Iowa's Offensive Personnel Can Succeed, But Not In That Offense (BHGP)
- Thread starter SheagleHawk
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HawkeyeDenis
Well-Known Member
Iowa has experience and size on the line as well as an excellent stable of RB's for an efficient running attack. QB and WR are week points but the running game and the TE's should open up some possibilities that last years team didn't have. Iowa should be a better team this year but not contenders.
HawkeyeNTexas
Well-Known Member
I think the biggest question mark is Greg Davis and not the players.
homes
Well-Known Member
So what happens? Another year of trying to pound a round peg through a square hole? If that's the case, then I don't get the thinking behind the Greg Davis hire in the first place. Davis doesn't want to be like Wisconsin. Ferentz loves pounding the ball down and controlling the clock, i.e., to be like Wisconsin (or did Wisconsin end up being like Iowa, just doing a better, more sustained version of Iowa?) I think we'll know in the first game who prevailed, and I do think one has to prevail - these styles cannot be blended.
SheagleHawk
Well-Known Member
Well the article did say the first play from scrimmage at the DM practice was a "zero-yard horizontal pass."
OUTofTOWNHAWK
Well-Known Member
I wouldnt say the QB and the WRs are weak positions. They are just unknown. The sad thing is you can see that the Oline and the TEs are good but the system and those running the system wont let them be good. I think thats what you saw from the offense in general last year. Iowa has talent to win games. If only they had talent to know how to use the talent.
The article started off with what appeared tobe intelligent analysis before petering off to such an extent that there is little to make a connection, leave alone a firm connection, to the title of that piece. As things stand, we have a provocative title followed by random (even if factual) analysis that doesn't support it. Requires re-work/editing or withdrawal.
JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
During the 2007 football season, I would go off once a week on Soundoff on how the offensive philosophy was not a match for the offensive personnel. I still think that season I was right...but then came 2008...same philosophy and an OL who had grown up...and they looked pretty good.
hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
Bingo. The Greg Davis phenomenon ... as I'll call it, raises an interested question. or series of questions)
Did Ferentz hire him because:
A. He's really believes Davis is a good OC (not surprising from a guy who doesn't understand offense)
B. He's willing to accept "fair" offense (see point #1, plus the KFz coservative approach)
C. Nobody of any quality (as in a young up-and-comer) would take the job. The word is out on how KFz put hand cuffs on a guy that ran a high scoring offense at his previous school (see Ken O'Keefe. I think it's become increasingly clear, that he doesn't deserve much of the criticism he got). And Ferentz, of course, wants control.
D. Ferentz really has lost his drive, as some suggest. And he just went with another old guy that was in the same groove.
I tend to think it's a little of all of the above.
If Barta has the slightest knowledge of football and can see what's taking place, he'll give KFz the "HE goes...or you BOTH GO" after this season. That, of course, barring an 8-4 year. Which I'd bet the farm against.
JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
What if Ferentz told Greg that he had to blend the things KF liked with the things Greg liked...and the personnel that Iowa had? I can totally see that...and if that is the case, it's not a GD problem per se.
homes
Well-Known Member
Both should have known that these offenses can't be blended, if they were being honest with themselves. But heck, Davis needed a job, and Ferentz needed an offensive coordinator. An offense based on the running game and play action passes, and an offense based on short pass patterns with fast receivers. What happens when the defensive backs crowd the line of scrimmage to stop the run (Ferentz's game) and the passes being thrown are short routes (Davis's game). You end up with DBs right on top of the receivers, with no where to go (and the 111th ranked offense in the country).
hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
homes;1125122[B said:
Exactly. The most irritating thing about Ferentz's shortcomings...is that they're SO PLAIN TO SEE. You don't need to be a high-level OC with 20 years coaching experience to pick this apart.
I understand that you have to walk a fine line, Jon. This is your bread and butter. But I think you're working a little too hard to give KFz a free pass. He's not a first year coach. He has the resources, he HAD the National stage and equity to really build this program up (which he pizzed away) and now he's putting a product on the field that gets frequently beaten by lesser program, lesser talent and lesser $$.
But yes...he's a good man of solid character. (our state is full of such men, so it's time to stop giving him a freebie on that one, too)
Stick a fork in him.
OUTofTOWNHAWK
Well-Known Member
Sooooo Kirk didnt know what offense Greg davis ran and Greg davis didnt know what type of players Iowa had? Or they both just dont care?
homes
Well-Known Member
Seems odd, doesn't it. This year will determine if things can work out. If things are the same this fall as last year, something is amiss. Although they seem inherently inconsistent, given my vast knowledge of offensive strategy.
DP5555
Well-Known Member
The single most frustrating thing to me about last year was the fact all we heard about all off-season was how talented CJF is. I believe GD even went as far as to say he's the most naturally gifted TE he's ever coached.
Then what in the hell happened the first 3/4 of the season Greg? Kirk? For someone who was supposedly so gifted why did you not specifically give him plays in the offense besides routes that were less than 5 yards? It certainly isn't because there was so much talent on the field that it was difficult for them to distribute the plays accordingly. Then when they finally started going to him at the end of the season he started to make some plays! Imagine that!
It's incredibly frustrating. I could literally sit at home and effectively predict what we were going to do on offense on over 50% of the plays, and I'm not a D1 defensive coordinator.
Then what in the hell happened the first 3/4 of the season Greg? Kirk? For someone who was supposedly so gifted why did you not specifically give him plays in the offense besides routes that were less than 5 yards? It certainly isn't because there was so much talent on the field that it was difficult for them to distribute the plays accordingly. Then when they finally started going to him at the end of the season he started to make some plays! Imagine that!
It's incredibly frustrating. I could literally sit at home and effectively predict what we were going to do on offense on over 50% of the plays, and I'm not a D1 defensive coordinator.
FreedComanche
Banned
FreedComanche
Banned
Really what you are asking is this, "With ferentz' offensive philosophy, why in the world would he hired Davis?".
I agree with you that it does not make sense. But, how many delusional people do you know that make sense?
FreedComanche
FreedComanche
Banned
That might be right, Jon. However, ferentz has proven again and again that he will not make adjustments if he doesn't have the talent to fit his system save the season where Sam Brownley was the running back. That's not coaching, that's foolish.
FreedComanche
