Poll: Rate the program

[trj]

Yes, we know. This game is so realistic. Why play games on the field.

We should all just play the board game and Save millions and millions to feed starving soccer kids in World soccer power Trinidadaddy & Tobagan who will grow up and kick the US soccer team into 5th place out of 6 (T&T finishing 6th)

-- in the play-in tournament ....

Did you spend a lot of time thinking how you could interject the US not qualifying for the World Cup and Hawkeye football?

 

[DDThompson]

Did you spend a lot of time thinking how you could interject the US not qualifying for the World Cup and Hawkeye football?

Nah, I just was reading in the thread and saw Hawkgold and thought, "I don't think I've tweaked him for a few days."

 

[NCHawker]

Iowa is, most years, the medoza line of BigTen football

 

[SCHawkeye2]

Anybody who votes an 8+ is just in love w/ Hawkeye football, and ignoring the on-field product. Or living in the past (pre-2010).

I voted a 3. And yes, that was my honest assessment. Why so low?

Because KF's 7 wins a year is just 1 more than the minimum they should win w/ their schedule. Think about it- 3 weak non-cons, plus Illinois, Purdue, and Minny gets you to 6 wins every year. I would hope everybody would agree there's no excuse for not winning those. So then to get to 7 (or 8) all you have to do is beat NW, Nebby, or Rutgers / Indiana. But doing that gets the coach a bonus? Satisfies the fans? Why?

Because they're boring, conservative, and predictable, i.e. not particularly fun to watch. That's obviously a subjective / to each his own thing so I won't elaborate.

And finally, because it should be obvious to everybody that neither the AD or the coach cares about improving on the 7-win average. BF being the latest, most obvious example of comfort zone outweighing results.

So to summarize, I voted low because of mediocre results, low entertainment value, and 6 years and counting of cruise control coaching.

I suggest we look at the B10 record to keep things in perspective.
Iowa has won about 57% of B10 games per year under KF. This is about the same as Fry.
I think the difference is how it feels to the fans.
Fry took a bottom dwelling program and moved it distinctly upward - to an upper division B10 team every year, with an occasional championship. Always competitive and willing to take risks. In short - exciting for long suffering Hawk fans.
The KF trajectory is flat. At best, the program has simply maintained the level HF achieved. But distinctly less interesting and exciting for Hawk fans. More like treading water to maintain our level of mediocrity than striving to improve our record.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

I suggest we look at the B10 record to keep things in perspective.
Iowa has won about 57% of B10 games per year under KF. This is about the same as Fry.
I think the difference is how it feels to the fans.
Fry took a bottom dwelling program and moved it distinctly upward - to an upper division B10 team every year, with an occasional championship. Always competitive and willing to take risks. In short - exciting for long suffering Hawk fans.
The KF trajectory is flat. At best, the program has simply maintained the level HF achieved. But distinctly less interesting and exciting for Hawk fans. More like treading water to maintain our level of mediocrity than striving to improve our record.

Some good points made. Some similarities that jump out:

--Since their first two seasons, neither JHF nor KF has had consecutive seasons without going to a bowl. To be sure, they have had some bowl-less seasons that were preceded or followed by "barely-eligible" bowl seasons, but neither has missed a bowl in two consecutive seasons aside from their first two seasons at Iowa
--In their best years, each team had some Achilles heel that prevented that year's team from "going all the way". Usually related to injury or "odd" happening, each season a game would be lost that was "woulda-coulda-shoulda" (O$U 1985, ISU 2002, NW/O$U 2009, MSU 2015 B1G CG). With the exception of the second Orange Bowl, those teams had weak-to-dismal showings in their bowl game
--Longevity of staff, both football-wise and University of Iowa-wise, was pretty stable. While U of I President turned over on occasion, JHF basically had one AD. KF has had two. In both cases, staff has been pretty stable, with a few that move on to bigger/better things. WHEN it happens, we see the results on-field for a season or two

 

[taffaej]

Bump... I had to change my vote after today.

 

[EstronHawkKing]

C-