The player that made Kirk Ferentz
- Thread starter HAWKEYES6
- Start date
PDXHawkeye
Well-Known Member
Betts was a fry recruit, so he was left over. I think it has to be someone kirk recruited.
I was gonna post the same thing. I am not quite sure why I am so annoyed at the fact that someone would come here and post a rhetorical comment that in no way attempts to answer a legitimate speculative question.
My answer is Brad Banks...
hawkeyebob62
Well-Known Member
Bob Sanders, Chad Greenway and Warren Holloway
Hawk123456
Active Member
I would agree that Bob Sanders was THE PLAYER that was most responsible for Kirk Ferentz being able to turn the ship around. However, I would argue that there was one player (and, in fact one play) that was solely responsible for Ferentz keeping his job in 2000.
That one player and one play? Kahlil Hill's 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Michigan State on October 7, 2000.
The Iowa offense was struggling that day. Michigan State had just scored to go up 16-7 late in the third quarter. Immediately after the MSU score you could feel the air rush out of the stadium as no one in the stands or on the field felt that Iowa could score enough to overcome that lead--then Kahlil Hill returns the kickoff for a touchdown, and it is a new game--a game that Iowa barely ekes out 21-16.
Iowa was 1-15 in the Ferentz era prior to the Michigan State game. Without that kickoff return we would have lost to Michigan State. After the Michigan State game we got blown out against Illinois and Ohio State. Without the win against Michigan State, I doubt we would have played Wisconsin close the week after OSU. I doubt we would have won in double overtime against Penn State the following week. And, not having beaten Michigan State or Penn State, I doubt we would have beaten Northwestern. Assuming that is the case, Ferentz would have been 1-10 in 1999, and 0-12 in 2000. My guess is that would have been the end of the Ferentz era.
Sometimes when you are struggling, the difference between winning and losing, between building momentum and losing your team, isn't that great and may hinge on a single play. I would argue that one play was critical to Iowa turning the corner under Kirk Ferentz and thus all of the success we have enjoyed over the last ten years might not have happened without this single play--when Kahlil Hill saved the day, the season, and the Kirk Ferentz era by running a kickoff back for a touchdown against Michigan State.
And thus, for me, Kahlil Hill is the player that made (or perhaps more accurately, "saved") Kirk Ferentz.
SenatorReturns
Well-Known Member
Benny Sapp? 
Southernhawk
Well-Known Member
When I read the OP's question the first name that popped into my mind was Bob Sanders. And after thinking about it, it's still Bob Sanders. He changed the entire attitude of the defense.
