The "what have you done for me lately" crowd

TM i agree and I'm certainly not the hawkeye nation fan Rep, but I for one and probably a good majority of the fan base is appalled with the coaching and not the players.

These are student athletes that are there for education and are not paid--- My beef is aimed squarely on the coaches, all of the coaches who are paid and is their job to educate the athletes, hard almost to not blame the players for wanting to loose the will--did the staff even have it? cause if the staff didn't have the will, why in the hell should the player's have the will?
 
Agreed. The players aren't necessarily above criticism, but there is a line that's been crossed too many times in the past few weeks. I've said for weeks that Sash's tackling needs to improve. That kind of criticism is fine. But calling him a p*ssy, or a poser, etc. is not something Tyler, or any other player, deserves.
 
okeefe4prez said:
I agree - the football is an oblong object and it bounces in strange ways. Last year, we were lucky enough to be able to block two FGs in a row against a FCS school - now some of you might say that a game like that shouldn't be close enough to come down to 2 FG attempts at the end, but we had them right where we wanted them - you know, their defense held our offense in check the whole game, their offense then had one of those miracle drives that our defense never gives up at the end of the game, but when it came down to clutch time, we dropped the hammer on them and through skilled technique, we blocked 2 FGs.

And NU has just had a lot of luck against Iowa since 2005. That onside kick they recovered in 2005 set the table for an unprecedented run of good luck by them.

I wasn't implying that the whole reason we only went 7-5 was due to luck. I do think when you lose 5 games by a total of 18 points there is an element of luck involved. It at least comes into play and we just didn't have a lot of it this year. Injuries at key positions, for example, you might say are bad luck, no?
And Western Michigan just got lucky back in 2007. They were lucky we even invited them to Iowa City to begin with and then they got lucky in the game.

And Indiana beating us in 2006 and 2007 and playing us close in 2009 and 2010 was also sheer luck. Those guys have an inordinate amount of luck against Iowa.

And my goodness, has anyone on here seen a team luckier than Minnesota was on Saturday? I mean, talk about lucky breaks all over the place, how lucky were they the field was icy and we had 12 guys on the field in a key situation?

I'm not even going to talk about how lucky Iowa State has been against us, those guys play us like it is their Super Bowl and they have had more lucky breaks against us than they have had against any other team.

The haters need to step away from the ledge and realize that with parity in college football, we have the same level of talent as everyone else, except Ohio State, and when we win, it is good luck and great coaching and when we lose it is just bad luck.
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okeefe4prez said:
I agree - the football is an oblong object and it bounces in strange ways. Last year, we were lucky enough to be able to block two FGs in a row against a FCS school - now some of you might say that a game like that shouldn't be close enough to come down to 2 FG attempts at the end, but we had them right where we wanted them - you know, their defense held our offense in check the whole game, their offense then had one of those miracle drives that our defense never gives up at the end of the game, but when it came down to clutch time, we dropped the hammer on them and through skilled technique, we blocked 2 FGs.

And NU has just had a lot of luck against Iowa since 2005. That onside kick they recovered in 2005 set the table for an unprecedented run of good luck by them.

And Western Michigan just got lucky back in 2007. They were lucky we even invited them to Iowa City to begin with and then they got lucky in the game.

And Indiana beating us in 2006 and 2007 and playing us close in 2009 and 2010 was also sheer luck. Those guys have an inordinate amount of luck against Iowa.

And my goodness, has anyone on here seen a team luckier than Minnesota was on Saturday? I mean, talk about lucky breaks all over the place, how lucky were they the field was icy and we had 12 guys on the field in a key situation?

I'm not even going to talk about how lucky Iowa State has been against us, those guys play us like it is their Super Bowl and they have had more lucky breaks against us than they have had against any other team.

The haters need to step away from the ledge and realize that with parity in college football, we have the same level of talent as everyone else, except Ohio State, and when we win, it is good luck and great coaching and when we lose it is just bad luck.
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I wasn't implying that our record this year was all luck. Just that, when you lose 5 games by a total of 18 points, luck does play a part. Injuries at key positions, for example, could be attributed to bad luck couldn't it?
 
Here's my two cents...I went to the Ohio State game this year. I bought my tickets before the season even started, thinking "The B10 Championship will be coming through Iowa City." Reasonable thought process. Like every other Iowa fan, I was excited. All the tough games were at home, we have the biggest and baddest defensive line in the country, one of the best secondaries, a returning senior as a Heisman darkhorse at quarterback, a loaded receiving and running back corps, and an offensive line that was producing very nicely the first half of the season, not to mention a coach that could surpass Hayden Fry as the greatest coach at Iowa. Now, I paid 550 for two tickets. Let's add another 350 for hotel, another 200 for booze/food and 200 for gas from Nashville, TN to Iowa City (9 1/2 hrs) and back and a couple miscellaneous costs for Tshirts/gifts....what have you. 1300+ in expenses from my bank account to the U of I and Iowa City's economy. Now, I'll be honest...I don't make a ton of money and given the economic status of this country, money tends to be a little tight. But my love for all things Iowa football, my alma mater, and Iowa City have me coming back every year since my graduation in 2006. And I find a way to save for it. Furthermore, as a former Herky, you can understand that my pride for any sports program that Iowa features always catches my utmost interest. Mostly so with football. But, I cannot imagine how many more times I am going to drop that kind of coin to drive 9 1/2 hrs both ways to watch my favorite football team choke on the account of the coaches' conservative, vanilla, obvious, and dull play calling, lack of clock management, and worst of all: lack of heart. This team obviously HAD the talent and leadership to make an amazing run this year. No one, not even the coaches can doubt that. This team's melt-down/emotional mutiny is on the coaches. This season was an absolute joke to watch and even more disheartening to listen to Ferentz give his run of the mill answers in press conferences to try explain what happened, when it was glaringly obvious he played to "NOT LOSE". There was no "PLAY TO WIN" attitude this year (other than MSU). In order for me to come back and pay my hard earned money to watch this program in Kinnick next year, I have to ask: What have you done for me lately? and furthermore, What will you do for me in the future?

That said, I hope the Hawks are able to muster up what is left of this season and come up with a bowl win. I will be rooting for them harder than ever. I just can't bring myself to do it from the stands though...
 
The highest paid coach in the Big Ten needs to have the balls to change philosophy when something isn't working, offensively or defensively. Yet I know absolutely nothing will change next year. Call me part of the "what have you done for me lately" crowd if you want, but I want to see something change because this tired, vanilla, base defensive scheme we run every single play is getting old to watch. And the offense is so predictable my friend and I made a game out of it to see who could predict the next play, and at least 50% of the time we're right. PLEASE CHANGE SOMETHING, ANYTHING!! That's all I'm asking.
 
A team creates its "own luck," look no further than Wisconsin.

Bielema and Wisconsin goes into games wanting to win more than the other team and thus, institutes plays, and whatever it takes to win. He does not sit on his hands and run the same tired 8 plays over and over even though the defense has those 8 plays well defended. He does not run a defense that the other team knows inside out and can pick apart refusing to change or adapt to the opposing the team even though he KNOWS he is going to lose the game running that defense. No, he will institute new plays to keep the offense off balance because he wants to win more than the other coach.

Bielema, thus, goes to the Rose Bowl...Ferentz will NEVER go to the Rose Bowl...NEVER, simply because he will pi$$ away at least two to three games a year. We might get into a BCS game once every 7 or 8 years but Iowa, under Ferentz, with the staff he has is a second tier team and basically a .500 team in the Big 10.

Ferentz will continually get outcoached in the Big 10 even with better talent. Ferentz does develop talent better than other coaches however he and his staff simply cannot outcoach other coaches because of their predictable stale offense and defense. A worse problem is that it will get worse each year as more and more teams continue to learn how to beat Iowa. Teams know all they have to do is employ a spread against Iowa and they have a better than 50-50 chance to beat Iowa...even if you are one of the worst teams in the country. The good spread teams are going to start kicking Iowa up the field one way and down the other...Michigan next year will put a real knot on Iowa's head for instance. Mich might beat Iowa by three or four TDs next year if Iowa plays the same defense...maybe more.

Who knows if this coaching staff can even pull this team together next year without a different philosophy. Many of the same players that quit this year are on next year's team. I wouldn't be surprised if players don't transfer this off season...Players have lost confidence in this staff and why not? most fans have...

The truly sad part is that Ferentz could truly be a great coach if he changed with the game...if only a little...
 
This year they suck plain and simple...since MSU at least. And you know what we suck into buying into this team. Changes should be made internally because of this season...however Iowa is always going to be 8-4/7-5 type of team. KF is a great coach, having the opportunity to speak with him about football and life in general is pretty assuring. We should all respect KF for being in Iowa City...cause who knows we could always be in Minnesota's position...
 
Its not a "we are only Iowa" or "mediocre" attitude to acknowledge the disappointment and move on. Its sports. Sometimes you put together successful seasons, sometimes you don't. Further, its Div1 college football, which is competitive. USC is not good. Texas is not good. Florida is average. It happens. Get over it, they had a disappointing year. That's all it is.
 
BQuastU said:
Its not a "we are only Iowa" or "mediocre" attitude to acknowledge the disappointment and move on. Its sports. Sometimes you put together successful seasons, sometimes you don't. Further, its Div1 college football, which is competitive. USC is not good. Texas is not good. Florida is average. It happens. Get over it, they had a disappointing year. That's all it is.
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If it was only one year I would agree with you - it has been five of the last SIX YEARS. Get over yourself and your love/acceptance of mediocrity. And if we had the kind of years that Texas, Florida or USC have had recently then you would have a point. But we haven't and you don't.
 
Thank you IowaHawkeye and others!

again, i'm going to re-interate my own view and that is at the end of the day we end up an average program (7-5/8-4) year in and year out--then great, at least do it with some tenacity and effort---and something with at least a hint of beige in your game plan--- modern day coaches that are making programs sucessful (doesn't matter where the school is or what the nameis) are doing it because they are playing to win and doing what you have to do win-- (no not cheating or breaking recruiting rules) i'm talking about out coaching your opponent, time after time after time after time, we got out coached---
 
I love how some people are glossing over that 9-4 season in 2008 as a "bad" year. If THAT is a bad year (especially given the mess that 2007 was), then you really should consider rooting for someone else.
 
tm3308 said:
I love how some people are glossing over that 9-4 season in 2008 as a "bad" year. If THAT is a bad year (especially given the mess that 2007 was), then you really should consider rooting for someone else.
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That was a bad year considering the kind of talent we had on that team. The 2008 Defense was the best defense in the KF era ending up ranked 5th nationally in scoring. In addition to that we had an NFL running back who destroyed every team he faced and a veteren O-Line that dominated the line of scrimage. Yet given all that fire power we still couldn't muster anything better than the 37th best scoring Offense in the nation and we dropped several games simply because we were unable to score.

When I talk about the dark years of mediocre football I am talking not only about the wins and losses but specifically about the lack of performance from the Offense. Any success we've had has come STRICTLY from the strength of the Defense since 2003.
 
theiowahawkeye said:
That was a bad year considering the kind of talent we had on that team. The 2008 Defense was the best defense in the KF era ending up ranked 5th nationally in scoring. In addition to that we had an NFL running back who destroyed every team he faced and a veteren O-Line that dominated the line of scrimage. Yet given all that fire power we still couldn't muster anything better than the 37th best scoring Offense in the nation and we dropped several games simply because we were unable to score.

When I talk about the dark years of mediocre football I am talking not only about the wins and losses but specifically about the lack of performance from the Offense. Any success we've had has come STRICTLY from the strength of the Defense since 2003.
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The offense wasn't bad in 2005 either. And we had a sophomore QB in 2008, who wasn't really ready for the job, but he was our best option, and was the QB of the future. Hard to have a consistent passing game when that's what you're dealing with at QB.
 
tm3308 said:
The offense wasn't bad in 2005 either. And we had a sophomore QB in 2008, who wasn't really ready for the job, but he was our best option, and was the QB of the future. Hard to have a consistent passing game when that's what you're dealing with at QB.
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If you want to call 37th in the nation not bad - ok.
 
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