said. "The biggest challenge is getting them into school because we know once they get here, they'll be just fine because of the academic support we have. It's the actual (process) of getting them into school."


Also, Iowa is a self-described 'developmental program' and taking JUCOs certainly narrows the window for development.

 

[Billso]

Interesting insights, vgshawk.