Read my post like 6 up from this. I disagree with Jon's logic in that statement.
KF needs a long look in the mirror
- Thread starter BSpringsteen
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Read my post like 6 up from this. I disagree with Jon's logic in that statement.
AIRHAWK
Well-Known Member
This is exactly what some here are talking about. KF and staff play it so close to the vest that I dont think they change their mo. After the Greenwood INT, we needed to capatalize with a TD. Our kicking is shaky anyway so what say we take a couple shots/ chances and get that TD. Go up by 2 scores. Wisky was moving the ball up and down the field almost at will. My guess, next time we do it exactly the same way....run, run, short on third down, kick the FG.
Jon, this is called professionalism. Thank you. This gets lost in the world of anonymous internet posting, where people say things they would never say to ones face.
Now, easy take. We were out executed and out coached and we lost because of it. Hurts worse this year because of the amount of talent we have its sucks to lose like this. End of story.
MissouriHerk
Well-Known Member
KF's coaching philosophy is built on playing basic, disciplined fundamental football, and doing it well, not getting outside one's abilities. In the college game, it works well, because college kids are so difficult to teach to be consistent,and he knows how to. It is not in dispute that from the perspective of our opponent we are the easiest team in the country to prepare for. Bob Davie (of all people), said it on national television and he is right. He wasn't insulting KF, just pointing out the "here we come now stop us" style. We tell people what we are going to do and then do it well. We "stay within ourselves". This philosophy of basic football also lends itself to keeping games close, hence the appearance of "playing down" to lesser opponents and "playing up" to more highly ranked ones. It's rare that another team can "put us away" when we are playing good sound football. We are therefore capable of the big upset, and of getting upset. KF's style is the great equilizer. It works great in an underdog role, because we will always have the chance to win in a close game. Last year provided many perfect examples of that. It does not work very well in a role where you have the athletic talent to win every game, because it's hard to win every game when every game is close. It is a very conservative style of coaching. To be a champion, however, you have to be willing to take risks and push yourself to your limits. Another note, when you are an easy team to prepare for because you are just trying to play good solid fundamental football without complicated play schemes, and then you don't play basic fundamentals (e.g. special teams), you go from being easy to prepare for to easy to beat.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
KF has done so many things for this program and I think way to highly of him to put this lose solely on the coaching. I think one thing he has done, with the success of this program, is put his team in a position in a "godlike" status in which they will never be able to reach a level of success to please everyone and there will always be those that are never satisfied.
We're playing essentially the same conference schedule as we did last year in which the majority of the games came down to the wire, and now since we've got all those difficult games at home it suddenly becomes "a favorable schedule" in which we should go through unblemished. Looks like last years success helped once again raise the expectations of everyone to a level that may or may not be realistic.
The only thing criticism I have about the coaching staff is the fact that over the last few years we've taken such a conservative approach at the end of the first half in simply running out the clock and putting no effort what so ever to get into scoring position, that it became perfectly clear to me why we struggle with a two minute drill. To run it in practice is one thing, but doens't compare to running it at game speed in a game situation. And I feel that failure to take advantage of those opportunities definitely came back to bite us in a nail biter. However, I feel it was a coaching error as well as lack of composer, but as much as I hate it, regardless of what expectations us as fans have, our pain from that loss doesn't hurt us nearly as much as it does the players and the coaches and anyone who thinks opposite is ********. Mistake or not, it was the mistake of the team and not our place to question things.
We're playing essentially the same conference schedule as we did last year in which the majority of the games came down to the wire, and now since we've got all those difficult games at home it suddenly becomes "a favorable schedule" in which we should go through unblemished. Looks like last years success helped once again raise the expectations of everyone to a level that may or may not be realistic.
The only thing criticism I have about the coaching staff is the fact that over the last few years we've taken such a conservative approach at the end of the first half in simply running out the clock and putting no effort what so ever to get into scoring position, that it became perfectly clear to me why we struggle with a two minute drill. To run it in practice is one thing, but doens't compare to running it at game speed in a game situation. And I feel that failure to take advantage of those opportunities definitely came back to bite us in a nail biter. However, I feel it was a coaching error as well as lack of composer, but as much as I hate it, regardless of what expectations us as fans have, our pain from that loss doesn't hurt us nearly as much as it does the players and the coaches and anyone who thinks opposite is ********. Mistake or not, it was the mistake of the team and not our place to question things.
There is no question that there are coaching decisions happening during each and every game that KF would change if he, in the in-game situation, had the 20/20 hindsight we as fans and critics have. And yes, he is doomed just like the rest of us to make errors...daily.
It seems to me that some fervent, yet loyal fans lose sight of those unavoidable realities when going off on name calling diatribes because the coaching staff is not infallable. Had the HAWKS won that game, even with the tactical game management errors still present, this thread probably wouldn't exist.
HAWKEYE teams are reknown for improving game by game. Greatness isn't measured by being perfect. It has more to do with how a team picks themselves up, learns from their errors and moves forward smarter and better partly because of those lessons learned. I have faith in both the IOWA coaching staff and players that is exactly what they will do.
GO HAWKS!
It seems to me that some fervent, yet loyal fans lose sight of those unavoidable realities when going off on name calling diatribes because the coaching staff is not infallable. Had the HAWKS won that game, even with the tactical game management errors still present, this thread probably wouldn't exist.
HAWKEYE teams are reknown for improving game by game. Greatness isn't measured by being perfect. It has more to do with how a team picks themselves up, learns from their errors and moves forward smarter and better partly because of those lessons learned. I have faith in both the IOWA coaching staff and players that is exactly what they will do.
GO HAWKS!
olivecourt
Well-Known Member
I love the idea that Kirk Ferentz needs to listen to our advice on what it takes to "be a champion." Something tells me he knows a little bit more about this than the yokels posting on this site, myself included.
Literally everything that is being said about Kirk Ferentz right now was once said about Tom Osbourne, Mack Brown, and Bobby Bowden. I won't put Ferentz in that category until he wins a national title. But if he gets there, he's going to do it with the things that have made him successful to this point, just like those coaches did.
Literally everything that is being said about Kirk Ferentz right now was once said about Tom Osbourne, Mack Brown, and Bobby Bowden. I won't put Ferentz in that category until he wins a national title. But if he gets there, he's going to do it with the things that have made him successful to this point, just like those coaches did.
olivecourt
Well-Known Member
I mean really, Coach Ferentz, what have you done for us lately?
Oh, you won the Orange Bowl? Maybe you actually do know what you're doing.
If only you'd listened to us, though! We all totally led our teams to third place in the Heartland Conference! Either way, you need a long look in the mirror. Cancel your plans to watch film, and, you know, game plan for Michigan State. You should be thinking about ways to fire Ken O'Keefe! That guy is so bad that sometimes the team loses games! WTF is that? Also, take your long-snapper aside and tell him he supposed to snap the ball TO the holder! I mean, come on! And I don't think the O-line knows this, but they're supposed to BLOCK the other team during an extra point attempt! You probably would have gone over this stuff if you weren't so focused on playing close to the vest and being content with winning 8-9 games.
Also, WHY DON'T YOU START EVERY DRIVE WITH A THROW TO THE END ZONE!!!! DON'T YOU WANT TO SCORE TOUCHDOWNS!!! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT NO TEAM HAS EVER SCORED A TOUCHDOWN RUNNING THE BALL!!! YOU'VE GOT TO THROW, MAN! TOUCHDOWNS DON'T COUNT UNLESS YOU ARE THROWING THE BALL!
Oh, you say Stanzi threw 37 times out of 67 plays? Huh. Still, though. Look in mirror. Maybe it will show you how to be a champion.
hawkfan340
Well-Known Member
I call bullcrap on this.
WE SHOULD BE SCORING TOUCHDOWNS ON EVERY FRICKIN' PLAY. WHAT THE CRAP IS WRONG WITH THESE GUYS? THEY KNOW THE OBJECT OF THE GAME, RIGHT? ALSO, NO MORE KICKING F-ING EXTRA POINTS. WHY ARE WE NOT JUST HAVING THE O-LINE PUSH THE DEFENSE BACK THROUGH THE ENDZONE INTO THE CROWD AND HAVE STANZARINO JUST WALTZ IT IN. THEN WE ONSIDE KICK, DUH? IT'S A SIMPLE GAME, IDIOTS.
olivecourt
Well-Known Member
You're totally right. I really need to get my killer instinct into gear.
hawkforlife9
Well-Known Member
Speaking of Soundoff... was the big Z drunk???
SheagleHawk
Well-Known Member
Stats would indicate otherwise. Iowa is 60th in the nation in rushing, while Wisky is 12th. Pretty significant gap and clearly not Iowa's strength. While we strive for a balanced attack, Iowa's strength this year is clearly in the passing game. We have so many weapons and our pass blocking is far superior to our run blocking at this point. Stanzi could have thrown a picnic in the pocket for most of the game he had that much time.
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SheagleHawk
Well-Known Member
While the coaching staff can, and better, learn from their clock mgmt blunders, I'm not sure some of the things we saw YET AGAIN are fixable at this point in the season. Kicking game is horrendous; no improvement from week 1. LB play is suspect at best; regression from week 1. I know Hyde is young, and will probably be pretty good, but he got burned again on another play he absolutely should not have. He will be targeted the remainder of the year. I have nightmares about what Persa will do to him if he doesn't get together soon.
SheagleHawk
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't put him in that category for other major reasons, like class and integrity. Osbourne was shady at best. I thought FloriDuh programs were a joke, but Osbourne and the Fuskers under him take the cake. Bowden, IMO, lacked a moral compass as well.
olivecourt
Well-Known Member
That's completely fair. But you see my point, right? All of those guys were never good enough to win a national title, until all of the sudden they were. In general I think fans (myself included) are pretty terrible at predicting that sort of thing, so I find it funny when people proclaim with such certainty that Ferentz will never be good enough to win a title. And I've read that more than once in the past 48 hours.
SheagleHawk
Well-Known Member
I do, and I wasn't trying to be a smart *** or anything. I just DESPISE Tom Osbourne and those Fusker teams. I remember one incident where he allowed a guy to play that was on trial for 2nd degree murder! Another time, one of his players was involved in shooting and he took the gun and locked in his desk! Shady, shady stuff.
Back to your original point, I think a lot of people are just emotionally demolished after this last loss given all our hype this year. Heck, I bought into it. After the game I asked my significant other to please not talk to me for a few hours as I attempted to drown my sorrows in some Goose Island 312's. There's NO other coach I'd want more than Ferentz. I think people will step back from the ledge as the week goes on a see that we still have a shot at a great season.
