I'm going to bite again since I have a few minutes at work to kill....
I don't think it is about drinking the Kirk Kool-Aid. Have I seen KF make his fair share of dumb coaching mistakes- absolutely?!?! I'm definitely not blind!!! I also had the luxury of going to 8 of the last 10 bowl games in person and watched Iowa win 5 of those bowl games (a few against the SEC, the catch, and an Orange Bowl victory). These bowl games are a blast and I credit KF for getting us there. This dude and his staff know how to coach.
I'm also a season ticket holder and have seen my fair share of good games as well as bad games at Kinnick. As we all know last year was absolutely awful. I was probably one of about 1k fans who actually stayed until the very end of the PSU butt kicking. I also had one of the coolest moments ever with my family when Iowa knocked off PSU with "The Kick".
My point is I do think KF has earned the right to try to turn this thing around. He is obviously trying to adapt with the times and I think that's very evident with the coaching changes and changing some of their schemes.
Even though our records are the same as last year and Rob pointed out the stats are similar (even though I think our offensive numbers would have been better had we not returned two punts and int's for td's against Western Michigan); I still think this team is much better. At least they don't put us to sleep this year when they are on offense and we have already thrown more td's then all of last year combined. Our two losses are against teams that will most likely end up in the top 25! Now if MSU craps the bed against IU/Purdue/or Illinois then I will stand corrected. NIU and MSU are not bad teams to lose to. Central Michigan is a bad team to lose to and we don't have a loss like that this year- that's improvement! I also have been reading the Huddle Pass write ups from former players (if you don't you should check it out) and they pretty much say the same thing.
I think if we can get to 6-6 that's a huge step in the right direction. I know that 6-6 should be unacceptable but let's face it we have to crawl again before we can walk again. That gets us to a bowl game and gets the youngsters some extra practice time which will be huge going into next year (which I've been told the coaches think is going to be a big year for us). I also believe this gives us a hook for recruithing that we are also heading in the right direction.
Now if the wheels fall off the bus this year and we don't win another game then yes we absolutely need to explore our coaching options.
Right now we are half way through the season with 6 games left and a healthy OL. There is a lot of football left to be played and I feel an upset coming in the near future. This team just doesn't seem like the type of team that will roll over and die on us. I don't think Morris, Scherff, Kirsey, Weisman, or Hitchens will allow that to happen. They have worked too hard to give up now!!!
As fans lets not get wrapped up in one loss to a team that may end up being the Legends Division Winner. Let's continue to support these players and the coaches because we all bleed Black and Gold and none of us like to lose. There are some huge games coming to Kinnick in a couple of weeks and the 12th man needs to represent!!
Go Hawks!!!
Al Pacino's Inspirational Speech - YouTube
Bluto's Speech from Animal House - YouTube
ps- Bring on the Buckeyes, Wildcats, and Badgers!!!
I just think it's poor form to say something like this. The merits and debate of the strategy is a different angle for me entirely...for me, this is about the wisdom in saying something like this. There is a reason this topic is at Yahoo, NBC, etc...because it sounds so silly.
