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.
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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.
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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,.
 


NCHawker said:
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,.
Click to expand...
I agree with your takes. This is a poorly researched and written article. Lazy journalism. But that is more the norm in today's internet world.
 


Fryowa said:
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.
Click to expand...

If I had a choice between a kid that waited patiently on campus to start at QB as a junior, versus a kid that went G5 or even DII and threw the heck out of the ball for 2 years, and then transfers to Iowa...I would take the latter kid, every day of the week. Those smaller schools will be QB-farm systems for Iowa, just like Iowa might end up a farm system for the perennial top-5 teams.
 


College Sports on Sirius XM (lots of good talk): High School grads are not going to be recruited by the big guys. They will arrange for them to go to a mid major, make their chops, then portal into Alabama, etc. All in and up front with the deal.

We are going to play hell recruiting a player and telling him to be patient and that his turn will come. But, there is this really great D coordinator…
 


HuckFinn said:
We are going to play hell recruiting a player and telling him to be patient and that his turn will come.
Click to expand...
So here’s my take…

I don’t even think it’s worth wasting time on that anymore. Trying to convince a really good high school quarterback that he has a shot here (whether he does or doesn’t), spending time and resources doing it, then wondering if he’s got what it takes, etc…all while trying to find the next best QB in the portal is wasted effort.

I think with things unfortunately the way they are now, you have to just commit yourself to the portal shopping process every time your current QB1 is down to their last year of eligibility. It is what it is.

I wish they could come up with a contract system, but to do that on a large scale you’d need collective bargaining. For that players would have to form a player’s association (union), and that’s not feasible because there’s issues with player age, the fact that 95% of college football players aren’t the ones making big money, statistically most players are only around a couple years maybe, etc.

I think if you want to compete for a spot in the CFP you just have to commit to that model and go all in on QBs. There’s a point where “If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” becomes a requirement to compete.

Just like steroids in baseball in the 90s. There were guys the size of Schwarzenegger hitting 50 home runs and if you wanted to keep you job you had to unfortunately do it too. I don’t disparage the ones who did it, only the ones who still deny it like Bonds. Most of them only did it because guys like Palmeiro, Bonds, McGwire, Sosa would eventually take their jobs. It was a survival tactic.
 


Fryowa said:
So here’s my take…

I don’t even think it’s worth wasting time on that anymore. Trying to convince a really good high school quarterback that he has a shot here (whether he does or doesn’t), spending time and resources doing it, then wondering if he’s got what it takes, etc…all while trying to find the next best QB in the portal is wasted effort.

I think with things unfortunately the way they are now, you have to just commit yourself to the portal shopping process every time your current QB1 is down to their last year of eligibility. It is what it is.

I wish they could come up with a contract system, but to do that on a large scale you’d need collective bargaining. For that players would have to form a player’s association (union), and that’s not feasible because there’s issues with player age, the fact that 95% of college football players aren’t the ones making big money, statistically most players are only around a couple years maybe, etc.

I think if you want to compete for a spot in the CFP you just have to commit to that model and go all in on QBs. There’s a point where “If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” becomes a requirement to compete.

Just like steroids in baseball in the 90s. There were guys the size of Schwarzenegger hitting 50 home runs and if you wanted to keep you job you had to unfortunately do it too. I don’t disparage the ones who did it, only the ones who still deny it like Bonds. Most of them only did it because guys like Palmeiro, Bonds, McGwire, Sosa would eventually take their jobs. It was a survival tactic.
Click to expand...
Yup
 


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