Remember....Kirk Ferentz

Raziel

Raziel

Well-Known Member
I always laugh when people rip a coaching hire in the days after it occurs. Look, I understand disappointment. Fran isn't Bruce Pearl. Hell, I myself would have liked to see Steve Lavin hired, but that didn't happen. But NO ONE ever knows how a coaching hire is going to work out.

People were ready to BEAT DOWN Bowlsby's door and throw him out of Iowa City when he passed on Bob Stoops for Kirk Ferentz....how has that worked out?

Lets keep this in perspective. I agree that Barta made a hire here that is a little too similar to Lickliter for my tastes....however, it is his job on the line with this hire. I have a hard time believing he would have taken this guy unless he was VERY confident that he could get it done. Worst case scenario is that Fran doesn't work out and we are looking for a new bball coach AND AD in 3-4 years.

Let this play out for 2 years before getting too upset. Assistant coaches will be big here IMO. I'm excited to see who Fran brings with him.
 
Raziel said:
I always laugh when people rip a coaching hire in the days after it occurs. Look, I understand disappointment. Fran isn't Bruce Pearl. Hell, I myself would have liked to see Steve Lavin hired, but that didn't happen. But NO ONE ever knows how a coaching hire is going to work out.

People were ready to BEAT DOWN Bowlsby's door and throw him out of Iowa City when he passed on Bob Stoops for Kirk Ferentz....how has that worked out?

Lets keep this in perspective. I agree that Barta made a hire here that is a little too similar to Lickliter for my tastes....however, it is his job on the line with this hire. I have a hard time believing he would have taken this guy unless he was VERY confident that he could get it done. Worst case scenario is that Fran doesn't work out and we are looking for a new bball coach AND AD in 3-4 years.

Let this play out for 2 years before getting too upset. Assistant coaches will be big here IMO. I'm excited to see who Fran brings with him.
Click to expand...

This
 
It appears he is a midwest guy, coached at notre dame, and his wife is from Minn. And he has connections in AAU and HS's cause he recruited midwest while at ND (I think thats what I gathered from another post)
 
He could be the next Lute Olson or Ferentz and I'll support him and give him a chance.

But if you are truly excited about this hire, then you don't get out much.
 
First off, Bowlsby didn't "pass" on Stoops for Ferentz. That's not remotely true.

Barta had a chance to make a hire that could have energized the fan base and returned Iowa to glory. That obviously won't happen immediately with this hire. I guess time will tell if it happens eventually.
 
Last edited:
Hawkeyes1982x said:
It appears he is a midwest guy, coached at notre dame, and his wife is from Minn. And he has connections in AAU and HS's cause he recruited midwest while at ND (I think thats what I gathered from another post)
Click to expand...

He was at ND in the 80's...most AAU coaches in the midwest were in diapers then,probably. AAU was not even a big deal back then.
If he does not bring some very connected,midwest-centric assistants with him, we are in the same boat as with lick...who did not bring any recruits in from where he was from...and had zero connections...really, how many top players from philly or nyc are coming out to Iowa?

Everything will depend on his staff...otherwise, same old,same old...fighting mid-majors for recruits again.:mad:
 
This is what we're going to have to hope for: Unexpected success like with the Ferentz hire.

Ferentz spent just 3 years as a HC before we hired him.

Lute Olson: ONE year at Long Beach St, with a 24-2 record, and 12-0 in conference, before Iowa hired him.

McCaffrey: Spent 3 years at Lehigh before spending 11 years as an assistant, and then went back to the mid-majors for 11 more years. That's 24 years of coaching without someone from a BCS level conference coming along to offer him the job, even if it's a bottom feeder type of program.

Can someone convince me that I shouldn't be worried that so much time has gone by before McCaffrey was offered a high-major job?

This was not the case with Lute or Ferentz.
 
Raziel said:
I always laugh when people rip a coaching hire in the days after it occurs. Look, I understand disappointment. Fran isn't Bruce Pearl. Hell, I myself would have liked to see Steve Lavin hired, but that didn't happen. But NO ONE ever knows how a coaching hire is going to work out.

People were ready to BEAT DOWN Bowlsby's door and throw him out of Iowa City when he passed on Bob Stoops for Kirk Ferentz....how has that worked out?

Lets keep this in perspective. I agree that Barta made a hire here that is a little too similar to Lickliter for my tastes....however, it is his job on the line with this hire. I have a hard time believing he would have taken this guy unless he was VERY confident that he could get it done. Worst case scenario is that Fran doesn't work out and we are looking for a new bball coach AND AD in 3-4 years.

Let this play out for 2 years before getting too upset. Assistant coaches will be big here IMO. I'm excited to see who Fran brings with him.
Click to expand...


One flaw in your argument, there, fella:

Ferentz actually had Iowa ties.

Franny has ZERO, ZIP, NADA, ZILCH ties to the UofI (coaching).

Outside of that, good writeup.
 
Wonder if KF knows how much his name comes up when bb fans are trying to reach for validation on slow development of Iowa bb program or for long shot no-name coaching hires?

But again, KF was well-known among the Iowa football hardcore fans and had the stamp of approval of our football god...Hayden.
Fran has none of that.
No comparison really.
The closest Fran has ever been to Iowa is the much despised ND...whose bb program is an afterthought at their own school.
 
JHHawk said:
Wonder if KF knows how much his name comes up when bb fans are trying to reach for validation on slow development of Iowa bb program or for long shot no-name coaching hires?

But again, KF was well-known among the Iowa football hardcore fans and had the stamp of approval of our football god...Hayden.
Fran has none of that.
No comparison really.
The closest Fran has ever been to Iowa is the much despised ND...whose bb program is an afterthought at their own school.
Click to expand...
Another Indiana-Basketball tie w/ our coach. GREAT! That's been working.
 
I WANT BARTA OUT! He has kept UNI on our football schedule- that does NOTHING for us, he hired Lick, which we all know how that turned out, and now Fran. How many strikes do we have to give the guy before he is gone? I have done far less damage at work to be canned before....
 
burky247 said:
First off, Bowlsby didn't "pass" on Stoops for Ferentz. That's not remotely true.

Barta had a chance to make a hire that could have energized the fan base and returned Iowa to glory. That obviously won't happen immediately with this hire. I guess time will tell if it happens eventually.
Click to expand...

Iowa & glory do not go together...........one final four appearance in 30 years and one big ten title (tourney does not count) in longer than that does not equate Iowa BB to have glory standards............some people have a too high perception of what Iowa BB is..............I love Iowa and everything about it, but Iowa has never been a glory story.
 
cubbyhawk2 said:
Iowa & glory do not go together...........one final four appearance in 30 years and one big ten title (tourney does not count) in longer than that does not equate Iowa BB to have glory standards............some people have a too high perception of what Iowa BB is..............I love Iowa and everything about it, but Iowa has never been a glory story.
Click to expand...

1987 loss to UNLV ended all glory IMHO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top