Kirk Ferentz: Venting with Disclaimer

WDMBleacherHawk

WDMBleacherHawk

Well-Known Member
Disclaimer: I love Kirk Feretnz so much and In no way would I like to see him leave. He has done so much for Iowa in his tenure, and for thiat alone I love him no homo.

Venting: I believe that Kirk Ferentz is a top ten coach in the nation 6 days a week and through out the off season. I believe that there is no man better suited do the Iowa job then KF. He is classy, eloquent, and is so much more then other coaches in the big ten and other conferences. WITH THAT SAID, I believe that on gameday, Kirk Ferentz is no longer a top ten coach, or a top 50. Time and time again we find ourselves second guessing and wondering, "WTF are are we doing right now". We all know Kirk isnt calling plays or defenses but he has the power of influencing them so blaming the coordinators solely is stupid. IF KOK or Norm aren't getting it done, either sit down with them and make an adjustment or whatever, or kick their ***** out. When we come into a season expected to win the b10, and end losing four games in exactly the same fashion, things must be looked at from a new point of view. Fool me once, shame on you, fool my four times, there is something up here. Look at KF's close game record...it is downright terrible. In the end, I love KF but things need to change next year.
 
Let me give you some advice about the game of football - the football is an oblong object and it bounces in strange ways. Sometimes, those bounces go your way and you have a helluva season, like 2009, sometimes they don't, and you have years like 2005-2008 and 2010. Even in some of those years you don't get the bounces, you can still win 9 ball games and their ain't any shame in that, especially when you don't get blown out.
 
okeefe4prez said:
Let me give you some advice about the game of football - the football is an oblong object and it bounces in strange ways. Sometimes, those bounces go your way and you have a helluva season, like 2009, sometimes they don't, and you have years like 2005-2008 and 2010. Even in some of those years you don't get the bounces, you can still win 9 ball games and their ain't any shame in that, especially when you don't get blown out.
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well said. anyone who doesn't think we could've been 8-4 last year doesn't pay very good attention.
 
I think the biggest thing I have a problem with is that we live and die by those bounces a little too much. Injuries are injuries, nothing can be done about that. But the letting teams hang around and watching them bite us in the a** is something that can be remedied if the coaches are willing to do so.
 
Thats kinda the problem. Seems this staff just hopes to get good bounces. Nothing against Kirk, I really like him for this program, but sometimes you gotta take the gloves off and kick butt and take names. This team has simply not done that and looks scared.
 
One thing is wrong about your 6 days a week theory. Other teams are using those six days to identify their opponent's weaknesses and scheming to exploit those weaknesses. KF has said over and over that Iowa does not do that and it shows. Wouldn't a top ten coach do this?

KF is a top ten coach for teaching fundamentals. That is probably not even debatable. As far as any other area...
 
I think the record is a factor for a lot of people and that is because they had expectations. I also think it is because people rolled the dice on skipping the Orange Bowl. That is their problem.

For some of us though, I think the issue really comes down to the visual proof that Iowa has the players to be successful, but the coaching staff is not putting them in positions to be successful. For instance, in 2 minute drill, why line your QB up a foot away from a player that is dramatically overmatched?
 
Kirk is a great recruiter, rep of the University and developer of players.

as far as game day choices, he appears tone deaf.
instead of playing to win, we played not to lose, all season. Cokers running well, sit him and play Adam the whole 2-4 quarters.

Stanzi is lighting it up? go with your "gut feeling" that Jake will lead us to victory.

Greenwood gets an INT vs Wisconsin, instead of trying to get a TD, we run it into a 9 man line. same as this week, we get it to the osu 12, we go two TEs one wr and run it into a stacked line on first down.

Clock management? Dont want to even start. 2 minute drill? If we practiced at the end of the first half, we'd look like we had a clue at the end of the game.
 
I think the biggest problem I have is that we recruit a certain caliber of player...typical class rated 30ish?

The guys on the defensive side develop into a unit that is typically rated in the top 20.

The guys on the offensive side develop into a unit that ranks somewhere 80-99?

Seems like we are getting it done on one side and lacking on the other.
 
As usual CAARHawk hits the nail right on the head again. I think I want to start a bromance with him, his posts have been so good lately.
 
I understand what you're saying here, but vs NW we tried to put our foot on their throats and it backfired with an interception. You can blame Stanzi here, (it was a terrible decision on his part) but I've seen just as many people on this board that complain about the play call there and asking why we weren't running it as I've seen complain about us being conservative with a lead. You can't have it both ways

Imlivingthedream said:
Kirk is a great recruiter, rep of the University and developer of players.

as far as game day choices, he appears tone deaf.
instead of playing to win, we played not to lose, all season. Cokers running well, sit him and play Adam the whole 2-4 quarters.

Stanzi is lighting it up? go with your "gut feeling" that Jake will lead us to victory.

Greenwood gets an INT vs Wisconsin, instead of trying to get a TD, we run it into a 9 man line. same as this week, we get it to the osu 12, we go two TEs one wr and run it into a stacked line on first down.

Clock management? Dont want to even start. 2 minute drill? If we practiced at the end of the first half, we'd look like we had a clue at the end of the game.
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hawkfan8691 said:
I understand what you're saying here, but vs NW we tried to put our foot on their throats and it backfired with an interception. You can blame Stanzi here, (it was a terrible decision on his part) but I've seen just as many people on this board that complain about the play call there and asking why we weren't running it as I've seen complain about us being conservative with a lead. You can't have it both ways
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the INT versus NW was the same as a long punt. It didnt really cost us much--they ended on their 9 yard line IIRC.

taking a knee last year versus OSU-another example of playing not to lose instead of playing to win.
 
WDMBleacherHawk said:
Disclaimer: I love Kirk Feretnz so much and In no way would I like to see him leave. He has done so much for Iowa in his tenure, and for thiat alone I love him no homo.

Venting: I believe that Kirk Ferentz is a top ten coach in the nation 6 days a week and through out the off season. I believe that there is no man better suited do the Iowa job then KF. He is classy, eloquent, and is so much more then other coaches in the big ten and other conferences. WITH THAT SAID, I believe that on gameday, Kirk Ferentz is no longer a top ten coach, or a top 50. Time and time again we find ourselves second guessing and wondering, "WTF are are we doing right now". We all know Kirk isnt calling plays or defenses but he has the power of influencing them so blaming the coordinators solely is stupid. IF KOK or Norm aren't getting it done, either sit down with them and make an adjustment or whatever, or kick their ***** out. When we come into a season expected to win the b10, and end losing four games in exactly the same fashion, things must be looked at from a new point of view. Fool me once, shame on you, fool my four times, there is something up here. Look at KF's close game record...it is downright terrible. In the end, I love KF but things need to change next year.
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The year Bill McCaughtny (sp) won the national championship with Colorado he did exactly this. He admitted publically that his best days were Sun - Fri and on Sat he was useless. Well documented out here....said he was not a good game day coach and on Sat he was pretty much relagated to pep talks on the sideline and deciding whether or not to go for it on 4th down. Never reallly like coach Mac until i read this in the paper. Took a lot of guts but took even more leadership to admit.
 
CAARHawk said:
One thing is wrong about your 6 days a week theory. Other teams are using those six days to identify their opponent's weaknesses and scheming to exploit those weaknesses. KF has said over and over that Iowa does not do that and it shows. Wouldn't a top ten coach do this?

KF is a top ten coach for teaching fundamentals. That is probably not even debatable. As far as any other area...
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HUH???? I have been Iowa fan a long time and have NO recollection of KF ever saying they dont spend time identifying opponents weaknesses. Please give me a quote or reference where Kirk said that.
 
CAARHawk said:
One thing is wrong about your 6 days a week theory. Other teams are using those six days to identify their opponent's weaknesses and scheming to exploit those weaknesses. KF has said over and over that Iowa does not do that and it shows. Wouldn't a top ten coach do this?

KF is a top ten coach for teaching fundamentals. That is probably not even debatable. As far as any other area...
Click to expand...


When has Ferentz ever said "We do not identify our opponents weaknesses, nor do we scheme to exploit them"? I have never heard him say anything that resembles this. And I know he has not said it "over and over". They game plan every week for the opponent they play. And clearly the intention is to exploit weaknesses. Does it always work? No.
 
It is going to be a busy week for me so I won't have time to peruse all of Iowa's press to come up with examples. But it is pretty well documented that Iowa's current coaching philosophy is based on running a few base formations and a set number of plays out of those formations. Also when KF has been asked about scheming for other teams he has responded repeatedly that Iowa focuses on their own execution and doesn't go into much with regard worrying about what the other team is doing. When asked about failure, it is always execution problems, not scheme. Add to this that other players and coaches say the same thing about Iowa and there shouldn't be too much need for further corroboration.

However, I do recall one statement in the stretch of the NW, Wisky, and MSU group where a reporter brought up one team's success against an upcoming foe and asked KF if he could use film from that game and his response was "they do things different from us so I don't think that film will be useful."
 
CAARHawk said:
One thing is wrong about your 6 days a week theory. Other teams are using those six days to identify their opponent's weaknesses and scheming to exploit those weaknesses. KF has said over and over that Iowa does not do that and it shows. Wouldn't a top ten coach do this?

KF is a top ten coach for teaching fundamentals. That is probably not even debatable. As far as any other area...
Click to expand...
This
Hypothetical example: Our next opponent lost their very best, all american cornerback the week before they played us and had to start a true freshman. Or their pass defense was the worst in the country. Most coaching staffs would work on a game plan to abuse this weakness and exploit it at every opportunity. I really think we would continue down the same path....run our base offense, run, run, 6 yard pass, punt. Our staff takes the position that this is what we do and who we are, stop us. IMO...This is not how it should be approached. I'm not a college football coach but I would think this would put us in the best position to win. If nothing else, tell the world you are going to do that (Even if you never planned on changing) and get the other team at least thinking about it. Its as if KF is such a nice guy that he doesn't want to stomp the other team/coach when they are shorthanded or weak. Huh?
 
Yes, he also followed that up with a sarcastic comment about how Oregon was scoring 60 pts a game so Iowa was thinking about putting in the Oregon offense, but then Oregon went out and only scored 15 against Cal so IA decided not to install it. And i dont see anywhere in your response that has KF stating that we dont gameplan for other teams. Stating that that we have execution problems, and that watching a tape of a pistol offense against MSU as less the helpful, isnt him saying we dont gameplan for other teams. Its him saying we need to play better, and that an offense that IA doesnt run, nor has the time to install in one week having a successful day against a team isnt all that helpful. Personally I dont want to see Stanzi trying to run the pistol formation or the triple option veer if Indiana or GT go out and have a good day against our upcoming opponent. That doesnt mean IA doen't care about exploiting another teams weakness. An example of this would have been rushing 3 and dropping 8 against MSU. Iowa didnt run that at all before that game, they did it because they saw a weakness and wanted to exploit it.
 
CAARHawk said:
It is going to be a busy week for me so I won't have time to peruse all of Iowa's press to come up with examples. But it is pretty well documented that Iowa's current coaching philosophy is based on running a few base formations and a set number of plays out of those formations. Also when KF has been asked about scheming for other teams he has responded repeatedly that Iowa focuses on their own execution and doesn't go into much with regard worrying about what the other team is doing. When asked about failure, it is always execution problems, not scheme. Add to this that other players and coaches say the same thing about Iowa and there shouldn't be too much need for further corroboration.

However, I do recall one statement in the stretch of the NW, Wisky, and MSU group where a reporter brought up one team's success against an upcoming foe and asked KF if he could use film from that game and his response was "they do things different from us so I don't think that film will be useful."
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You are going to need a couple years cuz your interpretation of Kirk's words are WAY OFF. Execution of game plan and running the plays in the game plan/scheme is what Kirk is referencing. Also, every year for Bowl prep, he always says something to extent the first practices focus on fundamentals before getting into the game plan.
 
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