Ol’ KF Has Rebuilt the “O”

guffus said:
Brian's offenses weren't terrible until the 2nd half of 2021. Nate Stanley actual threw a ton of TD passes, thanks in part to Brian recognizing he had 2 TE's with 2st round NFL talent. It also helped that Kirk brought back Ken Okeefe to mentor Brian and act as the QB coach.

I don't know exactly what happened with Ken Okeefe in 2021, but at the end of 2021 KOK decided it was time to retire. It seems like it was Kirk's decision in 2022 to double down on Brian and also make him the QB coach that ended up being a complete disaster.
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I would love to know the details of that one day. KOK seemed to go away very quietly and I don't believe he has made an appearance since, the way some of Kirk's other assistants have. They are both gentlemen and if there is any more to the story, obviously neither one talked about it with anyone.

A couple things still stand out to me. Ken seemingly disappearing after "retiring" to an analyst position. Yet he kept his large salary for another year. And Kirk not replacing him with another QB coach, but instead giving more autonomy and control of the offense to Brian.

It's all speculation on my part, but I don't think it is impossible that Brian convinced Kirk that Ken's handling of the quarterbacks was problematic, and that Brian could do that job better than Ken. And/or Ken outlining concerns he had with Brian's ability to coordinate the offense. If there was in fact conflict between the two, and Kirk sided with his flailing son over his extremely experienced, level-headed, and closest friend over 45 years, then that is really, really unfortunate.

Of course, there is a lot of nuance and gray area in life, so who knows exactly what happened. Like I said, would love to know one day...
 


SwirlinLingerie said:
I would love to know the details of that one day. KOK seemed to go away very quietly and I don't believe he has made an appearance since, the way some of Kirk's other assistants have. They are both gentlemen and if there is any more to the story, obviously neither one talked about it with anyone.

A couple things still stand out to me. Ken seemingly disappearing after "retiring" to an analyst position. Yet he kept his large salary for another year. And Kirk not replacing him with another QB coach, but instead giving more autonomy and control of the offense to Brian.

It's all speculation on my part, but I don't think it is impossible that Brian convinced Kirk that Ken's handling of the quarterbacks was problematic, and that Brian could do that job better than Ken. And/or Ken outlining concerns he had with Brian's ability to coordinate the offense. If there was in fact conflict between the two, and Kirk sided with his flailing son over his extremely experienced, level-headed, and closest friend over 45 years, then that is really, really unfortunate.

Of course, there is a lot of nuance and gray area in life, so who knows exactly what happened. Like I said, would love to know one day...
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KOK was also pushing 70 and on his second stint with Iowa. I always read the situation as KF throwing his best friend a bone to draw a salary for a couple more years while at the same time helping KF's dopey kid try and learn the job. I think KOK faded away on his own terms.

I would be surprised if KF forced his buddy out the door against his will, but KF showed unbelievable blindness and loyalty towards one of the most incompetent OCs in the country, so who knows.
 


NorthKCHawk said:
KOK was also pushing 70 and on his second stint with Iowa. I always read the situation as KF throwing his best friend a bone to draw a salary for a couple more years while at the same time helping KF's dopey kid try and learn the job. I think KOK faded away on his own terms.

I would be surprised if KF forced his buddy out the door against his will, but KF showed unbelievable blindness and loyalty towards one of the most incompetent OCs in the country, so who knows.
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Yeah I lean your way on this. After all this time as well there's never been a sniff of anything other then KOK and KF are good. Doesn't mean it is but if it's not the case there's nothing publicly out there about it that I've ever seen.

It really is amazing that BF got that job to begin with and had it half as long as he did. Iowa winning games like they did just covered up the stink of the terrible job he always did. He actually did not so terrible those first few yrs but once the torch was handed to Petras everything just went to total shit and kept on getting worse.
 


Just a reminder. Brian is gone. Has been for some time. Ken is gone. Also for some time. I thought this thread would be more about Tim. He is still here. A lot of players around with Brian and Ken are gone. We have a lot of new guys on the O. We have a new scheme on O. It is pretty interesting.
 


HuckFinn said:
Just a reminder. Brian is gone. Has been for some time. Ken is gone. Also for some time. I thought this thread would be more about Tim. He is still here. A lot of players around with Brian and Ken are gone. We have a lot of new guys on the O. We have a new scheme on O. It is pretty interesting.
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This will surely be one of those years and the two that follow afterwards where interest in Iowa football and Iowa basketball will be peaking out of curiosity and hopeful expectations. If both programs fall below hoped for expectation the results could be epic for Iowa football, but even more so on the basketball side of things.

Ben is going to have a lot of pressure on himself. I don't expect fans are going to be very patient with either of Iowa's head coaches moving forward. If Ben doesn't make a splash within his first two years his third season will be his last. On the other hand this could be one of the most exciting times for both sports as we finally have a well experienced and respected OC and a head basketball coach who also is highly respected.
 


HuckFinn said:
Just a reminder. Brian is gone. Has been for some time. Ken is gone. Also for some time. I thought this thread would be more about Tim. He is still here. A lot of players around with Brian and Ken are gone. We have a lot of new guys on the O. We have a new scheme on O. It is pretty interesting.
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Shit, this site needs all the threads and topics it can get right now...
 


NorthKCHawk said:
KOK was also pushing 70 and on his second stint with Iowa. I always read the situation as KF throwing his best friend a bone to draw a salary for a couple more years while at the same time helping KF's dopey kid try and learn the job. I think KOK faded away on his own terms.

I would be surprised if KF forced his buddy out the door against his will, but KF showed unbelievable blindness and loyalty towards one of the most incompetent OCs in the country, so who knows.
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I mean you are probably right. He was 68. But the thing is, he had a year left on his contract, and Iowa went ahead and paid him his nearly $700,000 salary for another year. He was supposed to be an "off-field analyst." Not really sure if that role materialized or not - either way, pretty good gig for $700k after you step down. Maybe he did in fact want to quit and Kirk was just doing his old buddy a solid by giving him a retirement present.

Who knows. We do know Kirk didn't replace him and gave Brian more control.

One other nugget. On a podcast last week, Dochterman mentioned things being "frosty" between Kirk and Brian in recent months. No idea the details on that, but the old Iowa offense apparently caused a lot of stress for various relationships.
 


Huck, you new to this Board? Threads tend to meander, and sometimes a lot worse than this. That's what makes this place fun. Given the OP article centers around rebuilding the offense, discussing the shitty foundation upon which that rebuild was premised seems fairly on point. Discussing the previous regime provides context to the rebuild.

Also, Pee Wee Herman is an American Icon. Prove me wrong.
 


guffus said:
Brian's offenses weren't terrible until the 2nd half of 2021. Nate Stanley actual threw a ton of TD passes, thanks in part to Brian recognizing he had 2 TE's with 2st round NFL talent. It also helped that Kirk brought back Ken Okeefe to mentor Brian and act as the QB coach.

I don't know exactly what happened with Ken Okeefe in 2021, but at the end of 2021 KOK decided it was time to retire. It seems like it was Kirk's decision in 2022 to double down on Brian and also make him the QB coach that ended up being a complete disaster.
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Exactly. Making BF the QB coach -- when Brian acknowledged and stated publicly that he knew basically nothing about the position when it came to coaching it -- is a perfect example of the Peter principle.
 


SwirlinLingerie said:
I mean you are probably right. He was 68. But the thing is, he had a year left on his contract, and Iowa went ahead and paid him his nearly $700,000 salary for another year. He was supposed to be an "off-field analyst." Not really sure if that role materialized or not - either way, pretty good gig for $700k after you step down. Maybe he did in fact want to quit and Kirk was just doing his old buddy a solid by giving him a retirement present.

Who knows. We do know Kirk didn't replace him and gave Brian more control.

One other nugget. On a podcast last week, Dochterman mentioned things being "frosty" between Kirk and Brian in recent months. No idea the details on that, but the old Iowa offense apparently caused a lot of stress for various relationships.
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Remember when there were knuckleheads on this Board two years ago claiming KF would hire a dullard at OC so that the offense would continue to stink and BF would somehow be vindicated as not the problem. That was ludicrous then and it even more crazy now that we see how quickly Lester is returning the offense to competence. KF is like any HC. He wants to win. He had a blind spot for his dopey kid for way too long, but he wants his offense to score points.
 


guffus said:
Brian's offenses weren't terrible until the 2nd half of 2021. Nate Stanley actual threw a ton of TD passes, thanks in part to Brian recognizing he had 2 TE's with 2st round NFL talent. It also helped that Kirk brought back Ken Okeefe to mentor Brian and act as the QB coach.

I don't know exactly what happened with Ken Okeefe in 2021, but at the end of 2021 KOK decided it was time to retire. It seems like it was Kirk's decision in 2022 to double down on Brian and also make him the QB coach that ended up being a complete disaster.
Click to expand...

The quarterback play has been atrocious the last 5 years, other than Petras’ run late in the 2020 season to the beginning of the 2021 season. KOK hands aren’t totally clean because he rubber stamped a lot of quarterbacks, that were brought in that 3 or 4 year stretch before he retired, that didn’t work. The recruitment and development of those quarterback wasn’t good the last 3 or 4 years KOK was here.
 


So, it's ok to meander? Sometimes I wonder how this board stays as active as it does since the HN website is basically on life support or what the hell it is.

I'm still scratching my head how my Murray Foundation thread turned into dump on Frank Garza?

I wish BF well as TE coach at Fresno St.

And I'm looking forward to our new offense. I feel like I'm finally truly understanding what Tim Lester is trying to accomplish. It should be fun to watch. And I'm glad we have 6 QBs in that position group.
 


NorthKCHawk said:
Huck, you new to this Board? Threads tend to meander, and sometimes a lot worse than this. That's what makes this place fun. Given the OP article centers around rebuilding the offense, discussing the shitty foundation upon which that rebuild was premised seems fairly on point. Discussing the previous regime provides context to the rebuild.

Also, Pee Wee Herman is an American Icon. Prove me wrong.
Click to expand...
 


HuckFinn said:
Just a reminder. Brian is gone. Has been for some time. Ken is gone. Also for some time. I thought this thread would be more about Tim. He is still here. A lot of players around with Brian and Ken are gone. We have a lot of new guys on the O. We have a new scheme on O. It is pretty interesting.
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Fair.

When it comes to Kirk and offense I have PTSD and @hawkdrummer1 post was a trigger.:)

It feels like Kirk is going to FINALLY be hands off on this. Kirk ran the Mike Shannonhan system until it was beyond outdated. Now, that they are doing the Kyle Shannonhan modern version of the offense, it is exciting.
 


New? Me? Ha Ha. This was just a friendly reminder about the original purpose for this thread. We have visited and revisited ad nauseum BF’s incompetence. Are you new to this board? Go back and look around.

Leave Pee Wee out of this! He is an icon!
 


Huck, the problem with the purpose of this thread is that it requires us to have hope and optimism about Iowa's offense. That's like asking a Husker fan to believe that Nebbie will actually win a close game. Too much PTSD. Its much easier to discuss what we are all comfortable with: BF sucking. :)

Seriously, I am super excited to see year two of Lester's offense, with the best QB room we have had in a decade and an OC that finally has some free reign to shape the offense into something formidable. But, I will temper the enthusiasm until we see some results on the field.
 


NorthKCHawk said:
Huck, the problem with the purpose of this thread is that it requires us to have hope and optimism about Iowa's offense. That's like asking a Husker fan to believe that Nebbie will actually win a close game. Too much PTSD. Its much easier to discuss what we are all comfortable with: BF sucking. :)

Seriously, I am super excited to see year two of Lester's offense, with the best QB room we have had in a decade and an OC that finally has some free reign to shape the offense into something formidable. But, I will temper the enthusiasm until we see some results on the field.
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Albany better be ready!
 






Grady said:
I think the above optimistic scenario would be more likely prior to the NIL era. While players looking for stability will gravitate more and more to Iowa City, that's not necessarily the BEST players -- those guys are typically looking for the most cash, and most exposure, i.e. conference championships, playoff titles, etc. That ain't gonna be Iowa going forward.
A system that takes 2 years for each player to learn is not conducive to the massive transfer portal movements we've seen in recent years. Maybe that will change going forward. But I doubt it.
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I thought the old system already took years to learn.
 


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