I don't think Id even give that much credit to Norm.
When KF has had good years he's had out standing talent, especially on D, that was good enough to make basically anything you want to do work.
For ten years nearly every starter on d played in the nfl, you don't have to do a whole lot of great scheming to win with that.
and iowa didn't win nearly as often as they should have most of those years.
Thus. And what really kills me is that Iowa list games because s sometimes, even with that talent, they would play a little bit soft on coverages because "little ol' Iowa" didn't have the talent to go man to man with NW or OSU. Give me a break.
The thing everyone should find insulting about Ferentz isn't his offensive football philosophy. It's that, deep down, he thinks that this state, and the school he works for its inferior to almost anywhere else. Can't blame him, I hear that opinion from broadcasters, politicians, family members, business leaders and message board posters too, and not just about football.
You see, Iowa is just a little tiny backwater, flyover, cow town with no athletic talent produced in state outside of big, fat, slow Norwegian corn-fed farm boys with low football is but high haymont management iqs. The only thing of consequence to ever come out of this state was Herbert Hoover, and we all know how much that sucked for the county. If anything is to be successful, it must be thorough grinding it out humbly over years of poor circumstances and low resources. The Iowa mantra is that we succeed despite our lowly position in life.
There have been a few Iowans from the past that taught that that is a losers' attitude. Now they might not have been born here, but they deserve the title of Iowa nontheless. Jim Zabel never excused Iowa's talent deficit due to the state population. Ronald Reagan never thought Iowan's were backwater. Hayden Fry was ****** off about the workhorse, humble, little old Iowa attitude. And rightfully so.
So many people buy into the flyover country nonsense. They think we should just be grateful for what we already have and thankful somebody stronger and bigger and more capable and more talented hasn't come along and taken it all away from little old Iowa yet. You hear it in the talk show narratives on WHO (hard working, humble, service in stead of innovative, exciting, and excellent).
Kirk buys into that idea of Iowa the weakling. Which is a real shame, because it really means that he learned nothing from Harden Fry and Zabel or his own success. And if you believe that, that success at Iowa is not possible because it isn't realistic, why do you have a home or business or farm here? If there's no hope for improvement, go somewhere that there is. I think that Iowa can be successful because there are excellent, talented, and strong people here, and that attitude of poor me offends me.