O-Line Depth

hawkeyebob62 said:
Yeah, I hear ya on that "time" thing. We were in Seattle for the Illinois game last fall. Bar was still cleaning up from the night before when I ordered my Bloody Mary!
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lol. that sounds about right. but, if you're going to be there for an afternoon start, it could be well worth your while.
 
Ree4 said:
It used to be owned by Donny Stalkfleet along with the SpoCo in Iowa City. He now owns neither of them. That bar was the hangout back in the day - always athletes in there. My friend got in a fight with Colin Cole there almost 20 years ago hahaha
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wow.
 
HawkleberryFinn said:
We're not deep at OL this year, but depth is a going to be a huge concern next year. The medical losses of Brett Waechter and Spencer Williams really hurt. Lucas LeGrand and Jake Newborg not panning out hurt too. I haven't heard of any OL "stories" coming out of camp. It would be nice to see Austin Schulte or Coy Kirkpatrick come on--we're hurtin.
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Wisconsin had a similar problem with our OL depth in 2013, bad luck and less than stellar recruiting in previous years. We had JUST ENOUGH to survive it and it lead to this year's Wisconsin OL. If a staff concentrates their efforts and does their homework they can turn deficiencies around but it does take time. In 2015, Wisconsin started 4 frosh. 3 of those guys are pre-season AA's in 2018.
 
Fryowa said:
Wow, your friend was either a badass or really stupid.
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Little bit of both, he was a 250 lb heavyweight wrestler in high school, he got smoked but managed to rip off Colin's necklace. Still has it as a souvenir. He wore it back there and ran into Colin again - Colin did a little trigger finger at him and he didn't know why, so yeah, he was stupid too lol
 
Iowa’s offensive line is top notch. In 2016 they were recognized as the best offensive line in the nation. The younger players who have learned from those linemen are ready to be dominant players themselves.
 
AreWeThereYet said:
Some of this goes back to when Greg Davis wanted to recruit fast guys at wide receiver and other skill positions. So they went in heavy on recruiting speed guys and went a little short on scholarships of offensive linemen. They brought in a larger bunch of preferred walk-ons to develop. Iowa also lost some key recruiting battles for local talent for the offensive line.

The results weren't bad on the offensive line, but the fact that we had a large contingent of walk-ons has been something to bitch about, for those so inclined. Recruiting speed guys went ok at runningback, but the fast guys at receiver either couldn't catch the ball or understand the routes/reads.

Over all, Iowa has had four average years and one very good season out of five years. So the glass is half full, half empty, or both. In any case we can stop blaming Greg Davis this year. This one is totally on the current staff.
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I was no fan of GD. But if your theory is correct, I can understand how his influence may have affected the quantity of OL recruited. What I can't ascribe to GD is the quality of the OL recruits. While we may have recruited less OL with scholarships, why did the talent of those recruited fall off as well?
 
SCHawkeye2 said:
I was no fan of GD. But if your theory is correct, I can understand how his influence may have affected the quantity of OL recruited. What I can't ascribe to GD is the quality of the OL recruits. While we may have recruited less OL with scholarships, why did the talent of those recruited fall off as well?
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Cuz JR was busy plotting the overthrow and honing his playcalling chops on Playstation instead of recruiting and coaching up his boys??

Do I win a prize?
 
Fryowa said:
Spectacular analysis, Homer. I like how you got in depth to support your viewpoint. The stats were a nice touch.
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2016 average.A bone was tossed to The Cap.Call it a life-time achievement award?Wonder if it came with $$$ Our O-line players work HAWK HARD.Like last years tackles.Hope they stick in Nfl..
 
:D
earlkoppelman said:
Dave's in Humbodlt County has 1.50 Rolling Rock at 8am.Hope 2 things.Keep Rolling Rock cold as usual and last year's tackles Boone&Ike stick awhile in Nfl.Go Hawks!
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Latrobe, Pa. The home of Arnold Palmer. My grandpa's favorite beer. He would smash a cold one after a shot of Schnapps. Rinse Repeat.

8am is a little late but is that you Gramps??
 
Kirk's struggles to recruit at the WR position are at least mildly understandable - a philosophy of ball control, run first mentality, no emphasis on setting up for the big play, etc. - but, with his reputation, and Iowa's history of putting linemen into the NFL (particularly from '02 - '10), his struggles at recruiting along the OL are more vexing.

It's hard to pin-point the problem, but he has struggled for years bringing in top targets. We've lost out on numerous recruiting battles, and have been forced to rely upon low-ranked or walk-on projects much more than we should. Perhaps that's by design: It's conceivable that Kirk actually prefers to bring in the projects and build them up. The problem is that when attrition occurs, we end up forcing guys into regular PT that are not ready.

Like recruiting in general, that does appear to be improving. Wirfs, Kallenberger, Jenkins, etc., all appear solid, and, we have a good start with the '19 class. Either way, there really is no good excuse for Iowa not to be stacked with solid talent waiting in the wings every season.
 
SCHawkeye2 said:
I was no fan of GD. But if your theory is correct, I can understand how his influence may have affected the quantity of OL recruited. What I can't ascribe to GD is the quality of the OL recruits. While we may have recruited less OL with scholarships, why did the talent of those recruited fall off as well?
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I don't blame Greg Davis for the diminished quality of recruits. I also don't think it was an issue with the developmental program. A few things I would note: 1. Iowa missed on a couple of top local recruiting targets. It only takes one or two of those misses. 2. As I mentioned scholarship allocation was decreased slightly from OL toward speed at WR and RB. 3. Additional preferred walk-ons. They didn't turn out badly but their eventual ceiling was a bit lower. 4. Losing effects recruiting. Recruiting suffers if the team goes into a dive like it did half way through 2010 into 2011, 2012. 5. Kirk got a little too preoccupied with fund raising. 6. The team started doing noticeably better when Kirck got done with his big fundraising project.

Those are the big things. There are plenty of other that had an effect. The thing is though. Kirk's system has enough robustness to absorb a lot of issues and still win 7 or 8 games a season. It's been hard to get to the next level though, let alone stay there.
 
#1DieHardHawk said:
Kirk's struggles to recruit at the WR position are at least mildly understandable - a philosophy of ball control, run first mentality, no emphasis on setting up for the big play, etc. - but, with his reputation, and Iowa's history of putting linemen into the NFL (particularly from '02 - '10), his struggles at recruiting along the OL are more vexing.

It's hard to pin-point the problem, but he has struggled for years bringing in top targets. We've lost out on numerous recruiting battles, and have been forced to rely upon low-ranked or walk-on projects much more than we should. Perhaps that's by design: It's conceivable that Kirk actually prefers to bring in the projects and build them up. The problem is that when attrition occurs, we end up forcing guys into regular PT that are not ready.

Like recruiting in general, that does appear to be improving. Wirfs, Kallenberger, Jenkins, etc., all appear solid, and, we have a good start with the '19 class. Either way, there really is no good excuse for Iowa not to be stacked with solid talent waiting in the wings every season.
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I believe recruiting is on the upswing as well. Credit to Bell. Now he has to go outside of Iowa for top O- line prospects as well. Hayden did it. He had Bernie Wyatt among others who were just outstanding recruiters.

But if there has been a difference lately look no further than when Reese Morgan moved from O-line to D -line starting in 2012. That guy is just a phenomenal coach with years of experience. If the recruit wasn't a blue chipper, and there weren't a lot of them, he could still develop him.

Who replaced Morgan in 2012? Sorry it pales. Even if you are a fan of BF how can you argue he hasn't benefitted from nepotism? He just didn't/doesn't have the experience for each job he has ascended to.

And soon he will most likely be the head coach at Iowa. Polesak will probably move to OC (why else hire him as an O-line coach when they did?) There had to be more experienced line coaches obviously. And HIS O-line coach? Well there are two more of the clan.
 
skinnykilmer17 said:
I believe recruiting is on the upswing as well. Credit to Bell. Now he has to go outside of Iowa for top O- line prospects as well. Hayden did it. He had Bernie Wyatt among others who were just outstanding recruiters.

But if there has been a difference lately look no further than when Reese Morgan moved from O-line to D -line starting in 2012. That guy is just a phenomenal coach with years of experience. If the recruit wasn't a blue chipper, and there weren't a lot of them, he could still develop him.

Who replaced Morgan in 2012? Sorry it pales. Even if you are a fan of BF how can you argue he hasn't benefitted from nepotism? He just didn't/doesn't have the experience for each job he has ascended to.

And soon he will most likely be the head coach at Iowa. Polesak will probably move to OC (why else hire him as an O-line coach when they did?) There had to be more experienced line coaches obviously. And HIS O-line coach? Well there are two more of the clan.
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Funny I remember Billy.Grew up in L.A. Ucla then niners.A winner.Hard guy.Winner tossed "ugly" ball! End over End huh? Related? Single wing? Ran hard.Go Hawks...
 
skinnykilmer17 said:
I believe recruiting is on the upswing as well. Credit to Bell. Now he has to go outside of Iowa for top O- line prospects as well. Hayden did it. He had Bernie Wyatt among others who were just outstanding recruiters.

But if there has been a difference lately look no further than when Reese Morgan moved from O-line to D -line starting in 2012. That guy is just a phenomenal coach with years of experience. If the recruit wasn't a blue chipper, and there weren't a lot of them, he could still develop him.

Who replaced Morgan in 2012? Sorry it pales. Even if you are a fan of BF how can you argue he hasn't benefitted from nepotism? He just didn't/doesn't have the experience for each job he has ascended to.

And soon he will most likely be the head coach at Iowa. Polesak will probably move to OC (why else hire him as an O-line coach when they did?) There had to be more experienced line coaches obviously. And HIS O-line coach? Well there are two more of the clan.
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Iowa generally recruits by region, so I don't think the coaching changes have adversely affected the OL recruiting, but, there's no doubt that development of the line took a hit when Morgan was moved.

I've posted previously that I haven't seen any evidence whatsoever that Polasek is a good coach. He has had some recruiting success, but, as a coach he seems to be all fire and brimstone in practice with marginal results on game day. I'm willing to give him a pass with all the issues last season, but if we don't see a significant uptick in play by the OL this season, my guess is that the majority of fans will start to give up on him.
 
Unknownbadger said:
Wisconsin had a similar problem with our OL depth in 2013, bad luck and less than stellar recruiting in previous years. We had JUST ENOUGH to survive it and it lead to this year's Wisconsin OL. If a staff concentrates their efforts and does their homework they can turn deficiencies around but it does take time. In 2015, Wisconsin started 4 frosh. 3 of those guys are pre-season AA's in 2018.
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A young man from Cuba City named Trent Denlinger was part of that bad luck. By 2014 he had cracked the two deep and was poised for a starting OL line position in 2015. He would be fighting for his life by then. An MRI or CT scan revealed some kind of brain embolism or anuerysm that immediately ended his football career and made everyday life a challenge. He has come back a long way but his motor skills are still affected to the point where he is not allowed to drive a vehicle. His parents were huge sports fans and his dad coached every youth sport available, absolutely selfless people when it came to donating time for that stuff. Trent did have one shining moment however-at 6'6 260 lbs he knocked young freshman Diamond Stone around the lane like a pinball in the state championship game vs Dominican, albeit in a losing effort. His younger brother, at 6'4" was a tenacious player, too. Great sports family.
 
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