This post will probably tick everyone off

Throw out Iowa's wins against the cupcake non-conference schedule and your argument looks fairly weak...because, honestly, Iowa plays some horrible teams. Well, I guess powerhouse Arkansas State almost pulled one off a couple years ago.

Anyway, I spouted off some venom after the loss Saturday...I will try to contain myself until the season is complete. I think this is just the start of the more things to come with the football program.
 
DYK88 said:
Throw out Iowa's wins against the cupcake non-conference schedule and your argument looks fairly weak...because, honestly, Iowa plays some horrible teams. Well, I guess powerhouse Arkansas State almost pulled one off a couple years ago.

Anyway, I spouted off some venom after the loss Saturday...I will try to contain myself until the season is complete. I think this is just the start of the more things to come with the football program.
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Easy there buddy. The Red Wolves are undefeated in Sun Belt play and dismantled Florida International who beat Louisville and UCF. Also they just crushed North Texas who also beat Indiana.

Go RED WOLVES!
 
It is really not that hard to understand why they aren't that good this year. A lot of first year starters, and the Dline is just plain bad. Vandenberg is not as good as people thought he was going to be, TE play has been bad, missing McMillan on the offensive line has hurt, and tackling has been horrible except for a couple of players.
 
What I am the most cocerned with is the inability of the entire coaching staff to coach outside of their comfort level. The mindset of the staff that coaching on the road versus a Penn State is the same as playing at ISU or Minnesota. If anything you should be able to be more aggressive versus lower talent teams, but that is not what you see over the course of the 12 game stretch in question.

I am content for KF to coach at Iowa for the next 20 years if he adapts to today's Big Ten. If we see the same risk aversion over the next four games I am content to let him walk. A shuffle to this staff is long overdue. Philbin has not been effectively replaced. Norm should have been gently pushed out after the orange bowl. For a school with a recruiting disadvantage we cannot afford a coach who isn't active in recruiting.
 
For some reason I've read every comment in this thread.


Very few want to see anyone fired, but an overwhelming majority want to see changes made to scheme and/or philosophies with KF and KOK forced to read a book or take a class on clock management.

KF has been great for Iowa football, but he is looking at his team with blinders on. Sometimes it takes outside perspective to see the problems because they become invisible when you remain so close to the situation for so long.

KF would be wise to reach out to his colleagues and take their recommendations under heavy consideration. The fans are restless. Not because of the losses, but because of watching the same mistakes and situations over and over again which are causing those losses. Also, KF's BS responses are not helping. He is coming across as arrogant and smug this year, as if he doesn't feel the need to explain himself.

I can handle losing if it is apparent that the players and staff are doing EVERYTHING they can to win. The players seem to be doing their part, but the coaches....namely KF, most certainly are not.
 
The worst part of the last two seasons has been that this was a golden chance for Iowa to establish itself as one of the B10 powers. Michigan is in the midst of it's worst run in school history, Penn St is nowhere near the Penn St of old, Ohio St is going through all kind of turmoil, the upper echelon of the B10 is wide open and we missed our chance, especially last year, to secure our spot in it. Michigan will get much better in the years to come, Urban Meyer will probably end up at PSU or OSU within the next year, it will be back to being OSU-Mich-PSU and now Nebraska and the rest of the B10.
 
spudhawk said:
What I am the most cocerned with is the inability of the entire coaching staff to coach outside of their comfort level. The mindset of the staff that coaching on the road versus a Penn State is the same as playing at ISU or Minnesota. If anything you should be able to be more aggressive versus lower talent teams, but that is not what you see over the course of the 12 game stretch in question.

I am content for KF to coach at Iowa for the next 20 years if he adapts to today's Big Ten. If we see the same risk aversion over the next four games I am content to let him walk. A shuffle to this staff is long overdue. Philbin has not been effectively replaced. Norm should have been gently pushed out after the orange bowl. For a school with a recruiting disadvantage we cannot afford a coach who isn't active in recruiting.
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What is REALLY frustrating offensively is....Iowa has shown flashes that they can pile up points. The no-huddle spread worked great against Pitt....since then it has all but disappeared. It seems like whenever KOK (Kirk) get aggressive on offense, they have success....then they abandon it.

Kirk may have an "NFL mindset"...but this is college football. He coaches like he is so afraid of making a mistake, that he won't take ANY chances.

His refusal to run a 2 minute offense at the end of the first half is just mind-boggling. And when the team NEEDS to run it at the end of the game...they can't because they don't know how.

College football is changing. Mobile QB's and the spread are becoming the norm. Kirk's refusal to adapt and evolve is why Iowa will soon be "left behind", and when he leaves the program will be in a shambles.
 
HawkeyeState81 said:
I agree with you in the grand schemes of life as my sons don't like when I get all worked up either. But we are not talking about "Life". We are discussing the failiure of this coachign staff in so many games that it really is beyond comprehension the little to no criticism KF receives from the Iowa media. You do not pay someone $4 million to make the decisions that are being made on game days. I do not like being a hater but I am so fed up with what I am seeing on a weekly basis. All the disadvantages, etc are out the window here in losses like Minnesota. The decisions by the coaches are the main impact here as to why we are losing these types of games and someone with the coaching pedigree and time on job as KF, it really makes no sense why these things are happening. We look like pee wee team out there in 2 minute drill. How can we not be prepped for an onside kick? ARRRRRRR
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The amount of money someone makes does not make them any less prone to making mistakes. KF puts on his pants one leg at a time just like the rest of us. Again, every coach has made mistakes but some have the talent to still win. With Iowa, especially this year, they do not have the talent to over come these kinds of mistakes. We all knew as soon as they recovered that onside kick they were going to score again, in years past a good defense would have stopped them. How about the mistakes in the first half where you are going up and down the field like nothing and only come away with 7 points? There were all kinds of mistakes made on Saturday made by the players and coaches, calling for his job for it is a little extreme. You blow this thing up now and we will have to endure some ugly looking seasons before Iowa can get back to this point. Again, go look at the basketball program.
 
hawkeyescott said:
Awesome, most of this stuff you bring up happened 7 to 10 years ago. And yes the staff does deserve credit for it, but how is finishing 8th in 02, 03 and 04 helping now?
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Really? I could have sworn Iowa won the Insight Bowl last year. It was just 2 years ago Iowa won the Orange Bowl.

Also I don't make anywhere close to $4 million a yer and I'm not the CEO of my company so I'm not held to higher standards but yes I have made mistakes at my job, however unlike this staff I don't allow that same mistake to happen twice.
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Again, the amount of money KF makes does not make him any less prone to mistakes. Had the defense somehow stopped Minnesota or had Iowa somehow came back and scored we would not have 15+ threads calling for his job. Like I have stated before this team is not good enough to overcome mistakes, Iowa has very little room for error.
 
JonDMiller said:
I just want to clarify something, in the event that I did not do so earlier.

I am not talking about 'little ole Iowa' as a way to rationalize losing to a team like Minnesota. Not in the least.

However, when I speak to Iowa's inherent and real recruiting disadvantages, it's to underscore how I believe Iowa has performed well above the expectations an objective college football mind would assume they would have.

Over the past decade, they've been a Top 20 program, top 15 perhaps, in the sport.

But they still walk on the edge of a knife a bit and cannot absorb attrition or injuries the way that many of the other Top 15 programs from BCS conferences can, due to the inherent recruiting obstacles they have. So there will be dips from time to time...and their dips in the Ferentz era have been six wins at worst, which no coach in Iowa football history can claim other than maybe Evy
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That is the part that makes me sooooooo ****** off.

Please Jon, tell me how a HC like KF that has a NFL past, that knows 3/4 of his DL is gone after last year doesn't have anyone ready to step in? He doesn't even have anyone in the 2010 season to take any snaps and that is why thye were gassed! 12 players signed to a NFL contract and there isn't 2-5 kids in the country that see what Iowa is sending to the NFL and KF can't lure some in to play instantly? Is it a put in the time and you earn the playing time that KF likes to do in that regard instead of letting players play? Nothing against Nardo but when a 5th year senior, former walk on is getting playing time there is something wrong.

Iowa has the facilities, the strength program, the body of work to be able to land a DL with some ability to step in and play. Or is it that the defense is to complex to learn? LMAO on that one, it's basicly a slight bull rush and keeping contain.....nothing to fancy there.

I call total BS on the recruiting disadvantage.
 
First, and foremost, Kill is a very good coach. It appeared that he had the offense stumped w/ his blitzes and defense confused as well. I would not be shocked to see his progrm pass up KF's IA progrm in the next 3 yrs.

Of course, he had the guts to make the on-sides kick call, but more importantly he practices that every week. Not unexpected for his players to execute it.

My issue is KF's end of half and game preparation/strategy. He has banked over 20-25mil from the U of IA and continues to be inept at those times. Spike/timeout? Run/pass? Playing for tie or win? Using all TOs?

How many of us would like to have a lifetime contract based on a few good years of production? Is it wrong to expect growth from this staff and is KF only going to get defensive/sarcastic when this is brought up? I was behind the bench @ MN and before the on-sides kick KF was clapping/cheering his defensive effort. When did he discuss the hands team? With whom? Was the hands team really there or not, in his mind? Why were they running back, then? Why wasn't McNutt part of the hands team (like he was vs NW)?

Sarcasm is all we can expect? IA's been good to you, Mr. F. Stop being so damn condescending, as these should be straightforward answers.
 
Jon -- Great post and great job on your radio show today. Please turn your post into a front page essay to increase visibility.

I fear a "Jonestown" moment might be coming for some Iowa "fans," and every bit of assistance you can offer to avoid the self-induced massacre would be appreciated.
 
JDeMoney said:
Jon -- Great post and great job on your radio show today. Please turn your post into a front page essay to increase visibility.

I fear a "Jonestown" moment might be coming for some Iowa "fans," and every bit of assistance you can offer to avoid the self-induced massacre would be appreciated.
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It was on the front page until the 2 deeps got announced. It was what brought me back to the forum. These past couple of days have been unbearable. For some reason when the Hawks lose it brings out people you never see posting here calling for his job.
 
kirby said:
First, and foremost, Kill is a very good coach. It appeared that he had the offense stumped w/ his blitzes and defense confused as well. I would not be shocked to see his progrm pass up KF's IA progrm in the next 3 yrs.

Of course, he had the guts to make the on-sides kick call, but more importantly he practices that every week. Not unexpected for his players to execute it.

My issue is KF's end of half and game preparation/strategy. He has banked over 20-25mil from the U of IA and continues to be inept at those times. Spike/timeout? Run/pass? Playing for tie or win? Using all TOs?

How many of us would like to have a lifetime contract based on a few good years of production? Is it wrong to expect growth from this staff and is KF only going to get defensive/sarcastic when this is brought up? I was behind the bench @ MN and before the on-sides kick KF was clapping/cheering his defensive effort. When did he discuss the hands team? With whom? Was the hands team really there or not, in his mind? Why were they running back, then? Why wasn't McNutt part of the hands team (like he was vs NW)?

Sarcasm is all we can expect? IA's been good to you, Mr. F. Stop being so damn condescending, as these should be straightforward answers.
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Well of course we got stumped by his blitzes, our offense practices against the most unimaginitve defense in the country. When the announcers mention how easy we are to prepare for that is not exactly a sign of good coaching. Maybe if our offense got to practice against a defense that showed different looks and blitzes it would be much better prepared when our opponents do it.
 
Sorry Jon, just not buying it. As you said yourself, there are a lot of reasons Iowa should be successful. We offer our head coach an elite level salary, we have some of the best facilities in the BIG (maybe in the country?), and we have one of the best fan bases in all of college football. Those things mean an awful lot--if the coaches can't get kids to come here, maybe we need to find better recruiters. Hell, Boise St. doesn't seem all that attractive and they are in the thick of some pretty heavy recruiting out there on the west coast, but they have been consistently...consistently in the top 10 over the past decade.

Not only that, but your recruiting numbers tell me one thing. Recruiting ranking services can't tell you jack ****. We turn out a fair amount of NFL talent and have (on occassion) had one or two great seasons over the past 12 years. This tells me that maybe those rating services aren't as accurate as one might think...that's it...it tells me very little about the actual talent as it relates to college football. Next.
 
ssckelley said:
Really? I could have sworn Iowa won the Insight Bowl last year. It was just 2 years ago Iowa won the Orange Bowl.



Again, the amount of money KF makes does not make him any less prone to mistakes. Had the defense somehow stopped Minnesota or had Iowa somehow came back and scored we would not have 15+ threads calling for his job. Like I have stated before this team is not good enough to overcome mistakes, Iowa has very little room for error.
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That is why I said MOST stuff that you brought up happened almost 10 years ago, no all the stuff but MOST.

I agree Iowa isn't talented enough to overcome mistakes to beat teams like OSU, Wisconsin, Penn St, but we are talking about a Minnesota team that was 1-6 and New Mexico St was talented enough to overcome 2 turnovers, 9 penalties and a missed FG to beat Minnesota. Is New Mexico State more talented than Iowa?
 
Nice article Jon. Lot of very valid points made. Puts things into perspective.

I agree with most people on here that KF should not be fired. I do feel CHANGES should be made though. I feel it is time for Norm to go, for medical reasons ONLY. Bring in young, energetic DC who can recruit. In regards to OC, I don't have problem keeping KOK IF KF gives him a little more freedom to run his offense. If KOK is let go, doubt it happens, go get another younger energetic OC who can also coach the QB's. The key for any of these changes to occur and be successful if for KF to change. Will this happen? Wouldn't bet on it.

I feel KF needs to go have a LONG conversation with his good NFL buddy and the boss of his son, Bill Belicheck. BB seems to be doing pretty well as an NFL coach, having Tom Brady as QB helps also. Maybe BB can teach KF a few things about in-game adjustments, when/how to gamble in certain instances throughout a game. But mainly, how to get an opponent down AND keep them down. Don't be afraid to "bury" the opponent when the opportunity is there.

Also agree it would be nice to see the players play with some EMOTION during the games, especially away games. KF emotionless attitude seems to be effecting the players as well. I don't have a problem with KF attitude on the sideline, better then having a Bo Pelini or Brian Kelly. This is where I feel having younger coordinators on the sideline bringing the energy that is needed ... and KF allowing it :D. This team doesnt seem to have the Mitch King, Pat Angerer, Tyler Sash, etc vocal leader to get the team up when they are down.

Doesn't Iowa have there honorary captain for home games give a pre-game speech to get the team ready to play? Maybe they should take honorary captains to away games as well to get the team fired up to play? Just a thought ....
 
JonDMiller said:
I just want to clarify something, in the event that I did not do so earlier.

I am not talking about 'little ole Iowa' as a way to rationalize losing to a team like Minnesota. Not in the least.

However, when I speak to Iowa's inherent and real recruiting disadvantages, it's to underscore how I believe Iowa has performed well above the expectations an objective college football mind would assume they would have.

Over the past decade, they've been a Top 20 program, top 15 perhaps, in the sport.

But they still walk on the edge of a knife a bit and cannot absorb attrition or injuries the way that many of the other Top 15 programs from BCS conferences can, due to the inherent recruiting obstacles they have. So there will be dips from time to time...and their dips in the Ferentz era have been six wins at worst, which no coach in Iowa football history can claim other than maybe Evy
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While this can arguably be true, in the context of losing to Minnesota (the most current open wound we're dealing with as fans), it strikes me as being completely irrelevant.
 
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