No portal moves. Frustrating

clim3

Well-Known Member
While several other schools are making moves to improve their team the hawks seem to be doing very little. It’s really frustrating as it seems if we could add a few pieces on offense it could make a big impact. anyone else getting frustrated seeing other schools getting solid players while we get nothing ?
 
While several other schools are making moves to improve their team the hawks seem to be doing very little. It’s really frustrating as it seems if we could add a few pieces on offense it could make a big impact. anyone else getting frustrated seeing other schools getting solid players while we get nothing ?
It's January 7th. No, I'm not frustrated, yet.

Here's some nice info for those who aren't super familiar with how the portal works now: https://collegefootballnetwork.com/how-long-is-the-transfer-portal-open/
 
Scholarships are also tight so keeping the number of players who were eligible to move on (Higgins, Castro, etc.) is going to limit the space for portal transfers.
 
Frankly, getting Higgins and Castro to stay another year is far better news than recruiting anyone from the portal. These guys are two All-American caliber players who already know the system and are proven performers in the BTen. Same with TE Luchay. Give me those 3 guys over 3 new guys from the portal any day.
 
I take comfort in the fact that Iowa did not get Kaleb Brown right away last year. Something will shake loose from the portal tree eventually.
 
Sometimes key guys don't announce they are transfering to later.
WR Kaleb Brown announced in May 2023
LB NickJackson announced on Feb 8
KICKER Marshall Meeder announced in August 2023.
 
I don't imagine they will add any transfers on offense until they hire an OC. They also have to have room for transfers.
 
While several other schools are making moves to improve their team the hawks seem to be doing very little. It’s really frustrating as it seems if we could add a few pieces on offense it could make a big impact. anyone else getting frustrated seeing other schools getting solid players while we get nothing ?
Ferentz doesn’t believe there is a problem. He thinks the only problem is with anyone that dares questioning his program. He lives in his own reality
 
Our defense coming back except coop is great but we need a capable offense in my mind. i like Cade but his health is a concern and we need some more weapons Seems like a lot of them are gone already. We waited too long on some positions last year too. I know Kirk doesn’t love the portal but this college football Now.
 
Iowa literally doesn't have any schollys to offer. Retaining all the main dudes on D that they are is putting them in an interesting spot. If say a couple Olineman would leave and Hill so we could replace them straight up that'd be ideal. But unless they leave or others on the O they are kinda stuck with who they have for now.
 
I’m most disappointed that hill has yet to announce he’s transferring
I get the impression that Hill really enjoys being a Div 1 football roster. I'm not sure it would really bug him all that much with a slim chance of starting/playing next season. I got that impression from his interviews talking about his portal experience last year and how excited he was when Iowa offered as they were the only P5 team to offer so he bit. I truly believe he realizes his limitations and role. For that, I respect the young man. I think he's a quality guy.
 
Iowa's strategy was to retain the best players for next year. This leaves them over the maximum number of scholarships. They'll need to hit that number in August I belive. Expect people leaving after spring or maybe before.

Its really unlikely they'd land and offensive player without an OC in place.
 
As others have said, the D is stacked and returning almost everyone. You have younger guys in the pipeline already. A targeted addition to the secondary might make some sense, but if no one is added to the D, the guys who decided to return to the D are about the best portal class in the country, IMHO.

As for the O, you need an OC and direction before making those kinds of decisions. I think we all want Hill out, add some depth to the QB room to back up Cade and help at WR. That said, I would be surprised if we see much action in the portal now given how tight schollies are. Perhaps after Spring we ship a few guys out and add a few guys in.
 
Starters deciding to return could lead to guys stuck behind them on the depth chart to move on.

Some guys will wait to see where they stand after spring ball. Don't need to be at scholarship limit until August.
 
Last season there were a lot of holes to be filled due to NFL departures and obvious deficiencies. I am going to get roasted for this, but I don't see that this year.

The D is stacked with a lot of upperclassmen. Would we take a great portal addition? Sure, especially at CB. But, with what we have and what is behind them, the D is just fine.

On offense, there is a combination of three factors that will make finding any quality portal candidates kind of tough. First, we have a lot of returning starters. Granted, the quality of those starters is questionable, but I don't see KF running too many folks off, so who wants to come into a new program and try to beat out an established starter? Second, the offense was so sucky for so long, who besides a TE candidate would want to enter that swamp? Third, to get anyone really good, I suspect will cost some serious NIL money and I don't know what is there for a good OL or WR or back-up QB.

There will be some portal activity at some point, but I would not hold you breath for anything close to what happened last year.
 
I would love to see an experiment where instead of NIL getting blown on QBs, WRs, and other “skill positions,” donors went and said we’re going to go out and spend $5-6 million on the 5 best collegiate O-linemen in the country. I know it’ll never happen, but if you had a front 5 of NFL-ready guys on one college team at one time, there’s not a lot that would stop you and you’d sure as hell be able to influence good QBs to come play for you.

Go ahead and sell your soul to the devil. Make it public that your program wants to buy a BMW instead of a Dodge. It’d be a huge media circus and in a lot of cases any press is good press as long as there aren’t crimes being committed.
 
I would love to see an experiment where instead of NIL getting blown on QBs, WRs, and other “skill positions,” donors went and said we’re going to go out and spend $5-6 million on the 5 best collegiate O-linemen in the country. I know it’ll never happen, but if you had a front 5 of NFL-ready guys on one college team at one time, there’s not a lot that would stop you and you’d sure as hell be able to influence good QBs to come play for you.

Go ahead and sell your soul to the devil. Make it public that your program wants to buy a BMW instead of a Dodge. It’d be a huge media circus and in a lot of cases any press is good press as long as there aren’t crimes being committed.
Great post! exactly what I was thinking. Get the o line built up with good talent. Some protection for the qb and open Some running lanes the rest will take care of itself on skill positions. Oh, if we're talking 60's and early 70's I'll take the Dodge!
 
Starters deciding to return could lead to guys stuck behind them on the depth chart to move on.

Some guys will wait to see where they stand after spring ball. Don't need to be at scholarship limit until August.
One more reason having an incompetent offense (and philosophy) hurts this program.

Iowa should have a fair number of games in which they lead by at least a couple scores. Having all these old dudes back on defense should allow Parker to give more and more reps to the backups, which would help in a couple ways. One, those guys stay engaged and don't leave the program. They keep progressing, provide depth if there is a key injury at some point, and are ready for when there is major turnover (2025). And two, you can leave a little more tread on the tires of the starters, ensuring they are fresh for November.

But Iowa's offense continues to dictate Iowa's defense plays its best players the entire game, nearly every game.
 
Top