Reasons for Iowa football struggling

[vegashawki]

I know there is a talent gap between us and the top tier teams. But we use to be a really tough and gritty developmental team. Not saying he was right in the allegations made against him, as I wasn’t there. Nor am I justifying things that were said and done under his leadership if true. But since Chris Doyle’s exit from the Iowa program they seem to have lost that xfactor. After watching our guys get manhandled last night perhaps Iowa needs to look at going another direction with their strength and conditioning program. I don’t know shit, just my two cents.

 

[guffus]

I have a new theory that Iowa does not play well on the road when they play on grass. But I am too lazy to do the work to prove it.

 

[HuckFinn]

I have a new theory that Iowa does not play well on the road when they play on grass. But I am too lazy to do the work to prove it.

Interesting. Hmm!

 

[trj]

I know there is a talent gap between us and the top tier teams. But we use to be a really tough and gritty developmental team. Not saying he was right in the allegations made against him, as I wasn’t there. Nor am I justifying things that were said and done under his leadership if true. But since Chris Doyle’s exit from the Iowa program they seem to have lost that xfactor. After watching our guys get manhandled last night perhaps Iowa needs to look at going another direction with their strength and conditioning program. I don’t know shit, just my two cents.

They are 40-19 since Doyle was let go. Which isn’t bad. IMO, it has been the quarterback play the last 5 years that has been the killer. The recruitment and development of that position has been awful. Lester has his work cut out for him trying to rebuild that quarterback room.

 

[Iceman]

They are 40-19 since Doyle was let go. Which isn’t bad. IMO, it has been the quarterback play the last 5 years that has been the killer. The recruitment and development of that position has been awful. Lester has his work cut out for him trying to rebuild that quarterback room.

Lester does have his work cut out for him, but we aren't last in every offensive category like past years, so I guess progress is being made. Two questions linger. Can we now recruit and coach up better in offensive positions and will Lester hang around?

 

[HuckFinn]

They are 40-19 since Doyle was let go. Which isn’t bad. IMO, it has been the quarterback play the last 5 years that has been the killer. The recruitment and development of that position has been awful. Lester has his work cut out for him trying to rebuild that quarterback room.

Right on the money.

 

[HuckFinn]

Lester does have his work cut out for him, but we aren't last in every offensive category like past years, so I guess progress is being made. Two questions linger. Can we now recruit and coach up better in offensive positions and will Lester hang around?

Right. Improvement is obvious in the offense. We have to keep Lester, period.

 

[STILLBUSTER]

They are 40-19 since Doyle was let go. Which isn’t bad. IMO, it has been the quarterback play the last 5 years that has been the killer. The recruitment and development of that position has been awful. Lester has his work cut out for him trying to rebuild that quarterback room.

I say moreso the OL!

With a handful of exceptions in 20+ years, we all should be used to the QB being nothing more than a game manager in Kirkfer's system.

However, the entire foundation of his conservative offensive dogma is the OL. When it goes, the entire system breaks down. Man, has it gone the last 5-6 years! Just soft. Don't know if it's physical or psychological or simply low talent.

Another factor ... Iowa is generally a "developmental" program - especially on offense. Hard pressed to identify where that noticeable development has occured in recent seasons. It's much closer to stagnation than development.

Unfortunately, that's been a top down issue resulting in Iowa football slowly crumbling toward mediocrity for most of last decade. It will only get worse until regime change offers opportunity to rebuild.

 

[99topdawg]

I just want to know what the hell happened to the defense.

 

[SCHawkeye2]

I say moreso the OL!

With a handful of exceptions in 20+ years, we all should be used to the QB being nothing more than a game manager in Kirkfer's system.

However, the entire foundation of his conservative offensive dogma is the OL. When it goes, the entire system breaks down. Man, has it gone the last 5-6 years! Just soft. Don't know if it's physical or psychological or simply low talent.

This.
Our OL has been bad for several years.
Need a complete rebuild.

 

[eyekwah]

Ranked Explanation:
1. Brian Ferentz as OC.
2. Kirk Ferentz inability to innovate on offense starting with Greg Davis.
3. Gary Barta not firing Brian three years ago.

 

[trj]

I say moreso the OL!

With a handful of exceptions in 20+ years, we all should be used to the QB being nothing more than a game manager in Kirkfer's system.

However, the entire foundation of his conservative offensive dogma is the OL. When it goes, the entire system breaks down. Man, has it gone the last 5-6 years! Just soft. Don't know if it's physical or psychological or simply low talent.

Another factor ... Iowa is generally a "developmental" program - especially on offense. Hard pressed to identify where that noticeable development has occured in recent seasons. It's much closer to stagnation than development.

Unfortunately, that's been a top down issue resulting in Iowa football slowly crumbling toward mediocrity for most of last decade. It will only get worse until regime change offers opportunity to rebuild.

My counter argument would be O-line play across the sport isn’t great. There about a handful of teams in college and a handful of NFL teams that have good O-lines. Everyone else is like Iowa, where there is constantly moving parts…guards are forced to play tackle and vice versa. You can overcome a bad O-line with quarterback play and scheme. Lets be real, both have been dogshit the last 5 years for Iowa.

Take out the UCLA game I think the O-line this year has been solid. Not perfect, but as a cohesive unit, IMO, they have been good. Will not be shocked at all if Logan Jones and Mason Richman are on NFL rosters next year.

 

[Zamboni08]

Ranked Explanation:
1. Brian Ferentz as OC.
2. Kirk Ferentz inability to innovate on offense starting with Greg Davis.
3. Gary Barta not firing Brian three years ago.

I've actually believed #3 is it. Who the hell would want to come play for this/that offense!? Will take years to make up the talent pool loss. Coupled with NIL, was awful awful timing to be so anemic.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Some of it is fairly obvious, but there's probably a fair amount that is nuanced and difficult to put a finger on.

1. As others have pointed out, our offense was allowed to languish far too long. Obviously, a huge culpability lies in Kirk's loyalty to Brian. But, the biggest factor was we were winning in spite of the offense. Success creates a false sense of security and can blind you to a major problem. It also gave Kirk ammunition (spoken or not) against any criticism.

2. The domino effect of #1. Those in sports living outside of the Iowa bubble made the program the butt of jokes for almost three years - not only the offensive performance itself, but the inability of those in power to acknowledge it or make an effort to rectify it. Recruits that would otherwise be very interested, even on defense, take notice and decide why would I want to go there?

3. Poor quarterback development. This goes much further back than Brian. For whatever reason, KOK always gets a pass here, but our QBs with rare exception have looked stiff and mechanical for years. I honestly cannot recall the last time I felt comfortable and confident when one of our quarterbacks dropped back to pass. It's almost like I feel relieved when the pass is completed. I believe it was Nate Stanley who made the comment that he was working with a QB coach on his mechanics because no one ever did that when he was at Iowa. Huh? Is Lester the answer here? I don't know, but every time I watch other college quarterbacks sling the ball around in rhythm I feel a little jealous and frustrated.

4. Schemes. You can see some light at the end of the offensive tunnel with Lester but it's going to take time. Defensively, Phil is a God and has had great success, but in this day and age, the "bend but don't break" cover-4 zone scheme isn't going to get us over the hump with the top tier programs. The scheme is predicated on offenses making mistakes if given enough rope. The problem is, elite offenses aren't going to make enough mistakes, They will gladly pick the zone apart with sustained drives over and over. It we want to compete with the big boys, we'll need to come up with more wrinkles.

Sorry for the long post. It's raining here today, so I can't tackle the mountain of leaves....

 

[SCHawkeye2]

Some of it is fairly obvious, but there's probably a fair amount that is nuanced and difficult to put a finger on.

1. As others have pointed out, our offense was allowed to languish far too long. Obviously, a huge culpability lies in Kirk's loyalty to Brian. But, the biggest factor was we were winning in spite of the offense. Success creates a false sense of security and can blind you to a major problem. It also gave Kirk ammunition (spoken or not) against any criticism.

2. The domino effect of #1. Those in sports living outside of the Iowa bubble made the program the butt of jokes for almost three years - not only the offensive performance itself, but the inability of those in power to acknowledge it or make an effort to rectify it. Recruits that would otherwise be very interested, even on defense, take notice and decide why would I want to go there?

3. Poor quarterback development. This goes much further back than Brian. For whatever reason, KOK always gets a pass here, but our QBs with rare exception have looked stiff and mechanical for years. I honestly cannot recall the last time I felt comfortable and confident when one of our quarterbacks dropped back to pass. It's almost like I feel relieved when the pass is completed. I believe it was Nate Stanley who made the comment that he was working with a QB coach on his mechanics because no one ever did that when he was at Iowa. Huh? Is Lester the answer here? I don't know, but every time I watch other college quarterbacks sling the ball around in rhythm I feel a little jealous and frustrated.

4. Schemes. You can see some light at the end of the offensive tunnel with Lester but it's going to take time. Defensively, Phil is a God and has had great success, but in this day and age, the "bend but don't break" cover-4 zone scheme isn't going to get us over the hump with the top tier programs. The scheme is predicated on offenses making mistakes if given enough rope. The problem is, elite offenses aren't going to make enough mistakes, They will gladly pick the zone apart with sustained drives over and over. It we want to compete with the big boys, we'll need to come up with more wrinkles.

Sorry for the long post. It's raining here today, so I can't tackle the mountain of leaves....

As someone who lives outside the Iowa bubble, I can attest strongly to the first two points. National football fans and recruits do not tune in to watch Iowa struggle to beat Northwestern 15-13 on the Big Ten network at 11 AM, but they do tune into the marquee games such as the Big Ten championship, top 10 matchups, bowl games against Tennessee, etc. Iowa has failed the “eye test” in these higher stakes games for several years now. Recruits see a team that can’t get out of its own way and is embarrassed on the national stage in big games. Non-Iowa fans don’t know we won 10 games. They know what they see when we play in a meaningful game.
We have to become a team that recruits wanna play for.
Not settle for.

 

[Grady]

Some of it is fairly obvious, but there's probably a fair amount that is nuanced and difficult to put a finger on.

1. As others have pointed out, our offense was allowed to languish far too long. Obviously, a huge culpability lies in Kirk's loyalty to Brian. But, the biggest factor was we were winning in spite of the offense. Success creates a false sense of security and can blind you to a major problem. It also gave Kirk ammunition (spoken or not) against any criticism.

2. The domino effect of #1. Those in sports living outside of the Iowa bubble made the program the butt of jokes for almost three years - not only the offensive performance itself, but the inability of those in power to acknowledge it or make an effort to rectify it. Recruits that would otherwise be very interested, even on defense, take notice and decide why would I want to go there?

3. Poor quarterback development. This goes much further back than Brian. For whatever reason, KOK always gets a pass here, but our QBs with rare exception have looked stiff and mechanical for years. I honestly cannot recall the last time I felt comfortable and confident when one of our quarterbacks dropped back to pass. It's almost like I feel relieved when the pass is completed. I believe it was Nate Stanley who made the comment that he was working with a QB coach on his mechanics because no one ever did that when he was at Iowa. Huh? Is Lester the answer here? I don't know, but every time I watch other college quarterbacks sling the ball around in rhythm I feel a little jealous and frustrated.

4. Schemes. You can see some light at the end of the offensive tunnel with Lester but it's going to take time. Defensively, Phil is a God and has had great success, but in this day and age, the "bend but don't break" cover-4 zone scheme isn't going to get us over the hump with the top tier programs. The scheme is predicated on offenses making mistakes if given enough rope. The problem is, elite offenses aren't going to make enough mistakes, They will gladly pick the zone apart with sustained drives over and over. It we want to compete with the big boys, we'll need to come up with more wrinkles.

Sorry for the long post. It's raining here today, so I can't tackle the mountain of leaves....

This, bigtime. #4 hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. Parker isn't doing anything differently this year than past years, but the difference is the offensive teams and players we played this year and will play in future years are getting better. West Division QBs for years haven't been much better than Iowa's QBs, which allowed the Hawk defense's numbers to look better than the defense actually was. Anyone with seats at Kinnick will tell you that for the past couple seasons prior to this year, opponents had WRs running free in the secondary -- but they were simply not seen or hit by opposing QBs. Those Saturdays will be fewer and fewer in the coming years.
UCLA and Sparty showed the future: no DLine of just 4 defenders can hold up vs 5 strong OLinemen -- it's simply a numbers game. Watching Alabama/LSU last night, they regularly had 5 guys on the defensive LOS. Parker did that too during Iowa's last two losses -- at the start of the 2nd half after Sparty put up 20 and UCLA could have easily scored 31 pts in the 1st half! Parker is going to have to change how he plays at the beginning of games. He's done it before, years ago, when he started rotating DLinemen more often to deal with the increased # of offensive plays in each game. He's going to need to put more guys at the LOS and pressure and gamble more to keep teams off-balance.