So, what happens when Iowa beats Penn State this Saturday?

As most know I've been very vocal that I simply don't see Brian as the next coach of the Hawkeyes. But this thread has got me thinking about two things that I really hadn't put much thought into in the past.

First, how do we know that KF is even grooming Brian to be the head coach in waiting. We all know that he's progressed up the ladder very quickly, but how do we know dad's goal is to endorse him to take the job when he hangs it up? Maybe, and this is just a spur of the moment thought that's I've put no effort into exploring, KF's plan is to get him as much experience as possible to help him thrive once he (dad) hangs it up. No parent wants to see their child fail and I can't see Kirk endorsing him to take the reigns knowing he's not ready. That said, with KF being the control freak many think he is, maybe he's simply moved him to OC as he (Kirk) is still calling the shots while Brian gets the credit and can use that on a resume going forward. It's much easier to "pamper" a child when you're calling the shots and their to guide then turning them lose knowing they could easily fail and knowing there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. I could see him doing all he could to help Brian succeed down the road as a head coach of a D1 program without necessarily putting him behind the wheel of the program he'll be leaving.

Second, has anyone really ever thought that maybe Brian doesn't want to be Iowa's next coach? Everything he does is already under a microscope now because of his last name and his movement up the ladder with few significant results along the way. It's just a thought, but I think I'd jump at the opportunity to coach/work with my father doing something I enjoyed doing that brought us closer together, but that doesn't mean I'd naturally want to take over or fill his shoes once he had to hang it up, especially when it could taint the family name and everything he'd worked so hard all those years for.

It's been a slow day lol so not sure where that came from, but just something that popped into my head that I hadn't thought about before. Feel free to take your shots.
 
Penn St. will be sending the house at Stanley until we pull off a play that burns that blitz. Nate's lack of mobility is not a secret to any coach with a pulse. I'm not convinced we have that one guy except Goodson who can make Penn St. pay. With Goodson on the sideline more than on the field it makes it even more unlikely that we house one. I suppose Smith Marsette is capable as well .Time will tell.What I've seen from Penn St. so far this year is speed and lots of it.
 
It would not shock me in the least to see Iowa take PSU behind the woodshed only to see PSU do the same thing to Michigan....leaving us scratching our heads saying how the hell did we lose to Michigan in the first place? Then, go to Wisky and see the same shit happen again.

One big thing to keep in mind, Iowa is generally a different team when they play at home under the lights. I'm sure Iowa will be quite fired up for this game. Will it be enough, we shall see.
The answer to your question: Hold on to your hat, don't explode, but the answer is - THAT'S FOOTBALL.
 
Penn St. will be sending the house at Stanley until we pull off a play that burns that blitz. Nate's lack of mobility is not a secret to any coach with a pulse. I'm not convinced we have that one guy except Goodson who can make Penn St. pay. With Goodson on the sideline more than on the field it makes it even more unlikely that we house one. I suppose Smith Marsette is capable as well .Time will tell.What I've seen from Penn St. so far this year is speed and lots of it.
I thought Goodson got the most snaps of all RBs the last game.
 
I thought Goodson got the most snaps of all RBs the last game.
Goodson had 6 attempts for 15 yards rushing and 5 catches for maybe 60 yards or so. Sargent had 8 attempts Young 7 . Bottom line we need more Goodson but that's not the Kirk way.
 
How were we close to a "top 25" Michigan team and yet look so bad? Defense! Not offense.

NCAA stats so far this year has Iowa 5th nationally for Total Defense and 3rd for Scoring Defense. These stats include Michigan. So, how bad is our Offense? I might say our players are teachable, but not coached for beans, to put it nicely.
 
What’s going to happen after the Hawks beat Penn State this week?

Da Haters will be out force saying Iowa should be 6-0.

KF only cares about winning 7 or 8 games.

Won’t put his best players on the field.

It’s only when Da Haters hate in volume that puts the pressure on him that KF can win a big game.

Rhabdo.

Boring football.

Only wins big games at home and can’t on the road (just like everyone else 90% of the time)

Can’t recruit talent.

Still no reason to believe they can beat Wisconsin.

Whar Oliver?

Should win the West every year like Wisconsin.


* * * * *

What am I thinking?

Win or lose this is going to be the mantra.
 
I agree with all of this, unfortunately.

I'm just not smart enough to figure out what the hell Brian Ferentz was trying to do against Michigan. Why didn't we just run the ball and throw quick slants and balls to our tight ends and running backs like Goodson? Wasn't that the answer against a team throwing the kitchen sink at us? I think brian Ferentz is a blockhead, arrogant moron. Horrible coach
KF and BF both spent time in the NFL . For Christ sakes have they ever heard of a hot route ?
 
As most know I've been very vocal that I simply don't see Brian as the next coach of the Hawkeyes. But this thread has got me thinking about two things that I really hadn't put much thought into in the past.

First, how do we know that KF is even grooming Brian to be the head coach in waiting. We all know that he's progressed up the ladder very quickly, but how do we know dad's goal is to endorse him to take the job when he hangs it up? Maybe, and this is just a spur of the moment thought that's I've put no effort into exploring, KF's plan is to get him as much experience as possible to help him thrive once he (dad) hangs it up. No parent wants to see their child fail and I can't see Kirk endorsing him to take the reigns knowing he's not ready. That said, with KF being the control freak many think he is, maybe he's simply moved him to OC as he (Kirk) is still calling the shots while Brian gets the credit and can use that on a resume going forward. It's much easier to "pamper" a child when you're calling the shots and their to guide then turning them lose knowing they could easily fail and knowing there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. I could see him doing all he could to help Brian succeed down the road as a head coach of a D1 program without necessarily putting him behind the wheel of the program he'll be leaving.

Second, has anyone really ever thought that maybe Brian doesn't want to be Iowa's next coach? Everything he does is already under a microscope now because of his last name and his movement up the ladder with few significant results along the way. It's just a thought, but I think I'd jump at the opportunity to coach/work with my father doing something I enjoyed doing that brought us closer together, but that doesn't mean I'd naturally want to take over or fill his shoes once he had to hang it up, especially when it could taint the family name and everything he'd worked so hard all those years for.

It's been a slow day lol so not sure where that came from, but just something that popped into my head that I hadn't thought about before. Feel free to take your shots.
It’s the Bob Stoops scenario. Kirk will be allowed to name his successor. Take one guess who that will be and yes he will accept the job .
 
I don’t know Brian could possibly any worse or any better than Kirk. Except he may say some crazy shit at pressers or in interviews.

I see 8-4 from now until my death with Phil running the defense until Seth Wallace takes over when he retires. Brian and polasek have the offense. Blah. Outback bowl city.

say this is how it shakes out, why is it beyond comprehension that BF wouldn’t go w a stud OC whom he could sell in amazing pay(make too 5 paid OC) and go lore modern?

who says he has to run the show maybe pokes around the line like dad. Would this be the worst thing for Iowa? I say no as he’s a good face for Iowa as home grown and bleeds black and gold.

I also think last week was a complete shot show but none the less we turned it over 4 times, MI put it on the ground 2x and that BS no call in the end zone from a different outcome. Not excuses but facts.

I think Iowa beats PS close and runs it up on NW on the way to win out. I like this team. So funk all you haters :)
 
How were we close to a "top 25" Michigan team and yet look so bad? Defense! Not offense.

NCAA stats so far this year has Iowa 5th nationally for Total Defense and 3rd for Scoring Defense. These stats include Michigan. So, how bad is our Offense? I might say our players are teachable, but not coached for beans, to put it nicely.
Thinking Michigan is really a top 25 team is your first mistake
 
KF and BF both spent time in the NFL . For Christ sakes have they ever heard of a hot route ?

That is exactly what Michigan takes away from teams. They bring pressure, then have extremely tight man coverage to take away the "hot route". Well Iowa combated that early and effectively with mesh routes. Michigan then adjusted to that by doing a lot of zone blitzing so we didn't know where the pressure was coming from and taking away the mesh routes we were having success with.

Listen to the HawkeyeNation podcast with Jon and Deace. Deace nailed it with this. Iowa got the game THEY WANTED, but then failed to do what Iowa does. By completely abandoning the running game, Iowa became that team to beat itself. At the time, watching the game, I was right with Brian in thinking we need to spread it out, take advantage of our shinny receiving corps and win this thing with the passing game, as our running game was going nowhere. In hindsight, I realize (and I'm sure Brian does) is that we abandoned the running game way too early and that was ultimately our doom. Even if the drives looked ugly we needed to just impose our will, move the ball on the ground and punt. Eventually we would have popped some runs that would have opened up the passing game.

I have said it for years when people complain about playing "conservative". We do that, because it leads to wins. Vs Michigan if we would have played more conservative field position football, we win that game. Run the ball, get to your own 40 and punt, that isn't a bad possession, IN THIS GAME. It puts Michigan back at it's 20 or inside its 20. They will give us the ball back eventually with a TO or bad put or 3 and out, etc. Instead we played aggressive, looking to always push the ball, and it cost us.
 
Last edited:
My best guess is the opposite of what happened on here after this Saturday. It's pretty predictable. But thanks to everyone for playing.

If the hawks win I will be cheering like crazy if the Off line plays great, if the defense plays great again, if the running and passing games click. I will somewhat expect it because this is what Kirk does is put together teams that are gritty and better than the sum of its parts.

And I will still also wonder where this was the Saturday before. But the season will look brighter with a win.
 
Is it, where was that last week? Or, last week was an anomaly? Or, they only play well at home, wait to the Hawks go to NW or Wisconsin? Or, the Hawks have righted the ship, they're in control of their destiny again? All of the above?

Iowa will win this week. I've been watching them long enough to know this will happen. So, you might want to start drafting your responses now.


A win against PSU will to a large degree be caused by lessons learned at Michigan. Intercourse in Ann Arbor, 1 week gestation and giving birth to a new team and a win.
 
True...and vs Stanford in the bowl game...it really helped remind me that Iowa doesn't have the top level skill position players to overcome equal or better talent or equal or better coaching, or often first year coaching. Top level talent often exposes Iowa for what it is, a second tier team, who makes a lot of bowl games and racks up winning seasons with the ability to beat teams they most often should beat. It is Hall of Fame Kirk winning. Plus, creative and risk taking coaches often leave Iowa stuck in the mud, like a Python wrapped around the Iowa game plan for 3 hours, as life and hope fade away until the final buzzer. As you say, Iowa is what it is.
McCaffrey is making a lot of NFL players look pretty silly, a player like him doesn't come along very often.
 
Those who are sure BF won't just slide into the HC position, please remind me what kind of extensive search there was before BF became OC?

Or are we assuming that the guy w/ ZERO coordinator experience was the most qualified candidate after a wide-open search intent on improving a glaring program weakness, ?
Well KF made that hire not Barta. So I guess it just depends on to what extent KF gets to pick his successor... If he has anything to do with it then yeah BF is the leader in the clubhouse. Barta is such a crapshoot. There's no telling what dumb crap he may do that might finally get him forced out before that day comes and a new AD would be in. So predicting this is kinda tough I think
 
None of that matters, though.

I get your argument but it doesn't matter if Michigan is rated 1st or 100th in Sagarin. Wisconsin either has to lose more games than Iowa or get beat by Iowa. Neither of those things is going to happen.
The amount of dominos it would take for Wisky to lose a few games is unreal. Major injuries or off the field crap sidelining multiple players on both sides of the ball. They are good. They are coached up well. I just don't see them stumbling. Especially the way Iowa typically is capable of doing. They aren't that. Truth is what it is.
 
As most know I've been very vocal that I simply don't see Brian as the next coach of the Hawkeyes. But this thread has got me thinking about two things that I really hadn't put much thought into in the past.

First, how do we know that KF is even grooming Brian to be the head coach in waiting. We all know that he's progressed up the ladder very quickly, but how do we know dad's goal is to endorse him to take the job when he hangs it up? Maybe, and this is just a spur of the moment thought that's I've put no effort into exploring, KF's plan is to get him as much experience as possible to help him thrive once he (dad) hangs it up. No parent wants to see their child fail and I can't see Kirk endorsing him to take the reigns knowing he's not ready. That said, with KF being the control freak many think he is, maybe he's simply moved him to OC as he (Kirk) is still calling the shots while Brian gets the credit and can use that on a resume going forward. It's much easier to "pamper" a child when you're calling the shots and their to guide then turning them lose knowing they could easily fail and knowing there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. I could see him doing all he could to help Brian succeed down the road as a head coach of a D1 program without necessarily putting him behind the wheel of the program he'll be leaving.

Second, has anyone really ever thought that maybe Brian doesn't want to be Iowa's next coach? Everything he does is already under a microscope now because of his last name and his movement up the ladder with few significant results along the way. It's just a thought, but I think I'd jump at the opportunity to coach/work with my father doing something I enjoyed doing that brought us closer together, but that doesn't mean I'd naturally want to take over or fill his shoes once he had to hang it up, especially when it could taint the family name and everything he'd worked so hard all those years for.

It's been a slow day lol so not sure where that came from, but just something that popped into my head that I hadn't thought about before. Feel free to take your shots.


Other then the short time he was off coaching other places as an assistant Iowa City is home to him. He was raised there etc etc. So It'd be tough to get around to the idea that he'd leave the Iowa HC job on the table for a sideways gig comparable to it... I can't see that. I could see him go to NE to be Belicheats OC if that was ever on the table but that seems pretty far fetched to me. I don't see him going to the ACC or Pac 12 or anywhere else just to move off and do his own thing. That would almost take a falling out with his Dad kinda thing to do. He has kiddos now and yeah I just think the HC job at Iowa's is his if he's offered it. That is the only question about it to me.
 

Latest posts

Top