Maurice Fleming to Transfer

JonDMiller

JonDMiller

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From Iowa Press Release:

University of Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz announced Tuesday that defensive back Maurice Fleming will transfer from the Hawkeye football program and complete his playing career elsewhere as a graduate transfer. His transfer is approved without restrictions.


“Maurice has shared his desire to spend his fifth and final season as a graduate transfer at another institution,” said Ferentz. “Reese has been a valuable contributor throughout his career at Iowa, and we wish him the best in his final season this fall.”


Fleming, a native of Chicago, played three seasons for the Hawkeyes, playing in 33 total games. He saw action in all 14 games a year ago, recording nine solo tackles and eight assists, along with five pass break-ups. He recorded three tackles as a freshman and eight during his redshirt freshman season.


“I feel blessed for my time at Iowa and want to thank coach Kirk Ferentz and coach Phil Parker for their help in making me a better football player and keeping me humble,” said Fleming. “At this time I am going to explore my options to make the best of my senior year.”
 
I think the writing was on the wall with this one. Between King, Mabin, Jackson... playing time was gonna be in short supply at corner. And Snyder was clearly the heir apparent at FS.
 
Gotta say I didn't see this coming... He would have played a lot as it was and he would have been just one snap away from being a starter if anything happened to Mabin or King... That's too bad. He added very valuable depth to that secondary...
 
I'll be honest. I saw the thread topic and thought, "Um, Fleming announced a couple of weeks ago that he's transferring." Wrong Fleming.
 
I'm guessing he was a little disappointed about King's decision to come back. He was probably going to be a starter otherwise.
 
I am disappointed when a player transfers knowing he will get playing time if he stays. It's different for QBS like Sokol who knew he had little chance to play.

But I think of somebody like ex Iowa DB Greg Castillo who struggled throughout his career yet found ways to contribute even though he hardly ever started. Especially in Castillo's senior year when he made the key special teams play in the win against NIU. Then came up with the game-winning interception in the OT win against MSU.

Still I know it has to be frustrating for Flemming stuck behind last year's Jim Thorpe winner. Odds are he will find a team where he can start every day, so I guess I should just wish him well and thank him for all his time he already played at Iowa.

Good luck, Mr. Flemming.
 
I still cannot understand why ferentz allows no restrictions. Fleming could transfer to another B1G team. What would happen if, say, 2 or 3 SR's decided to transfer and wind up at kNU, or WUs? Hypothetical, here, but let's say CJ, LD and DK all decided they wanted to transfer? The potential exists for them going to the same team within the conference. I think it is dumb to allow in conference transferring. Just because MF wasn't slated to be a starter, we simply cannot believe that it will always be a "non starter." The precedent has been sent and kf has backed himself into a corner on this issue.
 
ArvadaHawk said:
I still cannot understand why ferentz allows no restrictions. Fleming could transfer to another B1G team. What would happen if, say, 2 or 3 SR's decided to transfer and wind up at kNU, or WUs? Hypothetical, here, but let's say CJ, LD and DK all decided they wanted to transfer? The potential exists for them going to the same team within the conference. I think it is dumb to allow in conference transferring. Just because MF wasn't slated to be a starter, we simply cannot believe that it will always be a "non starter." The precedent has been sent and kf has backed himself into a corner on this issue.
Click to expand...

just because you allow something for one guy does not mean it has to be applied to the next. I'm guessing him not restricting is an indication of the respect KF has for the individual. And I do not think KF is backing himself into any corner with anything.
 
At the very least, he should be restricted from any team on Iowa's 2016 schedule, which means no to any teams in Iowa's Big Ten West division plus Mich, PSU, Rut.

I can live with it if he transfers to a team in the east division that Iowa does not play, even if they end up playing Iowa in the Big Ten championship game. The odds of that happening are only about 2% so it's not that big of a deal.
 
I agree with Ankle... It's always been a case by case deal with KF. There's no precedence being set. If he respects the kid and his reasons for wanting to transfer he won't stand in his way of chasing his dreams. This isn't Brandon Wegher. I think he's a good kid that's graduated hence him being able to use this rule. And so what if he did transfer to a NW or Illinois... I wouldn't really care if he did. I've never understood the whole being scared to play against someone that was in your program... Sure he knows how to play against you but that goes both ways... Iowa sure knows what his strengths and weaknesses are too. I wish he'd have stayed. I hope we won't miss his depth and special teams play but that's the college football landscape we are in. Kids chase playing time and whatever is best for them individually more so then team success. There just aren't very many guys out there like King and Sherff. They risked/in the process of risking their future financially to stay not just in school. Then you have guys that just want to get theirs since they think they are good enough to be playing but just behind guys on the depth chart... Imagine how he'll feel if either Mabin or King get hurt early on... It's hard to live life that way as far as hindsight goes. But man if I'm in his shoe's I'd think it'd be tough leaving this team after what happened last yr and what could happen this year. Going from the Rose Bowl to who knows what..
 
I think when KF talks to these guys who want to leave he has a pretty good understanding of where they're thinking of going. I trust that he does what's best for the program without putting restrictions on the kid.
 
I have a strong suspicion that the staff actively helps these kids find a good match for their skill set and training. There is a lot of talent at cornerback on the team right now. I am sure the staff has been up front with Maurice about his chances of starting. It's a good thing for recruits to know that the staff will continue to help them even if things don't work out with the team. That is unless the player really does something major to get on the bad side of everyone.
 
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