Norm Parker?

ColumbusHawk

ColumbusHawk

Well-Known Member
For many years, Ken O'Keefe has been the whipping boy for disgruntled Iowa fans. The attacks have been very personal. Every reader knows the arguments against O'Keefe. He is unimaginative, predictable, etc. Yet, Iowa comes out in multiple sets and formations every game.

Unlike many posters, I am more concerned with the predictability of Iowa's defense. Regardless (it's regardless not irregardless) of the down & distance, score, time & situation; Iowa seems to be in their basic 4-3 almost every down. Very little blitzing, nickel & dime packages & moving players around in the formation to get the best possible matchups.

At least O'Keefe uses multiple sets & formations every game to get the best possible matchups. When Iowa breaks the defensive huddle, the fans know the formation.

DJK lined-up all over the field. However, Clayborn basically played right end all year. I would have put Clayborn at all of the front seven positions. If the opposition is double & triple teaming Clayborn, it is a lot easier to accomplish if he lines up in the same position every down. Why not have Clayborn be the middle linebacker depending on the situation.

Look at what the Packers do with Clay Matthews. They place him all over the field to put him in the best possible position to make plays.

The defense under Norm Parker is very predictable. The opposition knows before every play exactly where each is player going to line-up, not with the offense. The defense is far more predictable and less imaginative than the offense.

However, there are no posts challenging Norm Parker. Posters may criticize the defense, but there are no posts attacking him personally. No one posts that Parker should be fired.

I don't understand this! The offense comes out with three wide receivers, two tight ends, the shotgun, etc. Yet, the defense comes out with the same personnel & formation every play.

Can somebody explain this double standard to me? Why the personal attacks on O'Keefe & none on Parker.
 
Iowa had 230 yards of offense against Minnesota
They scored 18 points against Indiana who gave up 81 points the next week

Norm Parker is a GREAT coach. Iowa's defense was fine this year. Their defense has been good to great damn near every year. Their offense became poor 1/2 way thru the year and that is what lost games, not defense.

I will say that I think KOK's system is fine. It's the plays he calls within the system that is the problem.
 
Why has Parker been untouchable all this time, even though his defense is VERY predictable? Meanwhile KOK is roasted for the same thing? Answer: look at the results.
 
The funny thing about these bash-norm posts, is that he wasn't even coaching this year. And I'd bet that Joe Fan doesn't know anything about a defense being complex unless they see a corner blitz. They use all different kinds of coverage formations, etc, etc, that you may or may not be aware of. I'm guessing some adaptations were not being made because Norm was too busy having his legs cut off and subsequently rehabilitating, but speaking of complex, that maybe too complex for some folks to recognize.

Why is it when Iowa has a good season the coaches are great. When Iowa has a 'bad' season, like this one, they all need go, need to change, etc? It's mind-numbing.
 
imported_ankle23 said:
The funny thing about these bash-norm posts, is that he wasn't even coaching this year. And I'd bet that Joe Fan doesn't know anything about a defense being complex unless they see a corner blitz. They use all different kinds of coverage formations, etc, etc, that you may or may not be aware of. I'm guessing some adaptations were not being made because Norm was too busy having his legs cut off and subsequently rehabilitating, but speaking of complex, that maybe too complex for some folks to recognize.

Why is it when Iowa has a good season the coaches are great. When Iowa has a 'bad' season, like this one, they all need go, need to change, etc? It's mind-numbing.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Norm and Ferentz didn't forget to coach this season
 
Face facts: I think there's plenty of coaching blame to go around...the kids probably need to shoulder more of it for poor execution. Having said that I believe KOK's O usually finishes 50th in the nation or worse which is middle of D1 at best...and there are some terrible teams at the D1 level in the WAC, Sun Belt, Big East etc.

On D look at the % of 3rd down conversions the opposition made with 5+ yds to go....I'll bet that would be telling and yes Norm wasn't even coaching a majority of the year that really did make a difference. If you think Norm is basic did you look at the games Phil Parker was running the show...they were so vanilla that they were as vanilla as a virgin snowfall. Additionally, if you look at what Cousins, Persa, Tolzien, Chapell, Foles, and Weber did to us this year we allowed them to attain their avg. or better completion %...that spells disaster!

Finally, just look at the Special Team gaffes and we might win two more conference games and the AZ game!

It's amazing to me that we could be what was it +7 in TO margin and be that average in terms of overall record. Something is amiss.
 
Our defense has to beat two offenses to win the game. They have to beat the other team and they have to overcome getting too tired because our offense leaves them on the field too long. How many times did we hear that our defense looked like they were tired at the end of the game. In which one of those games that our defense looked tired did the offense have a good game? Also the big plays that our defense made this year the offense did nothing with it. So put the defense right back on the field and kill their buzz. Maybe we should team up with Michigan we would have quite a team then.
 
Our defense is usually good under Norm because he can make adjustments. He wasn't there to make those so we ran a pretty vanilla defense.
 
Cyclones17 said:
Iowa had 230 yards of offense against Minnesota
They scored 18 points against Indiana who gave up 81 points the next week
Click to expand...

Both of those stats are pretty meaningless. The team had already given up on the season by that point, so it wouldn't have mattered what plays KOK called. We would have had better results in both games (especially Minnesota) if not for so many dropped passes.
 
First of all, Norm wasn't even there for most of this season, so not sure you can put the defensive woes on him.

However, to look back over several seasons, even bad Iowa defenses tend to be in the top of THE COUNTRY. We may be predictable, but we're still tough to beat.

On the flip side, our offenses generally sit in the middle of the rankings in the country, and when we lose, we usually lose because our offense simply didn't produce. I mean, it wasn't the defense who failed to score TDs during 5 trips in the redzone against Indiana. It wasn't the defense who failed to score the game clinching TD against Wisconsin. You can point to the defense giving up crucial drives, but you can also point to the offense for failing to put together crucial drives.

Sure, the defense year wasn't as good as it was in the past, and a lot of that had to do with the weak link that was the LB corp. But the offense, without as many glaring holes, completely crapped out in the final part of the season.

It frustrates me that Iowa is wholly predictable in all three phases, but on defense, it usually doesn't matter. On offense however, it keeps us from backing up a struggling defense, as we saw this year.

It's a balanced problem. All four parts of the game this year were underwhelming and it was the inability of each to pick up the others that led to the whole team collapse. The defense couldn't hold on to leads, the offense couldn't extend leads or stay on the field to give the defense some rest, the special teams play put the other two in tough spots and the coaches seemed unable to overcome and adapt.
 
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Parker is a gawd dang genius Gump!

from HawkeyeSports.com:

Under Parker's direction, Iowa has ranked among the top 10 in the nation in rushing defense four times. Iowa has been in the top 10 in scoring defense in each of the past two seasons after ranking 12th in 2007. In 2009, four Hawkeye defensive players were named first team all-Big Ten by league coaches. Three players from that unit were selected in the 2010 NFL draft, including LB Pat Angerer (second round, Indianapolis), DB Amari Spievey (third round, Detroit) and OLB A.J. Edds (fourth round, Miami).

Parker's defensive unit played a key role in Iowa's success in 2008 as the Hawkeyes won six of their last seven games to post a 9-4 final record. Iowa led the Big Ten and ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense and pass efficiency defense. Iowa was second in the league in rushing defense and total defense, ranking ninth and 12th in the nation in those categories, respectively. DT Mitch King was named Defensive Lineman of the Year and LB Pat Angerer earned second team all-conference honors.

Iowa closed the 2007 season with three wins in its last four games. Iowa led the Big Ten in turnover margin (+8) and redzone defense (68.4%) while ranking third in scoring defense (18.8) and rushing defense (122.0) and fourth in pass efficiency defense (115.7).

The Hawkeye defenders did much to turn around Iowa's 2005 season. The defense was able to shut down a pair of nationally ranked teams (Wisconsin and Minnesota) in the final two games to clinch a fourth straight January bowl bid. Iowa led the Big Ten in redzone defense and ranked third in rushing defense and scoring defense.

The defense set the tone for Iowa's championship run in 2004, as Iowa won its final eight games of the season, including the win over LSU, the defending national champion, in the Capital One Bowl. Five of eight league foes scored two touchdowns or less and three were held to seven points or less.

Iowa, in 2004, ranked fifth nationally in rushing defense (92.5), sixth in turnover margin (+1.08), 11th in total defense (293.8) and 16th in scoring defense (17.6). The Hawkeyes led the Big Ten in rushing defense and turnover margin, while leading the league in redzone defense for the second straight year. Iowa finished second in the Big Ten in total defense in 2001, third in 2004, fourth in 2003 and 2005 and fifth in 2002. Iowa led the league in scoring defense (16.2) in 2003.

Iowa, in 2003, ranked seventh nationally in scoring defense (16.2), eighth in rushing defense (92.7), 16th in total defense (314.5) and 24th in pass efficiency defense (110.3). The Hawkeye defense held eight of 13 opponents to less than 75 rushing yards.
 
I acknowledge Iowa's run defense is great, but how many years of Iowa's pass defense futility must we endure before the pass defense is changed?

Heck, even I've figured out any opponent that uses a good passing offense or spread offense - any offense that forces Iowa's defense into man-on-man situations will be successful against Iowa. If I can figure it out, I'm sure other offensive coordinators have figured it out as well.

More and more of Iowa's opponents are using offenses that force Iowa's defense into man-on-man situations - even Wisconsin and Iowa State have gone that way.

The bend but don't break defense is a myth. Iowa's defense gives up big plays all the time.

Norm Parker's attitude towards recruiting is reprehensible. We have a great football tradition at Iowa - the football program is not just little ole' Iowa.

I laugh when some say Norm shouldn't be blamed for this year's defensive woes because he hasn't coached this year. Including this year, things haven't changed hardly all for Iowa on defense in the 10 years Parker has been DC.

I'm not asking Norm Parker to retire, I'm asking for Norm Parker to change Iowa's pass defense for the better.
 
Any defense, regardless of scheme, will look weak when you have as many injuries as the Hawks have had. The packers made the switch from a 4-3 base to a 3-4 base, and they basically just gave Aaron Kampman's sack totals over to Matthews. Clay Matthews doesn't have many tackles, just a lot of sacks. Meanwhile, you have Greenway playing in a 4-3 in Minnesota (mostly covering TEs in the passing game), and he is leading the league (or second) in tackles. Both defenses are very good, because both are very healthy. And you can't overlook the fact that the Packers have a CB who is a serious threat to intercept nearly every pass (Woodson). So, as far as scheme, either will work fairly well if you're healthy and well-coached.

The main difference is this: if Iowa were to switch to a 3-4, we would have more sacks and possibly fewer passing yards allowed, but we would give up hug chunks in the running game. The 4-3 is much better against the run, and if you have dominant DE's that can get to the QB, it is the best system out there. The reason teams in the NFL run a base 3-4 is that it is easier to find a fast linebacker than it is to find a great DE (and pay them).

I did see Iowa switch to a 3-4 at times on passing downs this year, and I do believe we blitzed a bit more than usual. I could see doing a little more blitzing, but don't go crazy.

What we really need is a healthy defense.
 
Adrian Clayborn could have been moved around on the defensive line to any of the 4 positions there. However, there's NO WAY that you put him at ANY of the linebacker spots. All a team has to do is go 5-wide and you'll have Clayborn covering a wideout. Can you say mismatch?

You put your players in the best position possible to succeed, and having a defensive lineman, who weighs about 285 pounds, covering a quick wide receiver who is 100 pounds lighter and 100 times quicker is a recipe for disaster.
 
Keep in mind Parker missed most of the season and was not present in the planning and preparation weeks leading up to the games.

Also keep in mind Parker was not at several games to provide his imput during play by play situations.

You just cannot replace 40+ years experience overnight.

Had Parker been with the team all season long we probably would have seen some of the things mentioned in the original post.

Had Parker been with the team all season long I think the Hawks would have finished at 11-1, or 10-2 at the worst in spite of all the injuries.
 
Cyclones17 said:
Their offense became poor 1/2 way thru the year and that is what lost games, not defense.
Click to expand...

I agree that Norm is great and that our defense during his tenure has generally been stellar; but, as much as the offense fell apart in all 5(6) of our losses this year, it was our defense that, in each loss, gave up the lead and allowed a late -- and long/painful -- scoring drive for the go-ahead win.

To be sure, our offense was easily worse than the defense and was more of a problem, and, ultimately, you can't really separate them in the blame game. But to place it on the offense alone is incorrect.
 
But, Norm preaches "put out the fire". Parker expects his defense to stop offenses when the game is on the line.

God only knows where this program would be without the defense.
 
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