Kirk expresses frustration over portal

We have obviously needed help at various offensive positions in the past (OL and WR come to mind). Yet, Iowa has not utilized the portal to shore up these obvious weak spots..
Why?
This piece implies this situation is by choice (Kirk's culture).
Or is it a shortage of NIL money?
Or is the opportunity to play on the Iowa offense not a compelling offer?
I think there are larger issues at play here than just Kirk's stubbornness to use the portal.
 
Such an odd short article. Yeah KF doesn't prefer to use the portal a ton but he still has. He has more then a few sprinkled in these last few yrs. Seems like this writer is insinuating that they should be turning over the roster every dang yr with nothing but transfers. There's going to be some yrs you don't need hardly any and others you do. Not every yr is the same.
 
Every QB since Petras and continuing through next year will be via the portal. We have dipped into the portal now and then, but KF has always had a developmental program. That has been true for 20+ years. We have never relied heavily on transfers or Jucos. Although, I do remember a kid named Banks that wasn't too shabby.

By and large, KF takes 3 star kids and turns them into NFL prospects. The portal is a supplement to the process for KF. I am fine with that.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
Every QB since Petras and continuing through next year will be via the portal. We have dipped into the portal now and then, but KF has always had a developmental program. That has been true for 20+ years. We have never relied heavily on transfers or Jucos. Although, I do remember a kid named Banks that wasn't too shabby.

By and large, KF takes 3 star kids and turns them into NFL prospects. The portal is a supplement to the process for KF. I am fine with that.
Click to expand...
Yeah the QB position while BF had been OC is wild.. They could do a 30 for 30 on all those kids they recruited in and how zero of them amounted to a hill of beans pretty much. Petras is the closest thing to a 'success' story as he'd have and I don't know any Hawkeye fans that would really call him that.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
Every QB since Petras and continuing through next year will be via the portal. We have dipped into the portal now and then, but KF has always had a developmental program. That has been true for 20+ years. We have never relied heavily on transfers or Jucos. Although, I do remember a kid named Banks that wasn't too shabby.

By and large, KF takes 3 star kids and turns them into NFL prospects. The portal is a supplement to the process for KF. I am fine with that.
Click to expand...
I think the other side of this is that if you're going to tell your developmental prospects (through over-use of the portal) that you don't have faith in them and their hard work will not pay off, you'll see them go to other programs themselves. And sometimes that's the right move for them. But I'm with everyone here, don't break what has worked. Use the portal as needed, but until we see evidence we need drastic changes, trust the process.
 
JoeyLabasForPresident said:
I think the other side of this is that if you're going to tell your developmental prospects (through over-use of the portal) that you don't have faith in them and their hard work will not pay off, you'll see them go to other programs themselves.
Click to expand...
I think this is just going to be the new norm in P4 football unless you're an OSU, Oregon, etc.

Like with Iowa, when our last 6 QBs have all been portal additions, how do you sit in a recruit's living room and tell him he can be the guy? That recruit knows Iowa brings a portal QB in every year, usually with previous playing experience and usually only with 1-2 years of eligibility left, and then the process repeats. As a freshman coming in it doesn't look like you'll ever see the field. I mean yeah, technically you give him the pitch that you like him, you see something in him, and if he works hard he can be the man, but "technically" isn't the reality like a lot of things. I know other teams are in the same boat, but it's still sort of an impossible sell at a place like Iowa that doesn't have anything cool to talk about at the QB position since CJ Beathard was here.

That's where I think KF probably gets some of the frustration. In today's college football world I think if a head coach doesn't accept the fact that you're going to have to go portal fishing every year at QB, he's going to be left in the dust for not adapting to the times. Even if you have a really good QB, chances are at a school like Iowa you're not going to outbid the Penn States and Ohio States and you still have to go shopping. Is what it is in 2025. KF needs to accept it, but my guess is he's just riding it out. Hopefully if Lester is the next HC he embraces it, certainly seems like he's more of that mindset than KF.
 
The author probably used AI to gather some raw material information and post an article.

Matthew Schmidt​

Joined: Sep 9, 2024​

Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.


Lets break it down.

Iowa Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz has frequently been criticized to adapt to the modern era of college football, <-- no brainer which involves utilizing the transfer portal. <-- infrence

While Ferentz has made some use of the portal, landing quarterback Cade McNamara back in December 2022 (which failed) and then bringing in another impressive signal-caller in Mark Gronowski this offseason, he has largely avoided it. <-- False. Numerous examples at WR, QB and Juco


That has led to plenty of frustration from Iowa fans, and deservedly so considering how much other Big Ten schools have taken advantage of the portal over the last several years. <-- the offense in genral not the portal per se.

Well, the agitation of Hawkeyes fans will continue, as Ferentz recently stated at a press conference that he still doesn't plan on using the transfer portal all that much. <-- this is not news...the core is HS and development with suppplements

"Then the portal, we're not trying to build a roster out of the portal," Ferentz told reporters. "Pretty sure I'm correct in saying we're the lowest number in the Big Ten. I think Penn State had six, we had five, and I think Northwestern had nine. Everybody else it seems like is in the teens or beyond."


It almost seems as if Ferentz is taking pride in not bringing in a whole lot of players via the portal, which is really not the way to go in 2025. <-- gotta say something original here

Remember: the Ohio State Buckeyes just won a national championship with a transfer quarterback (Will Howard), a transfer running back (Quinshon Judkins) and a key transfer safety (Caleb Downs). <-- Iowa isn't OSU. Wonder if he inserted this into other articles.

While building through recruiting is certainly the best way to create a championship team, refusing to dip into the portal is a mistake, and Ferentz—who has been coaching Iowa since 1999—has yet to really learn from it. <-- he's not refusing,.
 
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