Slate article on situation

[blubberhawk]

If Iowa had even a bad offense instead of one of the most gruesome creations in football, it would surely be at least 4-2 and probably better. Instead, they have the coach’s son, whose offensive unit ensures that excellence elsewhere results in mediocrity and frustration.

Damn

To carry that a little farther:
Since 2015 Season:
Miami 58 wins
Florida St. 50 wins
Texas 51 wins
Wash. 58 wins
USC 57 wins
Florida 62 wins
Wisc. 68 wins
Penn St. 65 wins
ISU 48 wins
Oregon 60 wins
LSU 66 wins

Iowa 66 wins.

Astounding the level Iowa could have reached with an average offense.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Boeheim. Then Izzo.

I'm 42 years old and Boeheim had already been coaching Syracuse for 6 years when I was born

Boeheim was also a player, graduate assistant, assistant basketball coach and head golf coach at Syracuse dating back to 1964, the year before I was born.

58 years of that city would be enough to make anyone dour and miserable looking and Boeheim certainly qualifies, though more on reputation.

Boeheim actually isn't a bad guy. And he is a true hoops junkie. He is one of the very few coaches who will come home after a day being consumed by basketball and watch more basketball. He is one of the most accessible coaches on final four weekend to both media and fans, which is another lost art as most of them spend as much time as possible hiding in the suites put on by the shoe moguls.

OK enough basketball for this thread. I'll save it for another season.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

To carry that a little farther:
Since 2015 Season:
Miami 58 wins
Florida St. 50 wins
Texas 51 wins
Wash. 58 wins
USC 57 wins
Florida 62 wins
Wisc. 68 wins
Penn St. 65 wins
ISU 48 wins
Oregon 60 wins
LSU 66 wins

Iowa 66 wins.

Astounding the level Iowa could have reached with an average offense.

That's what blows my mind about it all. Iowa despite the bad offense has won a ton of games. It's just incredible to what extent that not only defense but combined with great all around special teams play the impact of those can have on wining.

It's just gotten to where it's not possible now. You can't literally have the worst offense and not score any TDs and expect to win. You can't get by with that against any legitimate teams really. It just asks too much of the defense to be out there for so many snaps and mins. They are going to be worn down in the 2nd halves of games and as the season goes on it'll only show up more.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

correct: major national podcasts are taking 10 minutes to discuss the Iowa situation

1) College Football Enquierer
2) Solid Verbal (youtube)
3) Cover 3 (youtube)
4) Andy staples (guest Scott Dochterman) (youtube)

You lost me at "major national podcasts", I guess.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Well written article for sure.

I would guess Ferentz, the AD, and the President is sitting down to talk about "what next guys, we cannot continue like this" conversation.

One would hope, but, not sure I'd put my house on that bet.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

One would hope, but, not sure I'd put my house on that bet.

Presidents don't get involved over 2 or 3 bad football games... They just don't. Now over the lawsuit stuff that's been hanging over the coaches that's another story. Last I heard BF was asking to get it thrown out but that's been awhile ago and I haven't heard anything since if that was going to happen or if it's even been decided upon.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Presidents don't get involved over 2 or 3 bad football games... They just don't. Now over the lawsuit stuff that's been hanging over the coaches that's another story. Last I heard BF was asking to get it thrown out but that's been awhile ago and I haven't heard anything since if that was going to happen or if it's even been decided upon.

............and I am actually not sure this president is really connected with the athletics as some presidents. There are some who are very involved with the football programs and manage as their #1 priority, most likely due to the $$$ brought in. Not sure with this one as she just doesn't seem to be involved. Hell, I bet the majority of people on here can't even name her name.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

............and I am actually not sure this president is really connected with the athletics as some presidents. There are some who are very involved with the football programs and manage as their #1 priority, most likely due to the $$$ brought in. Not sure with this one as she just doesn't seem to be involved. Hell, I bet the majority of people on here can't even name her name.

Yeah some are more hands on then others with athletics. Hence why some of the schools in the SEC go through ADs like underwear. Barta seems to have the autonomy to do whatever he wants as long as KF wants it too.

 

[thedukeofearl]

To carry that a little farther:
Since 2015 Season:
Miami 58 wins
Florida St. 50 wins
Texas 51 wins
Wash. 58 wins
USC 57 wins
Florida 62 wins
Wisc. 68 wins
Penn St. 65 wins
ISU 48 wins
Oregon 60 wins
LSU 66 wins

Iowa 66 wins.

Astounding the level Iowa could have reached with an average offense.

Yeah, in comparison we are doing well

I was directly quoting the Slate article

 

[okeefe4prez]

To carry that a little farther:
Since 2015 Season:
Miami 58 wins
Florida St. 50 wins
Texas 51 wins
Wash. 58 wins
USC 57 wins
Florida 62 wins
Wisc. 68 wins
Penn St. 65 wins
ISU 48 wins
Oregon 60 wins
LSU 66 wins

Iowa 66 wins.

Astounding the level Iowa could have reached with an average offense.

Yes, Iowa has done well in terms of wins and losses. Note that Wisconsin is also on that list with 2 more wins than Iowa. It is amazing what having 6 games per year against Big Ten West opponents will do for you. I can't help but notice that LSU has 66 wins as well. They play an SEC West schedule every year and have Florida as their protected crossover game. Something tells me Iowa would look a lot worse if we had to play LSU's schedule every year instead of our Iowa State/Nebraska/Minnesota/Illinois/Purdue/Northwestern schedule.

 

[dagdaj]

To carry that a little farther:
Since 2015 Season:
Miami 58 wins
Florida St. 50 wins
Texas 51 wins
Wash. 58 wins
USC 57 wins
Florida 62 wins
Wisc. 68 wins
Penn St. 65 wins
ISU 48 wins
Oregon 60 wins
LSU 66 wins

Iowa 66 wins.

Astounding the level Iowa could have reached with an average offense.

I'm not at all discounting your argument, because it's 100% accurate, true, and unassailable
My response to this though, there's a lot of ways to look at things.

What level could any of these teams have reached if they had just a slightly better offense (or defense) and a great punter?

Despite being a pessimist about 90% of things, my opinion of Kirk is.....look at how well we've done with an mediocre (at times) offense, above average defenses, and quality special teams....and his purported "unique" overall approach. I admit to being a bit of a Team Kirk guy. I wasn't in the beginning. I'm awfully angry at him now. Not so much about the suckyness. The nepotism thing. It's bad. And the legacy is at stake. And severe programatic turmoil that could be very hard to recover from.

I'm a numbers guy. I don't always understand them, but I got a pretty healthy dose of "Freakonomics" type learning earning an Econ degree in Iowa City. A lot of my professors had ties to U of I Chicago.

I argue this matters and should be considered. I've included the % of in-state players. Unfortunately, this is for all "college football" (D1-D3 and NAIA). So, it's not specifically accurate, but I think it's generally telling. I've included that percentage next to the number of teams in the state.

But, if we go with an average of 120 roster spots per team. By state, the population ratio to Power 5 roster spots is:

IA (2 teams, 77%)
13125:1

NE (1 team, 70%)
16033:1

MN (1 team, 70%)
46667:1

WI (1 team, 57%)
44833:1

MI (2 teams, 70%)
41558:1

OH (2 teams if we go ahead and count Cincy, 64%)
48667:1

PA (2 teams, 74%)
50000:1

IL (2 teams, 49%)
53000:1

IN (2 teams, not counting Notre Dame. I argue they're "private, aren't in the power 5 and 94.03% of students are out of state, they don't count, 68%)
27904:1

For reference, the one that stands out to me is Kansas.

FL (4 teams, 27%)
44166:1

TX (I went with 7 teams, sure, they're not all P5 but...you know...SMU at one time, 54%)
34095:1

KS (2 teams and I'm not including ANY Missouri population in Kansas City, 70%)
12137:1

Frankly, I think it's fair to argue that if we look at this metric, we're much better comparing ourselves to Kanasas/K-State. Other than this year, and maybe 2 other years in the last 30, I'll take our Hawkeye results over anything from Kansas, any day.

In terms of overperforming against this metric, I'm gonna say Wyoming is at the top, but only by default. Utah is probably the #1 spot.

And Iowa could very well could be #2. For 40 years, Iowa has outperformed almost every other state in achieving 'success' from a smaller pool of players, that makes up a large percentage of the team. And I attribute that to Hayden. And Kirk, who had exposure to Hayden.

 

[FRANAMANIAC]

Presidents don't get involved over 2 or 3 bad football games... They just don't. Now over the lawsuit stuff that's been hanging over the coaches that's another story. Last I heard BF was asking to get it thrown out but that's been awhile ago and I haven't heard anything since if that was going to happen or if it's even been decided upon.

to act like all of this negativity has arisen from just 2 or 3 bad games is laughable. These issues have been growing for over a decade and now coming home to roost when we've apparently ran out of all other coordinator options vs. Kirk's own son.

 

[SwirlinLingerie]

Yes, Iowa has done well in terms of wins and losses. Note that Wisconsin is also on that list with 2 more wins than Iowa. It is amazing what having 6 games per year against Big Ten West opponents will do for you. I can't help but notice that LSU has 66 wins as well. They play an SEC West schedule every year and have Florida as their protected crossover game. Something tells me Iowa would look a lot worse if we had to play LSU's schedule every year instead of our Iowa State/Nebraska/Minnesota/Illinois/Purdue/Northwestern schedule.

I think what would be interesting is to look at Iowa's record during that time period against teams who finished the season in the top 25. To me, Iowa's run during that period is marked by impressive consistency. But a lot of the wins have been racked up by having a low-risk game plan and beating inferior teams. No shame in that, but lots of mentions from Kirk of the number of wins in recent years....which maybe rings a little hollow for fans.

Off the top of my head, if we start in 2016, there was the 2016 win against Michigan, the 2017 win against Ohio State, the 2019 win against Minnesota...I'm probably missing one (maybe?) but I don't think there have been many. Safe to say, Iowa has a pretty abysmal record against teams that ended up in the top 25 during that stretch?

Again, this is based on teams that were ultimately good enough to be ranked. One thing that stands out is how infrequently Iowa has beaten Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Penn State when they've had good teams.

I think it's also what's leading to the fatigue. It doesn't feel like the Hawks have even a puncher's chance against the best teams. No offense, limited upside, limited upsets.

 

[okeefe4prez]

to act like all of this negativity has arisen from just 2 or 3 bad games is laughable. These issues have been growing for over a decade and now coming home to roost when we've apparently ran out of all other coordinator options vs. Kirk's own son.

I still believe that Brian is a good Xs and Os coach. The game he called against OSU in 2017 may be the best game I have ever been to as a Hawks fan. We all remember the next week. Ugh. He did call a helluva bowl game that one time against USC. The long ball at the end of the PSU game was an excellent call. I think we have a serious "Jimmy's and Joe's" problem right now and the Xs and Os mean nothing if you are rolling out there with slightly above MAC level talent. I've defended the guy and his old man and I try to point out his bright spots (which are quickly getting massively overshadowed), but after driving over 20 hours to watch Tory Taylor punt the ball a bunch of times and the defense get hung on the field all night even my patience is wearing thin.

 

[ohhawk]

Do you think she'd fire Barta?

Yes, under certain circumstances.

She asks Barta to prepare his recommendations on changes to be made before next season and he stands firm with doing nothing or very little. I think there are other scenarios that one could create for a "yes" answer as well.

This all assumes things continue a downhill roll.

 

[SmokeTownHawk]

Yes, under certain circumstances.

She asks Barta to prepare his recommendations on changes to be made before next season and he stands firm with doing nothing or very little. I think there are other scenarios that one could create for a "yes" answer as well.

This all assumes things continue a downhill roll.

I was thinking about the lawsuit looming in the future and the litigation already lost during Barta s tenure.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

to act like all of this negativity has arisen from just 2 or 3 bad games is laughable. These issues have been growing for over a decade and now coming home to roost when we've apparently ran out of all other coordinator options vs. Kirk's own son.

Not in their eyes there hasn't. That's all that matters. Before now we've been winning. Remember last yr 10 wins? That's what KF referred to when pressed. End of the day they don't care what it looks like if the Ws are there. Now is the first time in awhile where we are losing games we really should be winning and not looking good doing it. If this continues then sure. But no president is getting involved at midseason of a .500 season so far no way.

 

[SCHawkeye2]

I think what would be interesting is to look at Iowa's record during that time period against teams who finished the season in the top 25. To me, Iowa's run during that period is marked by impressive consistency. But a lot of the wins have been racked up by having a low-risk game plan and beating inferior teams. No shame in that, but lots of mentions from Kirk of the number of wins in recent years....which maybe rings a little hollow for fans.

Off the top of my head, if we start in 2016, there was the 2016 win against Michigan, the 2017 win against Ohio State, the 2019 win against Minnesota...I'm probably missing one (maybe?) but I don't think there have been many. Safe to say, Iowa has a pretty abysmal record against teams that ended up in the top 25 during that stretch?

Again, this is based on teams that were ultimately good enough to be ranked. One thing that stands out is how infrequently Iowa has beaten Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Penn State when they've had good teams.

I think it's also what's leading to the fatigue. It doesn't feel like the Hawks have even a puncher's chance against the best teams. No offense, limited upside, limited upsets.

The 10 win season last year is a good example of your point.
Iowa did not play, or defeat, a regular season opponent that finished in the Top 25. They lost to two regular season opponents who did not finish in the Top 25.
When they did play a team in the Top 25 during B10 championship they lost badly. Also lost to Top 25 KY.

 

[HuckFinn]

The 10 win season last year is a good example of your point.
Iowa did not play, or defeat, a regular season opponent that finished in the Top 25. They lost to two regular season opponents who did not finish in the Top 25.
When they did play a team in the Top 25 during B10 championship they lost badly. Also lost to Top 25 KY.

Every team on the list has a story to tell. Wins are wins. Teams don’t arrange their own schedules. Analyze every team on the list for legitimacy. Get back to me.

 

[SCHawkeye2]

Every team on the list has a story to tell. Wins are wins. Teams don’t arrange their own schedules. Analyze every team on the list for legitimacy. Get back to me.

I think I just did.