Kirk and Woody

[okeefe4prez]

Can you imagine how much he cries that day????

Him? I'm more worried about myself. I was damned near choked up leaving the game in Champaign because I was so worried that the wheels were coming off the bus and that he was going to have some disgraceful exit. I wasn't bullshitting when I sang Petras's praises. That kid worked an absolute miracle holding the team together and I wouldn't be surprised if he goes on to achieve coaching or other professional greatness.

Yes, Kurt has left me butthurt at times, but the fantastic games that I've been at and seen Iowa win with my own two eyes are too numerous to list. Yes, he gets schooled by Fitz too often. Yes, he has a bad record against MAC schools with a direction in their name. Yes, he has shit the bed in some key Iowa State games. Yes, I remember watching Adam Shada trying to cover James Hardy from Indiana.

But those of us a certain age remember a great program on television where Mrs. Garrett led Tootie, Blair, Natalie and Jo through the trials and tribulations of life. And we can never forget the first few lines of that theme song: "You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life."

I can't recall the name of the show, but I'm sure you've seen it. The good so substantially outweighs the bad with Kurt and the potential for our program to enter purgatory when he leaves is very high. I can stomach 6-6 or even 4-8, but if 6-6 becomes the high water mark and then all of our good guys get poached in the portal every year I'm not sure how much I can take. Ferentz is potentially the end of an unprecedented era for Iowa football and I'll probably be reduced to a puddle when the guy hangs it up.

 

[okeefe4prez]

This.

Winning percentage is the right measure.

I disagree. Ferentz's win percentage is right where it belongs and trying to compare win percentages between Michigan or Ohio and Iowa is a joke because we have about 25% of the all-in resources of those schools. We don't have a big population. We don't have a giant alumni base. We don't have cops who will look the other way when a ballplayer gets into an indiscretion around town. We don't have a 100,000 seat stadium.

Iowa should beat Northwestern more and it should beat every directional MAC school. But each of those dismal losses has a corresponding miracle win that Iowa had absolutely no business pulling off. Ohio in 2017. Several Michigan games. Penn State 2008 and 2009. That LSU bowl game. The Georgia Tech bowl game. Even a forgotten gem in a forgettable season - the year we beat a stacked Illini team that made the Rose Bowl after beating Ohio State in 2007.

Ferentz has worked a miracle at Iowa. Dude is on par with a guy like Frank Beamer or Hayden Fry. An absolute legend who pulled a lot of rabbits out of a lot of hats. There are a lot of guys who could have matched what the big boys did at the big schools, but the number of guys who can do what someone like Ferentz or Alvarez did is very, very limited. If it was a widely held skillset then every school could duplicate it. But they can't because they ain't got Ferentz.

 

[rschneider]

Thank god for two of the best D coordinators with no aspirations of moving on.

 

[dahlhawk]

C

Thank god for two of the best D coordinators with no aspirations of moving on.

can you imagine what a hot commodity Parker would be on the open market?

 

[okeefe4prez]

C

can you imagine what a hot commodity Parker would be on the open market?

My guess is that if he left he would go somewhere like Illinois where he knows the head guy and knows the situation will be chill. Of course Norm and Phil are awesome and they have helped Ferentz, but part of their longevity is the culture Kurt has created. My guess is that if Phil went somewhere like Oklahoma he'd last about five games before storming off in a rage.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

My kingdom for unqualified joy and admiration....

I don't need to qualify this accomplishment if it happens. It would be amazing and something KF grinded to get. And, he did it at Iowa. Not Michigan or OSU or Nebraska or PSU.

I'm not "qualifying" it...just stating the complete picture. The numbers are the numbers.

Yes, he did do it at Iowa. Highly unlikely he would have lasted anywhere close to 23 years at Michigan, tOSU or Penn St.

 

[KCHawkeye]

Barry Alvarez' years as head coach didn't add up, so I had to Wiki him. He was actually head coach from 1990 to 2005 inclusive for 16 years. I didn't look up the rest of the stats to see if they were correct.

Barry Alvarez - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[OlRustyBoy]

Barry Alvarez' years as head coach didn't add up, so I had to Wiki him. He was actually head coach from 1990 to 2005 inclusive for 16 years. I didn't look up the rest of the stats to see if they were correct.

Barry Alvarez - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The stats came from college football reference, reliable source more so than Wikipedia. The later dates was when he coached bowl games. 2012 and 2014

 

[NorthKCHawk]

Alvarez, Beamer, Bill Snyder, Hayden Fry, Kirk Ferentz.

All guys who consistently won at second tier football schools for a long period of time. I say second tier positively, meaning not a blue blood. 2nd on like a 5 tier system. The other four guys did it at schools that had absolutely no recent tradition of winning, but when KF took over at Iowa, the cupboard was pretty bare. Being mentioned with those names is a great compliment to all of them.

I agree with others that trying to compare guys like this with guys like Woody and Bo and Urban and Saban is probably like trying to compare a Royals manager with a Yankee's manager. They are just different.

I will not argue that if KF gets this record that he is the greatest coach in Big10 history, either statistically or otherwise. But, if he gets this record I think he is on the Mount Rushmore of Big10 coaches. You can disagree, but I can't find 4 guys I would put ahead of him. Pretty damn cool. Hope he gets there

 

[KCHawkeye]

From the University of Wisconsin Fact Book of 2022. There is a lot on the website, but I found this in the section for the list of past head coaches. I believe the asterisk identifies the additional wins and years.

Barry Alvarez 1990-05* 119-74-4 (.614) 67-32-3 (.672) 42-37-1 (.531) 10-5-0 (.667) 65-60-3 (.520) 9-4
Bret Bielema 2006-12 68-24-0 (.739) 44-5-0 (.898) 18-15-0 (.545) 6-4-0 (.600) 37-19-0 (.660) 2-4
Gary Andersen 2013-14 19-7-0 (.731) 13-1-0 (.929) 6-3-0 (.667) 0-3-0 (.000) 13-3-0 (.813) 0-1

* Served as interim head coach for 2013 Rose Bowl (L) and 2015 Outback Bowl (W)

2022 Wisconsin Football Fact Book (PDF) | Wisconsin Badgers

2022 Wisconsin Football Fact Book (PDF)

uwbadgers.com

 

[rschneider]

C

can you imagine what a hot commodity Parker would be on the open market?

Phil could get a DC job at any blue blood in the country. Norm probably could of as well at some point.
Not so much for the rest of the staff.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

Phil could get a DC job at any blue blood in the country. Norm probably could of as well at some point.
Not so much for the rest of the staff.

I think Phil is certainly marketable, but I don't know that he is so great he could just call his shot and go anywhere he wanted. Phil has some built in advantages that skew his statistics.

1. He plays in the Big 10 West, statistically one of worst offensive divisions in the entire Power 5.
2. He plays for KF, who consistently fields one of the least productive offenses in the Power 5. KF plays field position football.

Most teams approach the Iowa game thinking that if they can avoid turnovers and score 20 points, they are probably going to win. That leads to a conservative approach. If Iowa played in just about any other conference, Phil would face better quality offenses who need to score more points on a weekly basis. His numbers would not look the same in the Little 12 or SEC.

 

[Grady]

I think Phil is certainly marketable, but I don't know that he is so great he could just call his shot and go anywhere he wanted. Phil has some built in advantages that skew his statistics.

1. He plays in the Big 10 West, statistically one of worst offensive divisions in the entire Power 5.
2. He plays for KF, who consistently fields one of the least productive offenses in the Power 5. KF plays field position football.

Most teams approach the Iowa game thinking that if they can avoid turnovers and score 20 points, they are probably going to win. That leads to a conservative approach. If Iowa played in just about any other conference, Phil would face better quality offenses who need to score more points on a weekly basis. His numbers would not look the same in the Little 12 or SEC.

A lot of truth here.
Altho as Iowa St proved when Campbell arrived, when teams that are not used to seeing good defenses actually have to PLAY against good defenses, they often struggle....i.e. the Big12. However, what we've seen with Iowa St and the B12 again being a good example, is that those same teams usually adjust and adapt because they have excellent skill players and warm environments to play in. The BTen West Division: not so much.
That said, Phil would unquestionably be wanted by any team not annually in the Top 10 across all of college football -- the consistency of his record is elite.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

A lot of truth here.
Altho as Iowa St proved when Campbell arrived, when teams that are not used to seeing good defenses actually have to PLAY against good defenses, they often struggle....i.e. the Big12. However, what we've seen with Iowa St and the B12 again being a good example, is that those same teams usually adjust and adapt because they have excellent skill players and warm environments to play in. The BTen West Division: not so much.
That said, Phil would unquestionably be wanted by any team not annually in the Top 10 across all of college football -- the consistency of his record is elite.

Agreed. Phil would be an asset just about anywhere. If he went to a bigger, name-brand school, he would also have access to more talented recruits as well. He is a very good coach.

I question, however, whether the philosophy of the Parkers would translate if we were in the East or SEC. Take 3 star kids, train them up, have them sit in a base defense, give up some yards, tighten up in the red zone, and wait for the other team to make a mistake---would that consistently work against elite offensive teams?

Iowa has traditionally struggled against Purdue. Purdue is probably the closest thing to a dynamic offense in the West. How would Phil's approach work in the SEC or Big 12? Hard to say. He is a great coach, but you just cannot overstate how offensively challenged the Big Ten West has been for the last decade. It absolutely has aided Parker's job to consistently be facing guys like Tanner Morgan.....

 

[ChosenChildren]

I will never argue that the Captain is the greatest coach in Big Ten football history. Hell, it could be Bernie Biermann at Minnesota (4 national championships, as I recall) or Fielding Yost of Michigan for all I know. Or maybe Schembechler, Hayes, or Paterno. Heck, what about Forest Evashevski, a great coach at Iowa, or Howard Jones. It is so subjective.

But, objectively, he should be the winningest coach in Big Ten football history in 2 or 3 years. That is achievable for him. The goal is there because the guys ahead of him won't be accumulating any more victories.

 

[ChosenChildren]

Agreed. Phil would be an asset just about anywhere. If he went to a bigger, name-brand school, he would also have access to more talented recruits as well. He is a very good coach.

I question, however, whether the philosophy of the Parkers would translate if we were in the East or SEC. Take 3 star kids, train them up, have them sit in a base defense, give up some yards, tighten up in the red zone, and wait for the other team to make a mistake---would that consistently work against elite offensive teams?

Iowa has traditionally struggled against Purdue. Purdue is probably the closest thing to a dynamic offense in the West. How would Phil's approach work in the SEC or Big 12? Hard to say. He is a great coach, but you just cannot overstate how offensively challenged the Big Ten West has been for the last decade. It absolutely has aided Parker's job to consistently be facing guys like Tanner Morgan.....

Phil did solve the Purdue puzzle this year. We pounded a very good Purdue team, on their field, 24-3.

 

[oldhawk12]

I disagree. Ferentz's win percentage is right where it belongs and trying to compare win percentages between Michigan or Ohio and Iowa is a joke because we have about 25% of the all-in resources of those schools. We don't have a big population. We don't have a giant alumni base. We don't have cops who will look the other way when a ballplayer gets into an indiscretion around town. We don't have a 100,000 seat stadium.

Iowa should beat Northwestern more and it should beat every directional MAC school. But each of those dismal losses has a corresponding miracle win that Iowa had absolutely no business pulling off. Ohio in 2017. Several Michigan games. Penn State 2008 and 2009. That LSU bowl game. The Georgia Tech bowl game. Even a forgotten gem in a forgettable season - the year we beat a stacked Illini team that made the Rose Bowl after beating Ohio State in 2007.

Ferentz has worked a miracle at Iowa. Dude is on par with a guy like Frank Beamer or Hayden Fry. An absolute legend who pulled a lot of rabbits out of a lot of hats. There are a lot of guys who could have matched what the big boys did at the big schools, but the number of guys who can do what someone like Ferentz or Alvarez did is very, very limited. If it was a widely held skillset then every school could duplicate it. But they can't because they ain't got Ferentz.

I agree with you that you can’t judge based on winning percentage. The combination of kirk’s non conference and conference schedules are a major point with me. That and longevity. He’s simply the tom davis of Iowa football. Great moments to be sure, obvious stability. It really comes down to a fan’s expectations