briankaldenberg
Well-Known Member
Have you ever done something in your life that you wish you wouldn't have.... something that you're embarrassed about?
Jon Miller recently wrote in his latest Iowa Basketball post that he recommends that disgruntled Iowa fans step away from the keyboard before doing something they'll regret. Well unfortunately about three years ago I could have used that memo. I'll admit, three years ago I was the cocky 23 year old e-mailing Gary Barta we need to fire Ferentz if "changes" were not made.
The changes I wanted were the usual changes being demanded during that time period: "spread offense", "blitzing defense", "better recruiting", etc. If they were working on the Playstation 2 then they would work for Iowa Football right?
The nice thing was that Barta replied to my e-mail that I sent over three years ago. He could not believe we lost to Western Michigan either, but he reiterated his confidence in Ferentz.
Three years later I can sit here and say that I truly believe there is not a coach in the nation that I would rather have coaching at Iowa. Would Kirk Ferentz be the best coach "fit" at Florida or USC... probably not. But I don't think Pete Carrol or Urban Meyer would be the best fit for Iowa either. Kirk Ferentz with his style, approach, discipline, dimeaner, and work ethic is the best fit for Iowa.
We see all sorts of types of coaches who have had success and coaches who have had failures. We see coaches rebuild teams and then fail at the next level. Or we see coaches come from the NFL and fail in college. Coaches come into situations with all sorts of different levels of talent, program excitement, etc. One thing that we don't see this day in age is a coach stay at one program for over 10 years. Especially coaches who coach at schools with geographies and traditions similar to Iowa.
We live in a state that geographically is on the outside looking in when it comes to the Big 10. We have the smallest population of all Big 10 states. To add fuel to the fire, we have a pesky Big 12 team battling for our limited recruits.
Yet, our football program has won Two Big 10 Championships, competed in Two BCS bowls, and has been a participant in 6 January bowls this decade. No one in the Big 10 outside of Michigan and Ohio State has had that kind of success in the last 10 years.
Kirk Ferentz has had the chance to leave but he hasn't. He's weathered the little two year lull or program had, and he somehow navigated a recruiting class (05') that turned out to be a disaster on many fronts.
Let's talk about the "two year" lull. Many like to try and stretch that into a "three year" lull. I refuse to call a 5-3, 7-4 regular season record a down year. Especially when it ends in a January 1st, 7 point point Outback Bowl loss to Urban Meyer's Florida.
Have you seen our basketball program lately. That is what you call a lull. If someone tells me that 6-6 will be Iowa Football's worst year from 2010-2019 then sign me up. If someone tells me that Iowa will go to 8 bowls in 9 years... like we have the last 9 years then sign me up.
Kirk Ferentz provides stability. He's the defination of stability. Everything we do from the players we recruit to our style of play is built around stability. This entire state is built on stability. Where's the ressession in Iowa? I haven't really seen it. Maybe other states have, but we are not even close to what other states are seeing. The caucus starts here for a reason. Iowa is a state of stability. Kirk Ferentz has found a place many good coaches can never truly find - the perfect fit.
Jon Miller recently wrote in his latest Iowa Basketball post that he recommends that disgruntled Iowa fans step away from the keyboard before doing something they'll regret. Well unfortunately about three years ago I could have used that memo. I'll admit, three years ago I was the cocky 23 year old e-mailing Gary Barta we need to fire Ferentz if "changes" were not made.
The changes I wanted were the usual changes being demanded during that time period: "spread offense", "blitzing defense", "better recruiting", etc. If they were working on the Playstation 2 then they would work for Iowa Football right?
The nice thing was that Barta replied to my e-mail that I sent over three years ago. He could not believe we lost to Western Michigan either, but he reiterated his confidence in Ferentz.
Three years later I can sit here and say that I truly believe there is not a coach in the nation that I would rather have coaching at Iowa. Would Kirk Ferentz be the best coach "fit" at Florida or USC... probably not. But I don't think Pete Carrol or Urban Meyer would be the best fit for Iowa either. Kirk Ferentz with his style, approach, discipline, dimeaner, and work ethic is the best fit for Iowa.
We see all sorts of types of coaches who have had success and coaches who have had failures. We see coaches rebuild teams and then fail at the next level. Or we see coaches come from the NFL and fail in college. Coaches come into situations with all sorts of different levels of talent, program excitement, etc. One thing that we don't see this day in age is a coach stay at one program for over 10 years. Especially coaches who coach at schools with geographies and traditions similar to Iowa.
We live in a state that geographically is on the outside looking in when it comes to the Big 10. We have the smallest population of all Big 10 states. To add fuel to the fire, we have a pesky Big 12 team battling for our limited recruits.
Yet, our football program has won Two Big 10 Championships, competed in Two BCS bowls, and has been a participant in 6 January bowls this decade. No one in the Big 10 outside of Michigan and Ohio State has had that kind of success in the last 10 years.
Kirk Ferentz has had the chance to leave but he hasn't. He's weathered the little two year lull or program had, and he somehow navigated a recruiting class (05') that turned out to be a disaster on many fronts.
Let's talk about the "two year" lull. Many like to try and stretch that into a "three year" lull. I refuse to call a 5-3, 7-4 regular season record a down year. Especially when it ends in a January 1st, 7 point point Outback Bowl loss to Urban Meyer's Florida.
Have you seen our basketball program lately. That is what you call a lull. If someone tells me that 6-6 will be Iowa Football's worst year from 2010-2019 then sign me up. If someone tells me that Iowa will go to 8 bowls in 9 years... like we have the last 9 years then sign me up.
Kirk Ferentz provides stability. He's the defination of stability. Everything we do from the players we recruit to our style of play is built around stability. This entire state is built on stability. Where's the ressession in Iowa? I haven't really seen it. Maybe other states have, but we are not even close to what other states are seeing. The caucus starts here for a reason. Iowa is a state of stability. Kirk Ferentz has found a place many good coaches can never truly find - the perfect fit.
