"The strength of the group is the strength of the leaders"

[iahawk20]

I think we are finding out just how special guys like Pat Angerer, AJ Edds, Tony Moeaki, Dace Richardson, etc were.

Lets face it, most of last years seniors were very special guys. You had guys like Angerer and Richardson that nearly did not make it through college because of injuries. Both nearly gave the game up at various points and battled back to have tremendous senior seasons. Tony had to battle injury after injury and a guy like AJ was flat out a great kid with one of the biggest hearts on the field.

We lost a core group of guys that battled through so much adversity that they knew how to respond when things got tough on and off the field. They were flat out winners in every form!

When we look back in a few years it is clear to me that the 2009 Hawkeye football senior class was pretty special. These are the guys that got things turned around after the 06 and 07 seasons. Tremendous character guys that each filled the role on the field. They put the team before everything else and battled through so much to finish last year with a BCS bowl finish.

Something tells me guys like James Morris, A-Rob, and JVB are going to quickly take on very important leadership roles on this football team. I sure hope so...

 

[TheNebraskaHawk]

I agree, it is obvious that our seniors that should have been leaders, were anything but and I think Mr. Clayborn is at the top of this list. Here are the facts that I saw watching the games this year...

1. In the beginning of the year, he was getting double and even triple teamed, by the end of the year he was being handled by one in many cases.

2. He was so out of shape that he could not even stay on the field, instead would take himself out of the game so gased it was was laughable (to our opponents)

3. He was a captain, he should have been constantly pumping up the rest of the team on and off the field.

Now, obviously all of the burden cannot be put on Clayborn's shoulders, and the other seniors bear some responsibility. For instance, Stanzi, after every loss he put the loss on his shoulders as a good qb will do, but behind the scene he should have been ranting and raving to bring the team together to play their hearts out. There is plenty of blame to go around and even though I placed most of it on Clayborn in this rant, I am just so disappointed in this group of seniors that it makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it.

 

[djwoody98]

Who are the junior leaders? Underclassmen? If this leaves a bad taste in my mouth, I would hope it tastes like crap to the returning players.

 

[nwiahawks]

I agree. This team had some very talented seniors, but no real "leaders". This sorely missed a leader like angerer or king for example. Someone who came to play everyday and was not afraid to lead by example.
I also agree a big portion on this lack of leadership falls on the shoulders of Clayborn. Is he the only problem, absolutely not! But I feel his is a big part of it.

I feel a big "leader" for the Hawkeyes will be James Morris. He may be a little gun shy yet next year because only a sophomore. But I see him being the big leader that every team needs his Junior and Senior seasons.

I sat behind the Iowa bench for the Ohio State game. Row 2 right behind the defensive line. Morris was one of the few players that looked focused and ready to go. He was constantly pacing with intense look on his face and talking to other players. Greenwood also did some of this. The vaulted defensive line did none of it. They would walk over to the bench extremely gassed, sit down and not say a word. Then slowly get up and go back on field when there time came. Remember we were playing OHIO STATE on SENIOR DAY. If you cant get ready to play that game what are you doing on the field. Wouldn't think you would need a coach to get you motivated for that game.

Now I fully understand that blame can and should go to a lot of people. But I feel our defensive line was one of the bigger disappointments of the season, especially considering all the preseason hype they received. The leader of that line should have been Clayborn ... and where was he when game was on the line ... on the bench GASSED!