Iowa's Attrition: This Isn't Great News

Hard to win when your recruiting sucks, and then you even go and lose a third of the guys in your sucky classes.
 
Anyone remember this gem from Charlie Weis?


A year in Lawrence had taught Weis that this was not South Bend or Gainesville. “Say a guy came in for a game,â€￾ he went on, describing a typical recruiting weekend. “We just played Iowa State. We wore the black uniforms. It’s Senior Day. And we go and get whupped! At home!â€￾ He was slumped in his chair, but his voice rose steadily as he spoke. “So now it’s Sunday morning, I’m sitting with a guy in my office, and he’s saying, ‘You think I can play?’ I say, ‘Did you watch the game? You saw the product, do you think you can start here? And if you don’t think you can, you should go somewhere else — or maybe you’re playing the wrong sport.'â€￾
 
The article is interesting in that it points out that a lot of the departures in the current cycle are being caused by "rated" guys getting beat by walk-on types-- leading to the affected rated guys walking away. One way to construe this is that Kirk evaluates walkons really well (perhaps because nobody else is watching the unrated white boys) while settling for rated leftovers.

Followup thought. If walkons had decided to walk away, would the attrition be seen as so bad? It seems to me that Iowa is one outstanding skill guy (like Banks or Greene) on offense away from a solid record. The attrition stuff matters but not as much.
 
Its amazing there are still fans that support Kirk Ferentz as the head football coach at Iowa. Nothing personal against the guy, but it's over and has been for a few years.
 
eveningnewsteam said:
Its amazing there are still fans that support Kirk Ferentz as the head football coach at Iowa. Nothing personal against the guy, but it's over and has been for a few years.
Click to expand...

It was over on one play in 2010...fake punt vs WI. It's been downhill ever since with one small ascent and decent in 2013 to 2014.
 
FirstDownHawkeyes said:
It was over on one play in 2010...fake punt vs WI. It's been downhill ever since with one small ascent and decent in 2013 to 2014.
Click to expand...

And this is all with one of the weakest schedules we've ever seen starting in 2011.

This is a dead program. What does Barta do after this year, say we win our standard 6-7 wins. Does he fire him? Cause if he doesn't, is he forced to give him an extension? You know other teams are going to (if they haven't already) use 2020 as a negative against the program. Telling the kids we're after there's a good chance KF won't be around for their college career.

We have so many holes and unknowns on this team, and even when we were STACKED, we'd still blow a game or two early in the season. And throw in he's 7-9 against ISU in career.

Let's let them play, but this feels like a real bad year.
 
DBAHawkFan said:
And this is all with one of the weakest schedules we've ever seen starting in 2011.

This is a dead program. What does Barta do after this year, say we win our standard 6-7 wins. Does he fire him? Cause if he doesn't, is he forced to give him an extension? You know other teams are going to (if they haven't already) use 2020 as a negative against the program. Telling the kids we're after there's a good chance KF won't be around for their college career.

We have so many holes and unknowns on this team, and even when we were STACKED, we'd still blow a game or two early in the season. And throw in he's 7-9 against ISU in career.

Let's let them play, but this feels like a real bad year.
Click to expand...


If we don't win at least 9 games and finish no worse than 2nd in the West, it is decision time, in my opinion. Barta (or whoever is the AD) probably offers a 1 year extension and removes that bullsh*t buyout language. Then we'll see if kfootball signs the extension or walks away. Seven or even 8 wins won't be enough. Even 8 wins means at least 3 and possibly 4 B1G losses. And our schedule is really soft, again.
 
I have been a strong KF supporter, even through the last couple of years when the criticism has erupted on the message boards and probably across the fan base. I still think much of the negative stuff leveled at KF is based largely on a lack of good common sense and an even larger lack of football knowledge.

The "fire everybody" nonsense is a simplistic and ineffective answer, imho, to a complex problem.

Say what you will about Gary Barta; in fact, I think he has been a highly successful AD for Iowa.

I am not going to list the arguments in favor/against Barta or KF because they will be rejected out of hand, or defended, depending on minds already made up; arguing about pros and cons has been done, ad nauseum. I will leave it at that and state that I recognize that we are all entitled to our opinions and have a right to state them.

Which brings me to this: KF's job is in serious trouble. I firmly believe that Barta has essentially stated that fact publicly, and if you have not recognized that fact, you don't read between the lines very well. I think it is right that KF's job is on the line, dependent on the 2015 season results, in terms of wins and losses.

He will be required to win, minimally, 3 or the first 4 games. One of the wins better be ISU. He had better win the games in the BT against Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana, and Purdue. That is seven wins he better get. Minnesota and Maryland are at Kinnick and should definitely be wins. That is nine. Wins at WI and NEBR would be very tough, but a split would not be an unreasonable expectation. He could survive an additional loss along the way, but had better have no more than 3 or at most 4 losses and better not lose more than one game in Kinnick this season.

With 9+ wins, he will get another year, minimum. With 8 wins he MAY get another year, IF, he can come up with a bowl win. With fewer than 8, he will be allowed to retire with dignity, including a pretty substantial payout (justified among his critics, or not, this would be the reality). With 7 wins, or maybe even with 8, KF is gone and Barta will be the one to pull the trigger. I believe it is naive to think that Barta will blindly protect him.

I will save this post and stand by it with apologies as necessary. I do NOT intend any disrespect to posters who feel differently. I am hopeful that I will receive the same consideration. Sorry for the long post, but wanted to share my thoughts.
 
HuckFinn said:
I have been a strong KF supporter, even through the last couple of years when the criticism has erupted on the message boards and probably across the fan base. I still think much of the negative stuff leveled at KF is based largely on a lack of good common sense and an even larger lack of football knowledge.

The "fire everybody" nonsense is a simplistic and ineffective answer, imho, to a complex problem.

Say what you will about Gary Barta; in fact, I think he has been a highly successful AD for Iowa.

I am not going to list the arguments in favor/against Barta or KF because they will be rejected out of hand, or defended, depending on minds already made up; arguing about pros and cons has been done, ad nauseum. I will leave it at that and state that I recognize that we are all entitled to our opinions and have a right to state them.

Which brings me to this: KF's job is in serious trouble. I firmly believe that Barta has essentially stated that fact publicly, and if you have not recognized that fact, you don't read between the lines very well. I think it is right that KF's job is on the line, dependent on the 2015 season results, in terms of wins and losses.

He will be required to win, minimally, 3 or the first 4 games. One of the wins better be ISU. He had better win the games in the BT against Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana, and Purdue. That is seven wins he better get. Minnesota and Maryland are at Kinnick and should definitely be wins. That is nine. Wins at WI and NEBR would be very tough, but a split would not be an unreasonable expectation. He could survive an additional loss along the way, but had better have no more than 3 or at most 4 losses and better not lose more than one game in Kinnick this season.

With 9+ wins, he will get another year, minimum. With 8 wins he MAY get another year, IF, he can come up with a bowl win. With fewer than 8, he will be allowed to retire with dignity, including a pretty substantial payout (justified among his critics, or not, this would be the reality). With 7 wins, or maybe even with 8, KF is gone and Barta will be the one to pull the trigger. I believe it is naive to think that Barta will blindly protect him.

I will save this post and stand by it with apologies as necessary. I do NOT intend any disrespect to posters who feel differently. I am hopeful that I will receive the same consideration. Sorry for the long post, but wanted to share my thoughts.
Click to expand...

Damn good post, and I think your probably right on with your estimates. the one caveat is that even with the weak schedule, I think 7 wins will be enough for him to keep his job (not saying it should be, just that it will be). 6 or less wins...he's likely out within 1-2 years.

For those saying 9 wins minimum for him to not get fired, are not being realistic in expectations.

if he loses to isu again, he better find a way to win 8+. F that, he better not lose to isu or any of the ooc teams.

Always respected KF, but the critics are very justified. the reasonable ones anyway.
 
HuckFinn said:
I have been a strong KF supporter, even through the last couple of years when the criticism has erupted on the message boards and probably across the fan base. I still think much of the negative stuff leveled at KF is based largely on a lack of good common sense and an even larger lack of football knowledge.

The "fire everybody" nonsense is a simplistic and ineffective answer, imho, to a complex problem.

Say what you will about Gary Barta; in fact, I think he has been a highly successful AD for Iowa.

I am not going to list the arguments in favor/against Barta or KF because they will be rejected out of hand, or defended, depending on minds already made up; arguing about pros and cons has been done, ad nauseum. I will leave it at that and state that I recognize that we are all entitled to our opinions and have a right to state them.

Which brings me to this: KF's job is in serious trouble. I firmly believe that Barta has essentially stated that fact publicly, and if you have not recognized that fact, you don't read between the lines very well. I think it is right that KF's job is on the line, dependent on the 2015 season results, in terms of wins and losses.

He will be required to win, minimally, 3 or the first 4 games. One of the wins better be ISU. He had better win the games in the BT against Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana, and Purdue. That is seven wins he better get. Minnesota and Maryland are at Kinnick and should definitely be wins. That is nine. Wins at WI and NEBR would be very tough, but a split would not be an unreasonable expectation. He could survive an additional loss along the way, but had better have no more than 3 or at most 4 losses and better not lose more than one game in Kinnick this season.

With 9+ wins, he will get another year, minimum. With 8 wins he MAY get another year, IF, he can come up with a bowl win. With fewer than 8, he will be allowed to retire with dignity, including a pretty substantial payout (justified among his critics, or not, this would be the reality). With 7 wins, or maybe even with 8, KF is gone and Barta will be the one to pull the trigger. I believe it is naive to think that Barta will blindly protect him.

I will save this post and stand by it with apologies as necessary. I do NOT intend any disrespect to posters who feel differently. I am hopeful that I will receive the same consideration. Sorry for the long post, but wanted to share my thoughts.
Click to expand...

Good post and like you mention, the merits of Barta as AD can be debated. I will say this, I DO NOT WANT Barta to be in a position where he will choose the next football coach for Iowa. I think most would agree with me on that point.
 
ImInTheSouth said:
Good post and like you mention, the merits of Barta as AD can be debated. I will say this, I DO NOT WANT Barta to be in a position where he will choose the next football coach for Iowa. I think most would agree with me on that point.
Click to expand...

<<I DO NOT WANT Barta...>>

He would be but one member of a committee. Unlike the other sports--i.e., wrestling coach would all but be Gable's choice, basketball would be a couple "insiders"--football coach would have a serious committee that would probably include a substantial donor type. Football revenue is the athletic department's backbone.

Personally, I am glad Mason won't figure in.
 
HawkeyeWalker said:
This is KF's biggest failure imo. It's crazy.
Click to expand...

Agreed. This doesn't mean I think Iowa should be 16-0 against ISU, but a losing record? Come on. There is zero excuse for losing to those guys head to head more often than not, not with Iowa's advantage in tradition and resources relative to ISU. Zero excuse.

In a 12 game season, losing a game like this makes a big difference. 8-4 and maybe ranked turns into 7-5 and definitely unranked. Not to mention losses to programs like Minnesota and NW. KF's had some 7-5 seasons that ought to have been 9-3 if not for bad losses like that.

Granted, NW has had some solid teams, but Iowa has had losses to some shaky NW teams, and I seem to remember Iowa being directly responsible for 50% of Minnesota's conference wins from 2010-11. Unacceptable.
 
Last edited:
Hardly an original thought, but for a coach that touts the program as one that brings players in and develops them to be productive players in their junior and senior years, it's hard to develop a player when he's no longer on the team. Furthermore, when a large percentage of your team transfers out, it puts a lot of pressure on those who remain to be the ones to develop into productive players. As a pure numbers analysis, the margins are too thin for this to be viable over the long haul.
 
Sometimes I wonder what is wrong with a lot of young men these days. Back it my time it seemed liked dedication was a virtue that many more young men had. I hope we can get back to the way things were in society.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top