It could be worse......

H

HawksMN

Well-Known Member
......Iowa could have a program like Minnesota's. Very little hope for decades now, lose to WI every year, lose to Iowa most years. Thrilled with that 8-4 record two years ago, right back to the dumpster last year.

Don't care what you say, Hawks aren't THAT mediocre. How would you like to have a talent base like the Twin Cities, yet do NOTHING with it?
 
HawksMN said:
......Iowa could have a program like Minnesota's. Very little hope for decades now, lose to WI every year, lose to Iowa most years. Thrilled with that 8-4 record two years ago, right back to the dumpster last year.

Don't care what you say, Hawks aren't THAT mediocre. How would you like to have a talent base like the Twin Cities, yet do NOTHING with it?
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MN has rarely done decently. Purdue and IL have at times been quite good. Purdue football seems to have gone the way of what Iowa's BB program did after forcing a coaching change. IL has had several good coaches who either left or couldn't keep it going and got fired. Those 2 programs are just terrible. MN is a notch above them right now and in most recent years except for the "catch a shooting star" players.
 
thefizz said:
Pshhh, well grounded perspectives do not belong here.
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Or, it could be better...we could have beaten a FCS team and a 1-3 team, both at Kinnick, and be 6-0. You know, the very well grounded thought of accomplishing what you should and doing what you're supposed to do.
 
Scooby said:
We pay Ferentz Top 10 money and the response, by some, is "it could be worse."
Pitiful.
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Turn the page. You've all written that book. Ive seen your movie...straight to DVD quality.You have an anti-Ferentz woody. We get it. Come up with something new. Did you hear about the "wheel" and "the internet?" They are both gonna change things. Time for a new record...yours is skipping badly. Try that new 8-track thing. Amazing!
 
Scooby said:
We pay Ferentz Top 10 money and the response, by some, is "it could be worse."
Pitiful.
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Maybe its so hard to win at Iowa that we need top flight coaches in order to be a mid-level program that we've been over the last 35 years. And unfortunately for Iowa's bank account, that costs a lot of money. Of course there is plenty more where that came from.
 
Said a million different ways in a million different posts, but blame the "coaching" on the coaches and the contracts on the AD.
 
I know there are 2 factions at odds here always (Ferentz-haters, and Ferentz-apologists). There are plenty of 'stats' either side can throw out to support their side. But here are facts why coaches could/should succeed here....

-We have and continue to pay Top 5- Top 10 money to HC AND assistants!
-Very active and fairly affluent fan base (good medical and law program helps alumni affluence)
-P5 conference
-Top 20 income Athletic Dept
-Decent recent 'history/reputation' (last 35 years)
-Maybe the top, or slightly below, conference in P5
-Top-tier facilities for the most part.

So, with all the above 'advantages' at IA, and we pay our coach Top 10 level, is it that absurd to expect Top 10 level performances on the field? Or should we be happy with mediocre, for the most part?
 
koralakers said:
I know there are 2 factions at odds here always (Ferentz-haters, and Ferentz-apologists). There are plenty of 'stats' either side can throw out to support their side. But here are facts why coaches could/should succeed here....

-We have and continue to pay Top 5- Top 10 money to HC AND assistants!
-Very active and fairly affluent fan base (good medical and law program helps alumni affluence)
-P5 conference
-Top 20 income Athletic Dept
-Decent recent 'history/reputation' (last 35 years)
-Maybe the top, or slightly below, conference in P5
-Top-tier facilities for the most part.

So, with all the above 'advantages' at IA, and we pay our coach Top 10 level, is it that absurd to expect Top 10 level performances on the field? Or should we be happy with mediocre, for the most part?
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Agree 100% but the other side of that is that we're in the middle of nowhere when it comes to recruiting hotbeds. It's easier to bring in the top talent when your right there in the mix. I agree with everything you said about why coaches should want to be here, but coaches are only a portion of the equation. Great coaches need great players.

Edit: You also forgot to mention were not located in Ames. Major positive no matter how you spin it!!!
 
kicker22 said:
Agree 100% but the other side of that is that we're in the middle of nowhere when it comes to recruiting hotbeds. It's easier to bring in the top talent when your right there in the mix. I agree with everything you said about why coaches should want to be here, but coaches are only a portion of the equation. Great coaches need great players.

Edit: You also forgot to mention were not located in Ames. Major positive no matter how you spin it!!!
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Even spinning it with this?
 
koralakers said:
I know there are 2 factions at odds here always (Ferentz-haters, and Ferentz-apologists). There are plenty of 'stats' either side can throw out to support their side. But here are facts why coaches could/should succeed here....

-We have and continue to pay Top 5- Top 10 money to HC AND assistants!
-Very active and fairly affluent fan base (good medical and law program helps alumni affluence)
-P5 conference
-Top 20 income Athletic Dept
-Decent recent 'history/reputation' (last 35 years)
-Maybe the top, or slightly below, conference in P5
-Top-tier facilities for the most part.

So, with all the above 'advantages' at IA, and we pay our coach Top 10 level, is it that absurd to expect Top 10 level performances on the field? Or should we be happy with mediocre, for the most part?
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All excellent points. But you missed the biggest fact. Iowa City is in the middle of nowhere. Can you imagine being a kid from an inner city, metro area, or even a suburb and going to Iowa City for a college visit? Culture shock to say the least. You drive for hours past fields, farms, and small towns. Then you get to Iowa City itself and find its a small town, at least to anyone who grows up in a metro area.

Just to be clear, I grew up in small town Iowa and I liked the experience. It taught me the value of hard work. And Iowa City and many communities in Iowa are wonderful places to raise a family. But we're not talking about 30 somethings raising a family. We're talking about an 18 year old kid making a choice about where he's going to enjoy himself the most.

Very few kids are going to choose Iowa City over campuses in the west and in the south. Better weather, better woman, more women, more things to do, etc. And most Power 5 schools outside of the B1G and PAC12 are easier to get into than Iowa is.

Then you start comparing Iowa to "similar" places like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Nebraska. Never been to Lincoln, so can't speak to it. Dinkytown in Minneapolis is everything Iowa City wants to be with two major cities surrounding it. Madison, lets be real, is a far better town than Iowa City and roughly 5 times as big. Evanston is on Lake Michigan and is about 10 miles from the 3rd largest city in the United States.

So should we be happy with mediocre? Of course not. But maybe should we be more realistic as well. And realize that seasons like 2002, 2004, 2009, 2015 are wonderful. Enjoy them because they probably aren't going to happen again soon. Realize that most us weren't alive the last time Iowa had a bad coach. And that maybe it takes a Fry or Ferentz just to get the mid level recruits to Iowa City. Any less of a coach and we look like our neighbor to the west.
 
Some people have ZERO perspective, or simply have no clue the "ebbs and flows" of college football. Here is what KF and Iowa have done compared to our B1G compatriots since 2000:

Clearly behind OSU and Wisconsin. OSU has 158 wins and Wisconsin 146 wins from '00-'15

Iowa is in the same group as Nebraska, Michigan, MSU and Penn St. in almost any way you measure these things:

Here are the win totals (Iowa 126) (Other schools 137, 129, 125 & 122).

BCS bowl game appearances in that same time (Iowa 3) (other schools 4, 2, 2, and 3).

Here are the times these 5 schools finished in the top 10 (Iowa 5) (other schools 4, 3, 2, & 3)

The other teams aren't listed in any particular order. Yet for instance Nebraska has the most wins (137, but fewest BCS bowl game appearances and least amount of top 10 finishes since '00) Iowa is squarely in the mix with these other schools since '00, the stats all show that.

At the same time, Iowa is clearly behind Michigan and MSU now. Yet is ahead of Penn St. and about tied with Nebraska. Iowa is in no way shape or form comparable to a Purdue, Ill., Northwestern, or Minnesota and to try to make that argument just shows ignorance
 
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