Some positive Hawk news

[CP87]

Received this message from my daughter's kindergarten teacher:

I wanted to share that we had a guest speaker in our classroom today. Deavin Hilson, an Iowa Hawkeye football player, came and read to the Kindergartners and our 3rd grade buddy class. He was fantastic, very personable, and genuinely kind! He read a story to the children, asked questions throughout the story and answered questions that the students' had prepared. He also went out of his way to ask all the students their names and asked them a few questions and then signed about 40 autographs! What an outstanding young man! I know that I am going to be watching the Hawks next season and cheering for #20!

My daughter was so excited. I doubt if she has ever paid a second's worth of attention to a football game, but she knows Hawkeyes, and Hilson was super nice and outgoing.

Hawkeye athletes regularly participate in stuff like this, Luka Garza read at my kids' school a few years back, as did Makenzie Meyer. Keep up the great work, Hawks!

 

[99topdawg]

That's an awesome story! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Hawkfnntn]

North High alum. Not surprised. I wonder if he'll stay as a DB or flip back to RB next yr. Seems like they are trying to find a spot for him. He's been great on special teams covering kicks. Hearing stories like this just make it easier and easier to root for him.

 

[thedukeofearl]

Captain Kirk is ranked #23 in The Athlete Poll of best college football coaches

23. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa (2022: No. 18): An 8-5 season isn’t dreadful, but it felt like such a mess because of the issues hovering over the Hawkeyes surrounding Ferentz keeping his son, Brian, in charge of what has been an abysmal offense and watching talented skill players, most notably Charlie Jones, leave Iowa City for better situations. Still, Ferentz finds and develops talent as well as anyone. The 67-year-old is a really, really good football coach, going 43-18 the past five years.

4. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan (2021: No. 12): This has been quite the bounceback in the past two years. After coming in at No. 12 last year — he had been a top-three guy for me before the losses to archrival Ohio State began to pile up — Harbaugh made some shrewd staff moves and had some hard conversations that led to a revamp of how the program operated. It has made a huge difference. In 2021, he led Michigan to its first Big Ten title in 17 years and a No. 3 ranking. In 2022, the Wolverines were even more impressive, smashing Ohio State in Columbus in a blowout win. They went 13-0 before stumbling in an upset loss against TCU in the College Football Playoff.

The Wolverines are 25-3 over the past two seasons, including 19-1 against Big Ten opponents. What Harbaugh did at Stanford was even more remarkable, taking over a dreadful program and getting it to win a BCS bowl and No. 4 in the nation by Year 4. Then he jumped to the NFL, where he did an amazing turnaround job in San Francisco, getting the 49ers to the Super Bowl. Harbaugh will now have his most talented team at Michigan, so it’ll be interesting if the Wolverines can take the next big step.

5. James Franklin, Penn State (2022

6. Ryan Day, Ohio State (2022

11. Luke Fickell, Wisconsin (2022: No. 10): The former Buckeye was fantastic at Cincinnati, with a 57-18 record that included a CFP bid as a Group of 5 program. Over the last five seasons, he went 53-10. Can he get the Badgers into the Playoff and make a national title run? By hiring UNC’s Phil Longo, an Air-Raid disciple, Fickell has shown he’s not shy about shaking things up.

15. Matt Rhule, Nebraska (2022: NR): A dismal 11-27 run with the Panthers in the NFL should not cloud what a terrific job Rhule’s done as a college head coach. Rhule took Temple from 2-10 in his debut season to 20-7 in seasons three and four. His work at Baylor was even more impressive. The program was in the dumps when he arrived. The Bears won one game in his first season, went to a bowl game in his second year and went 11-3 in his third season. Plus, he left behind the nucleus that Dave Aranda led to a Sugar Bowl win. His ability to find and develop talent, especially speed guys, is top-notch.

24. Bret Bielema, Illinois (2022: NR): The guy just knows how to win in the Big Ten. He led Wisconsin to three top-10 seasons, which is quite an accomplishment. He had only three winning seasons in five years at Arkansas, which cost him his job, but he’s gotten things going at Illinois, leading the Illini to eight wins in Year 2 — the school most wins in a season in 15 years.

Of course, some things never change

1. Nick Saban, Alabama (2022 rank: No. 1)

2. Kirby Smart, Georgia (2021: No. 3)

3. Dabo Swinney, Clemson (2021: No. 2)