SEC land article on KF and GD...

[HawkeyeWalker]

From Article...found this....interesting...

As much as I have railed against Davis, losing basically your top 4 receivers from the previous year is going to hurt your passing game. That said, I ultimately cannot get over being ranked in the bottom 1% of passing offense.

https://www.seccountry.com/florida/floridas-jim-mcelwain-respects-kirk-ferentz-success-iowa

....But McElwain spoke Sunday of his appreciation for Iowa offensive coordinator Greg Davis, who won a national championship in that role at Texas in 2005 and also earned the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach that year.

“I was able to actually kind of take a peek today before I left, after we finished putting this last game to bed, just to have kind of an idea and a thought. He’s one of the highly respected offensive minds,” said McElwain, a well respected offensive coach himself. “In fact, I remember when I was at Alabama, I went down and visited with him when he was still at Texas. He does some great things with personnel that he has. He’s got a senior quarterback (C.J. Beathard) that I think is playing really good and obviously you can see his fingerprints are all over. Those guys are doing a really good job.”

Iowa offensive coordinator Greg Davis (Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
Statistically speaking — like Florida, which ranks 115th nationally in total offense at 345.1 yards per game — Iowa has been inconsistent on that side of the ball, though. The Hawkeyes actually rank even worse at 120th nationally with 333.3 yards per game despite some capable playmakers.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

we live in a time where facts are irrelevant to many.

 

[Fryowa]

A nice guy does not a good football coach make.

 

[Fryowa]

From Article...found this....interesting...

As much as I have railed against Davis, losing basically your top 4 receivers from the previous year is going to hurt your passing game. That said, I ultimately cannot get over being ranked in the bottom 1% of passing offense.

https://www.seccountry.com/florida/floridas-jim-mcelwain-respects-kirk-ferentz-success-iowa

....But McElwain spoke Sunday of his appreciation for Iowa offensive coordinator Greg Davis, who won a national championship in that role at Texas in 2005 and also earned the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach that year.

“I was able to actually kind of take a peek today before I left, after we finished putting this last game to bed, just to have kind of an idea and a thought. He’s one of the highly respected offensive minds,” said McElwain, a well respected offensive coach himself. “In fact, I remember when I was at Alabama, I went down and visited with him when he was still at Texas. He does some great things with personnel that he has. He’s got a senior quarterback (C.J. Beathard) that I think is playing really good and obviously you can see his fingerprints are all over. Those guys are doing a really good job.”

Iowa offensive coordinator Greg Davis (Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
Statistically speaking — like Florida, which ranks 115th nationally in total offense at 345.1 yards per game — Iowa has been inconsistent on that side of the ball, though. The Hawkeyes actually rank even worse at 120th nationally with 333.3 yards per game despite some capable playmakers.

These articles are all just pre-bowl game puff pieces. They mean zip.

Do you actually think another coach or administrator from a different school is going to say to a reporter, "You know Bob, Greg Davis is a real tool who runs a predictable, non-productive offense and it really shows in their team's stats."

Hell no, it's just coaches exchanging pleasantries to look like nice guys. I guarantee you McElwain is watching film going, "Holy shit guys, Iowa runs it up the gut twice and then tosses it three yards short of the first down marker every time. We got this. Who is Greg Davis, by the way?"

 

[deanvogs]

I'm a big Greg Davis critic, but I can see where McElwain is coming from. Sure the shortcomings in the players in player development is on GD, but if you look at what Iowa did vs Michigan and Nebraska Greg itched where it scratched and did just enough to beat one team that was way more talent and destroy another with similar talent. My beefs with Greg lie with his overall passing schemes and the fact that only about 1 out of 5 WR coming in really grasp it and develop in it. His game day calls are pretty consistent. He usually abandons the run too early in a couple games each year. He usually calls about 3-5 complete head scratchers every game, he usually runs 3-5 plays where you go, that was a brilliant call, and the rest of the game is pretty solid game calling.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

You know...last year I thought GD was great and I thought 90% of the time his team was prepared to win games offensively. This year the passing game has been a mess. He didn't forget how to game plan and execute plays...his players protecting the QB have been awful...not bad...awful. You can't pass the ball when you can't protect and it's difficult to run the ball when you can't protect...teams load the box.

If we can't protect Beathard against Florida....they will beat us by three touchdowns. They are going to score points.

 

[swanssy]

You know...last year I thought GD was great and I thought 90% of the time his team was prepared to win games offensively. This year the passing game has been a mess. He didn't forget how to game plan and execute plays...his players protecting the QB have been awful...not bad...awful. You can't pass the ball when you can't protect and it's difficult to run the ball when you can't protect...teams load the box.

If we can't protect Beathard against Florida....they will beat us by three touchdowns. They are going to score points.

If we can win the turnover battle we should be fine. Appleby is prone to making big mistakes, we have to capitalize and make them pay. If we do that, takes some pressure off the offense.

 

[GrandpaHawk]

If it's 3rd and long might as well run the ball or quick flanker pass or CJ is going to get sacked.Our pass protection isn't good.

 

[dwghawk]

Can anybody give me an idea how many times on average CJ audibles out of plays sent in from the sidelines during the course of a game. I know it varies somewhat in the course of different games. I could be wrong but on average It seems like a lot to me. The times I do pick up on it, I just don't see the success rate being that high. It seems to me it is always to an off tackle run play more times than anything else. IMHO that can become a very predictable part of an offense too.

 

[SpiderRico]

Can anybody give me an idea how many times on average CJ audibles out of plays sent in from the sidelines during the course of a game. I know it varies somewhat in the course of different games. I could be wrong but on average It seems like a lot to me. The times I do pick up on it, I just don't see the success rate being that high. It seems to me it is always to an off tackle run play more times than anything else. IMHO that can become a very predictable part of an offense too.

Our audibles are ALWAYS to runs and it is based on the following two things:

1. If it's a pass and the safeties are back and the count is 6 in the box, then CJ will often audible to a run (typically to the short side of the field).
2. If it's a run and they are overloading the side the run is called to, then he'll audible to the other side.

The thing is, often the other team (especially in conference) knows this, so they'll bait CJ into audibling by doing something pre-snap to force the audible and then just before the snap, they'll load the opposite side and stuff the run. Fitz and NW are famous for this, which is why KF has a losing record against him....

 

[Fryowa]

The thing is, often the other team (especially in conference) knows this, so they'll bait CJ into audibling by doing something pre-snap to force the audible and then just before the snap, they'll load the opposite side and stuff the run. Fitz and NW are famous for this, which is why KF has a losing record against him....

Or if you're Penn State all 3 linebackers jump up and down, screaming and pointing at the B gap and level Daniels before he finishes the hand off.

 

[dwghawk]

Thanks for your info. It seems like it's exactly what happens. They get suckered in to changing the play to something that they are totally ready for. I know some QBs are masters at it but don't you have to audible to a pass play or at least to a play action pass once in a while.

 

[NCHawker]

You may recall early in the season, Greg gave an interview and told us that he simply gives CJB concepts and lets him have great discretion in play calling. If you have a beef with a particular play call, you got to give part of that to CJB. You might say that Iowa had a 21 year old offensive coordinator sometimes.

And yes, those audibles to an outsize zone to the near side drove me crazy. I think they were baited into those audibles many times.

 

[thetrza]

FERENTZ JOKE ALERT! FERENTZ JOKE ALERT! FERENTZ JOKE ALERT!

“It’ll probably be in the 40s or 30s, one of those kind of games, sort of like an arena game,” he joked.
“It’ll probably be in the 40s or 30s, one of those kind of games, sort of like an arena game,” he joked.
“It’ll probably be in the 40s or 30s, one of those kind of games, sort of like an arena game,” he joked.

 

[BigD]

A nice guy does not a good football coach make.

Yes, but it's an excuse that fans can use for mediocrity. What do you get out of it? It's not like your going to go out and have dinner with the coach because he is your buddy. In the world most people live in called reality, higher paying jobs DEMAND higher results. Sports should be about competing at a high level on a REGULAR basis for those coaches who are rewarded with the top salaries in their profession.

Without proper recruiting it's not going to happen. Meh, six, seven, eight, wins a year and when the stars align perfectly once every seven or eight years then a bust out year. Ok for a lower to middle rung paid coach, but for MOST top paid coaches at successful universities this simply isn't going to fly. Yes, turnovers are a bitch which can lead to down years (see Michigan and Notre Dame) but when you finally make that solid connection the rewards are tremendous.

I keep hoping that we can finally have break through point where top talent starts coming in every year because of coaching stability, top facilities, and adoring fan base. Well at least three out of four of those things are happening. I took calculus in college and something about this equation just isn't adding up.

Maybe next year? How many times did I say that as a Cubs fan? It didn't happen until the right captain was steering the ship. I guess we can hope that someone gives our captain some prescription lenses that changes his vision, so he can guide the ship to new horizons. We cub fans finally got what we had been waiting for for decades. Will we HAWKEYE fans every get to the promised land?

Would love for it to Kirk who takes us there but as time goes by and progress seems stalled it feels like an unlikely scenario. I will be here hoping and waiting just as I did for the Cubs.