Speculation: Did Padilla threaten to leave?

guffus

Well-Known Member
After the spring, Petras was a clear #1 and Padilla was a co #2 on the depth chart with Labas.

Suddenly last week Kirk is talking up the competition between Petras and Padilla and Labas is gone from the 2 deeps.

I have no idea what actually happened, but I wonder if Padilla had a heart to heart talk with Kirk after the spring. If Petras is the present and Labas is the future, then what is Padilla's role on this team? I think Kirk made him some kind of promise, just not sure what, that managed to get Padilla to stick around for another year.
 
gekko-cantrefuse.gif
 
Padilla knows that wherever he went he’d likely be their #2 as well unless he dropped down a level. It’s very hard to overtake an incumbent and Iowa is not completely sold on Spencer. He has as good of shot at Iowa (where he’s started multiples games)) as he was likely going to get anywhere again unless he went to a smaller school and conference.
 
Also, most of these players know they aren’t going to play beyond college and they like being part of their team at this level. Not just Iowa.

Even if I might not play, I’d rather have a degree from Iowa and say I was part of a B1G division contender and go to a bowl game, rather than a degree from Ypsilanti State and be a starter against 13 teams named the Upper South Mid Central Poughkeepsie County Mud Flappers.
 
As long as we’re speculating, how healthy really is Keagan Johnson? He hasn’t fully practiced since December
 
As long as we’re speculating, how healthy really is Keagan Johnson? He hasn’t fully practiced since December

He hasn't showed up once in the daily practice photos they post. Seems like a ton of walkon WRs getting reps.
 
As long as we’re speculating, how healthy really is Keagan Johnson? He hasn’t fully practiced since December
He’s been interviewed a few times about it. He says he’ll be ready to go full speed. I doubt he’d say that multiple times on camera without having that indication from training staff and coaches.
 
Also, most of these players know they aren’t going to play beyond college and they like being part of their team at this level. Not just Iowa.

Even if I might not play, I’d rather have a degree from Iowa and say I was part of a B1G division contender and go to a bowl game, rather than a degree from Ypsilanti State and be a starter against 13 teams named the Upper South Mid Central Poughkeepsie County Mud Flappers.
Hey, don't sleep on USMCPC Mud Flappers! They're a legit contender!
 
This is some rank speculation that has a much easier explanation. In the Spring, the coaches push competition. Thus, a wider depth chart. Come Fall, choices have to be made. According to KF, Labas is showing some stuff, but clearly behind the other two in running the offense. Padilla and Petras have both started games and KF prefers experience and knowledge of the offense over raw talent. We have seen him sit more talented QBs in the past and wait (arguably too long) for their shot. Banks, Stanzi, Beatherd. So, I highly doubt Padilla made any threats. As others have noted, he would be unlikely to find a better situation on the open market. He is just the clear #2 right now. From the sample size we saw last season, Padilla sure didn't look much better than Petras. That is a pox on both of their houses. :)
 
Things woulda been different had Padilla played well while he was in there. But he didn't exactly set the world on fire either and has an even lower completion % then Petras. He had a few good plays and showed potential but heck if I know how they look in practice. I doubt KF made him any promises or that Padilla threatened to leave if he wasn't promised something. Crazier things have happened but I just don't see either of those things being a thing
 
The sad thing is for an offense that is "so hard to learn" for the quarterbacks and everyone.....it sure seems limited to a hand-full of plays most of the time...and results wise is stuck in the mud compared to other offensive schemes. It has to be frustrating for the skill positions on offense.
 
He’s been interviewed a few times about it. He says he’ll be ready to go full speed. I doubt he’d say that multiple times on camera without having that indication from training staff and coaches.

Yea, I don't think they are going to chanced a re-injury this close to the start of the season. Hopefully he'll be all in at least by the start of conference play if not the beginning of the season.
 
The sad thing is for an offense that is "so hard to learn" for the quarterbacks and everyone.....it sure seems limited to a hand-full of plays most of the time...and results wise is stuck in the mud compared to other offensive schemes. It has to be frustrating for the skill positions on offense.

It's not that simple though. This ain't high school where the QB calls the play and the offense just runs up to the line and runs the called play. The QB is reviewing the coverage a lot, determining if a lot of stuff at the line, then add into it all the throws they have to make. Yes, it's like that at most universities/colleges, but there are some where the coaches just run simpler and gimmicky shit. LIke I have heard that Mike Leach always ran pretty simple systems that were not too in depth.. He just aired it out against teams and the offense was quite limited.

Iowa does a lot of motion at the line in their offense to help the QB info gather, like tipping him if the defense is in man or zone. That is the first thing to find out as that will help guide him in said play. Then he looking at where the safety may go to help cover and who may be left one on one, etc. There is a lot of stuff behind just going up the line and calling the play. Iowa's system requires a smart and heady player. Those that master that have an advantage. But, that doesn't mean they will read and react quick passing to windows. That is a whole other skill set. Much of that depends on the line to protect and a successful running game. Finding a player that can master the intricacies of the offense and making the throws is tough. Iowa lately seems to have gotten QB's who are good at one thing but may lack in the other. Stanley had a good grasp but was a statue, so was limited by that.

This plays into the argument about Iowa getting a one and done QB from the portal. It just wouldn't happen for the reasons stated above about how long it takes to grasp their offense.

Bill Belichick runs the same or very similar system at New England, and everybody loves him because he had Tom Brady for all those years and it worked.

Kirk Ferentz runs the same or very similar system and people are all over him because it doesn't always work that well or they assume he runs a simple system with limited plays. It's just not the case. Ferentz worked under Belichick and really runs a similar system as well as practices and camps.
 
Last edited:
It's not that simple though. This ain't high school where the QB calls the play and the offense just runs up to the line and runs the called play. The QB is reviewing the coverage a lot, determining if a lot of stuff at the line, then add into it all the throws they have to make. Yes, it's like that at most universities/colleges, but there are some where the coaches just run simpler and gimmicky shit. LIke I have heard that Mike Leach always ran pretty simple systems that were not too in depth.. He just aired it out against teams and the offense was quite limited.

Iowa does a lot of motion at the line in their offense to help the QB info gather, like tipping him if the defense is in man to zone. That is the first thing to find out as that will help guide him in said play. There is a lot of stuff behind just going up the line and calling the play. Iowa's system requires a smart and heady player. Those that master that have an advantage. But, that doesn't mean they will read and react quick passing to windows. That is a whole other skill set. Much of that depends on the line to protect and a successful running game. Finding a player that can master the intricacies of the offense and making the throws is tough. Iowa lately seems to have gotten QB's who are good at one thing but may lack in the other. Stanley had a good grasp but was a statue, so was limited by that.

This plays into the argument about Iowa getting a one and done QB from the portal. It just wouldn't happen for the reasons stated above about how long it takes to grasp their offense.

Bill Belichick runs the same or very similar system at New England, and everybody loves him because he had Tom Brady for all those years and it worked.

Kirk Ferentz runs the same or very similar system and people are all over him because it doesn't always work that well or they assume he runs a simple system with limited plays. It's just not the case. Ferentz worked under Belichick and really runs a similar system as well as practices and camps.

I just hope they don't change the audible this year because I want to keep my streak of calling 106 consecutive audible play calls intact.
 
It's not that simple though. This ain't high school where the QB calls the play and the offense just runs up to the line and runs the called play. The QB is reviewing the coverage a lot, determining if a lot of stuff at the line, then add into it all the throws they have to make. Yes, it's like that at most universities/colleges, but there are some where the coaches just run simpler and gimmicky shit. LIke I have heard that Mike Leach always ran pretty simple systems that were not too in depth.. He just aired it out against teams and the offense was quite limited.

Iowa does a lot of motion at the line in their offense to help the QB info gather, like tipping him if the defense is in man to zone. That is the first thing to find out as that will help guide him in said play. There is a lot of stuff behind just going up the line and calling the play. Iowa's system requires a smart and heady player. Those that master that have an advantage. But, that doesn't mean they will read and react quick passing to windows. That is a whole other skill set. Much of that depends on the line to protect and a successful running game. Finding a player that can master the intricacies of the offense and making the throws is tough. Iowa lately seems to have gotten QB's who are good at one thing but may lack in the other. Stanley had a good grasp but was a statue, so was limited by that.

This plays into the argument about Iowa getting a one and done QB from the portal. It just wouldn't happen for the reasons stated above about how long it takes to grasp their offense.

Bill Belichick runs the same or very similar system at New England, and everybody loves him because he had Tom Brady for all those years and it worked.

Kirk Ferentz runs the same or very similar system and people are all over him because it doesn't always work that well or they assume he runs a simple system with limited plays. It's just not the case. Ferentz worked under Belichick and really runs a similar system as well as practices and camps.
Good take Melrose (and I would not doubt there is a lot of that going on with reading the defense, etc)....it just seems though...the end result....we see a predictable offense over and over again running into brick walls and a QB that can't consistently hit a receiver in stride. It is frustrating.

If it is that freaking hard to grasp....you would think they would simplify it and therefore maybe they could run more plays that the players could execute.
 
I just hope they don't change the audible this year because I want to keep my streak of calling 106 consecutive audible play calls intact.

If there is one gripe I have, is that Iowa lets opposing defenses guide them into a certain subset of plays by just showing they might blitz. Iowa always has audibles to certain plays if they feel a blitz is coming. Certain teams would show a potential blitz from one side to guide Iowa into a set of predictable plays the QB would audible to, which would limit the number of plays or amount of field they would have to defend.

We see that all the time against Iowa.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Top