Reports: QB Hank Brown Visiting Hawkeyes

[Hawkfnntn]

Taking McNamara on was the right move by Iowa.

Where they went wrong was keeping the experiment going waaayyyyyyy too long.

Here's the analogy I think of:

Iowa bought a 2023 "fully loaded" Denali sight unseen that ended up with 3 shot tires, power steering pump going out, and stalled out every time it came to an intersection. But rather than swapping out for the '06 Camry they had in the garage that wasn't as pretty but would get them anywhere they wanted to go, they limped the Denali 1,400 miles throwing a bunch of money and parts at it because they didn't want to admit they bought a lemon (or be seen driving the Camry).

Iowa was in no position to tell Cade no and keep looking that's for sure. We gotta give Cade props for just choosing Iowa. With the BF drama and state of our offense overall it's not like we had much to sell him on.

Totally agree and that's a KF problem overall. He doesn't cut bait when it's time to make obvious changes. You can go back to Petras on that. His kid obviously, Deacon Hill got way too many snaps and starts. He owed Hill next to nothing and yet kept trotting him out there with other options. I get that the Qb position isn't the same as the LG position and so easily swapped out. But that doesn't mean you just ride or die with a player like Hill for that long. About the most unfair thing I've seen done to a kid is what they did to Lainez throwing him out there like that. He shoulda been playing more throughout the yr.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Surrounded by crazy talent at Michigan, he just didn't do that much:

View attachment 11208

Hawkeyeswire did a statistical deep dive indicating that perhaps McNamara represented a substantial upgrade, but I think this was just the difference between the Michigan O and the Iowa O, not the QBs puling the trigger:

What the Hawks are getting: Statistical breakdown of Cade McNamara's 2021 season

What do the statistical numbers say Cade McNamara is bringing to Iowa City compared to Spencer Petras? Here’s what the numbers indicate.

hawkeyeswire.usatoday.com

The two things I thought might translate to him becoming a Hawk was his 64% cmp% and his Td/int ratio. 6 picks on 327 attempts isn't bad at all in 2021. Turns out teammates coaching and the type of O being ran all matter too.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

Taking McNamara on was the right move by Iowa.

Where they went wrong was keeping the experiment going waaayyyyyyy too long.

Here's the analogy I think of:

Iowa bought a 2023 "fully loaded" Denali sight unseen that ended up with 3 shot tires, power steering pump going out, and stalled out every time it came to an intersection. But rather than swapping out for the '06 Camry they had in the garage that wasn't as pretty but would get them anywhere they wanted to go, they limped the Denali 1,400 miles throwing a bunch of money and parts at it because they didn't want to admit they bought a lemon (or be seen driving the Camry).

The problem was that in 2023 all the other cars in the garage were 2008 Camry's with rusted wheel wells and automatic seat belts that only fastened half way. BF whiffed so badly on QB evaluation it was not even funny.

Lester and KF definitely waited too long this season. Like, had an outside chance at the playoffs had they seen what we all saw much much earlier and benched CM in the middle of the ISU game.

I really would love to know whether QB1 was Lester's call or not. Probably never know.

 

[SCHawkeye2]

Taking McNamara on was the right move by Iowa.

Where they went wrong was keeping the experiment going waaayyyyyyy too long.

Here's the analogy I think of:

Iowa bought a 2023 "fully loaded" Denali sight unseen that ended up with 3 shot tires, power steering pump going out, and stalled out every time it came to an intersection. But rather than swapping out for the '06 Camry they had in the garage that wasn't as pretty but would get them anywhere they wanted to go, they limped the Denali 1,400 miles throwing a bunch of money and parts at it because they didn't want to admit they bought a lemon (or be seen driving the Camry).

I was also enthusiastic about getting McNamara.
But it was quickly apparent in year one, he was not what we thought.

 

[Fryowa]

The problem was that in 2023 all the other cars in the garage were 2008 Camry's with rusted wheel wells and automatic seat belts that only fastened half way. BF whiffed so badly on QB evaluation it was not even funny.

Lester and KF definitely waited too long this season. Like, had an outside chance at the playoffs had they seen what we all saw much much earlier and benched CM in the middle of the ISU game.

I really would love to know whether QB1 was Lester's call or not. Probably never know.

I like KF and I'm not ready to see him retire yet, but stubbornness gets easier the longer you've been doing something and it's usually to the detriment of everyone else.

After seeing the interactions between Sullivan and Lester this year (what little we did get to see, anyway), I firmly think KF was behind CM starting in the games he did. KF is the type of guy to evaluate and make decisions on practice performance only, but sometimes game performance is more important. Unfortunately because of the way he operates, the only way we as Iowa fans ever have or ever will see in-game evaluation happen is if there's an injury. Which isn't good.

Sullivan didn't just win the job with his individual performance, it was exceedingly apparent to even casual observers that defenses played us different and it allowed KJ to cook with gas. The OL said it, KJ said it, and KF himself said it after the fact. The nebraska game would've likely been a blowout if Sully was playing and KJ wouldn't have gotten eaten up with 8 guys in the box.

It shouldn't take an injury or the season being in the tank already for guys to get test drives. Real, honest-to-god, non-garbage time test drives.

 

[Will C]

Cade was worth the try. Just hope a lot of his NIL was based on incentives. We don't need that great a QB if we get the OL right.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

I like KF and I'm not ready to see him retire yet, but stubbornness gets easier the longer you've been doing something and it's usually to the detriment of everyone else.

After seeing the interactions between Sullivan and Lester this year (what little we did get to see, anyway), I firmly think KF was behind CM starting in the games he did. KF is the type of guy to evaluate and make decisions on practice performance only, but sometimes game performance is more important. Unfortunately because of the way he operates, the only way we as Iowa fans ever have or ever will see in-game evaluation happen is if there's an injury. Which isn't good.

Sullivan didn't just win the job with his individual performance, it was exceedingly apparent to even casual observers that defenses played us different and it allowed KJ to cook with gas. The OL said it, KJ said it, and KF himself said it after the fact. The nebraska game would've likely been a blowout if Sully was playing and KJ wouldn't have gotten eaten up with 8 guys in the box.

It shouldn't take an injury or the season being in the tank already for guys to get test drives. Real, honest-to-god, non-garbage time test drives.

All true. I understand that KF is the head coach and Lester's boss, but if I am the OC, and I am tasked with running the offense and doing my job to my ability, my word needs to hold on who should be the starting QB. I cannot envision a world in which Lester says that Sully should be starting and KF flat out overrules that. If that is how it happened, it would be hard for me to stay if I was Lester.

I realize these situations are fluid and it was likely more of a dialogue than an order, but it seemed clear Lester wanted to get Sully on the field from the get go given the goal line packages. He was what he had there.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

All true. I understand that KF is the head coach and Lester's boss, but if I am the OC, and I am tasked with running the offense and doing my job to my ability, my word needs to hold on who should be the starting QB. I cannot envision a world in which Lester says that Sully should be starting and KF flat out overrules that. If that is how it happened, it would be hard for me to stay if I was Lester.

I realize these situations are fluid and it was likely more of a dialogue than an order, but it seemed clear Lester wanted to get Sully on the field from the get go given the goal line packages. He was what he had there.

Amen the OC/QB coach gets 2 votes the HC gets 1. I understand that the HC wants input on that cause ultimately it's his ass. But KF hired Lester for this very reason. You can't expect him to raise this offense from the ashes by handcuffing him from making the biggest decision that entails. Top of the list of things that I would think would've been explicitly decided upon prior to employment.