I think NEWMEXHAWK makes good points at times but he can get a little carried away with overstating things.
I think Lick was prepared coming in, however I don't think he was prepared for things to be this bad (some things are his fault and some are not). I would really like to see Lick's #1 change be hiring a connected recruiter like Alford did. Alford had a poor staff assembled early in his Iowa regime and he learned and at the end had a pretty good staff with Neal being his top recruiter. It seems he has even learned more and carried it on to New Mexico.
I think people know/knew this year was going to be rough. I stated last year that Iowa did not have a creator on the team once Jake Kelly left. Lots of people told me to hold off and wait for Cully Payne. I have waited and even Lick has said he has no one on the current team who can create. It's a lesson while HOPE is a great thing as I very much look forward to next years new additions, one must realize that some of them may not be as good as we think/want them to be. We have to be prepared for that reality and see what next year brings. I think a valid point of New Mex brings up is how long will we stick with the way things are if next year is not much better than this year? I don't expect next year to be great either. Iowa is at a tough time as what do we consider progress as I don't even know if wins next year will be a good measure and how long can you guage progress without actually attaining wins.
I guess what I am saying is assuming Gatens, Cole, May, Fuller don't leave I am fine with keeping Lick around next year. I would be fine with a 5th year assuming that one of the recruits is a legit difference maker. No freshman excuse, we need either Marble or Brust to be the real deal and be able to break Al Nolen type big 10 players off the bounce.