This Weeks WATN: Eric Johnson, Interesting Quotes

JonDMiller

JonDMiller

Publisher/Founder
Former Iowa coach Eric Johnson left Iowa City to be an entrepreneur last year. He's the subject of this week's Where Are They Now.

"(After the coaching changes) I didn’t always enjoy being around the people in that building all the time,â€￾ he said. “How we did things changed a little bit and the attitudes had changed. When I first went to Iowa, we were all there to work together for one common goal. When I started reflecting on what I wanted to do with my life, I don’t think we had that anymore.â€￾

http://hawkeyenation.com/football/eric-johnson
 
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“We didn’t emphasize recruiting the way I always thought we should have,” he said. “The great staffs are able to balance coaching and recruiting very well. It doesn’t always play out that if you win, you’ll get recruits, because a lot of teams win.”
 
JonDMiller said:
Former Iowa coach Eric Johnson left Iowa City to be an entrepreneur last year. He's the subject of this week's Where Are They Now.

"(After the coaching changes) I didn’t always enjoy being around the people in that building all the time,â€￾ he said. “How we did things changed a little bit and the attitudes had changed. When I first went to Iowa, we were all there to work together for one common goal. When I started reflecting on what I wanted to do with my life, I don’t think we had that anymore.â€￾

http://hawkeyenation.com/football/eric-johnson
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probably the most honest thing said by a coach or former coach yet. KF stopped caring and made easy hires resulting in a toxic environment. That stuff inevitably shows up on the field.
 
A very interesting quote. Of course this makes you wonder which of the newer coaches he didnt like being around and why he didnt like being around them. The quote seems to intimate that some newer coaches were more in it for themselves or trying to jump rungs on the ladder.

Was it a Kasinski thing or a Brian Ferentz thing? More questions than answers.
 
uihawk82 said:
A very interesting quote. Of course this makes you wonder which of the newer coaches he didnt like being around and why he didnt like being around them. The quote seems to intimate that some newer coaches were more in it for themselves or trying to jump rungs on the ladder.

Was it a Kasinski thing or a Brian Ferentz thing? More questions than answers.
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I will admit my mind went where yours did when I read this...and I am totally guessing here...but if I were forced to hazard a guess, I'd wager it on the younger Ferentz.
 
JonDMiller said:
I will admit my mind went where yours did when I read this...and I am totally guessing here...but if I were forced to hazard a guess, I'd wager it on the younger Ferentz.
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I know EJohnson was working with the defensive line and with TEs over his last 5-6 years and these staff positions would have brought him to work with RK and BF. This is supposition but if a co-worker/another coach is laying blame elsewhere or coming up with excuses that can really rub other workers the wrong way. KF's first coaching crew probably had all guys who would not take excellence, growth, and improvement as nothing less than what was needed day to day and game to game.

Listen, I am not that against this Run Game coordinator job title that Brian Ferentz has as there are other teams that do this. And maybe Brian F knows run blocking etc better than GD.

Since 2007 or so the recruiting has seemed to dropped and the focus on getting higher ranked recruits has dropped. that is a lot of years to be middle of the road in recruiting and the facilities cannot be used as an excuse anymore.
 
The most honest assessment of Iowa football from someone who was on the inside. I guess as a fan, I am at peace because for awhile something was not right and this article spoke the truth. Changes are coming.
 
It sure feels like vindication when reality and truth are assigned to suppositions. There appears to be a confirmation in a fundamental slide in the importance of recruiting and while we have seen poorly rated classes the past 3 or 4 cycles, we now know those results are systemic, as described by an insider who was 2nd in command to only kfootball, regarding recruiting.
 
JonDMiller said:
I will admit my mind went where yours did when I read this...and I am totally guessing here...but if I were forced to hazard a guess, I'd wager it on the younger Ferentz.
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Jon, you may or may not have a pulse on this any longer, as you've been here in Owasso a couple years; but do you have a stance on whether Brian has/had a sense of entitlement, or the defacto person in charge? Has Brian's perspective been one as the "heir apparent" and perhaps started calling the shots in his father's stead, perhaps while kirk was out on the circuit collecting donations for the new facilities, instead of being the day to day boss?
 
Am I the only one that has a feeling this is what happens when a staff stays in place too long? I mean it is comical to me the the recruiting coordinator complains that recruiting wasn't "emphasized" enough? WTF dude, that is YOUR JOB, MAKE IT IMPORTANT ENOUGH. That to me is like the police showing up at a crime scene and saying, "man this seems like a tough case, lets just call this one an accident". Then leaveing, getting some donuts and going home, instead of hitting the pavement, and working the case.

It just feels they were all in place too long, and all became "fat cats", with the king of the fat cats being KF. I'm ticked at all the coaches who have let this program slip from '09 to where it is now, and EJ was a big part of that slippage, even if he wants to minimize his part in it.
 
I have to think that there is plenty of blame to go around the football building over the last 4 years.
 
It started falling apart during the 2010 season and now it is over........ KF can either fall on the sword or let the behind the scenes politics determine his fate.
 
When there are major changes in a coaching staff after a long number of years of continuity, the ability to adjust and build harmony is a tough job. I am not going to jump to a lot of specific conclusions over a couple of sentences in an interview.

The facts are that Iowa has been at best a mediocre team for the last (at least) 5 years; the recruiting has been sub-par; we have too many players abandoning ship; we have lost continuity on the coaching staff; the summary is one of the perfect storm.

Short of a major turnaround in 2015, I would speculate that we will see a new head coach. Then, we had better pray that Iowa can attract a quality replacement for KF. Otherwise, we may see a repeat of the Michigan coaching disasters, which may or may not have ended with the hiring of their new super hero.
 
Complacency set in 4 to 5 years ago. When that happens opportunities are missed, customer service diminishes, quality drops and the performance suffers. Look accurate? That's Iowa Football in a nutshell right now..
 
deanvogs said:
Am I the only one that has a feeling this is what happens when a staff stays in place too long? I mean it is comical to me the the recruiting coordinator complains that recruiting wasn't "emphasized" enough? WTF dude, that is YOUR JOB, MAKE IT IMPORTANT ENOUGH. That to me is like the police showing up at a crime scene and saying, "man this seems like a tough case, lets just call this one an accident". Then leaveing, getting some donuts and going home, instead of hitting the pavement, and working the case.

It just feels they were all in place too long, and all became "fat cats", with the king of the fat cats being KF. I'm ticked at all the coaches who have let this program slip from '09 to where it is now, and EJ was a big part of that slippage, even if he wants to minimize his part in it.
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I'm guessing that's easier said than done under KF and especially if he is micromanaging you're efforts. I'm betting that gets old.
 
HuckFinn said:
When there are major changes in a coaching staff after a long number of years of continuity, the ability to adjust and build harmony is a tough job. I am not going to jump to a lot of specific conclusions over a couple of sentences in an interview.

The facts are that Iowa has been at best a mediocre team for the last (at least) 5 years; the recruiting has been sub-par; we have too many players abandoning ship; we have lost continuity on the coaching staff; the summary is one of the perfect storm.

Short of a major turnaround in 2015, I would speculate that we will see a new head coach. Then, we had better pray that Iowa can attract a quality replacement for KF. Otherwise, we may see a repeat of the Michigan coaching disasters, which may or may not have ended with the hiring of their new super hero.
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I'm interested to see how BB does this year. If he can get 10+ wins, I think he's our #1 target.
 
I think BB may be our target regardless of the 10 win level but something tells me he won't be our next coach. As far as the Johnson article..............it tells on the recruiting front what some of us have believed for years. It's also a characteristic of stubborness and not listening (or seeing) what your market has been telling you for quite some time. Though we have ramped up our recruiting approach in the last couple years it now comes in the face of a coach on the hot seat.

The medicine for our recruiting challenges is to win and win early. They'll drop like flies if the opposite occurs.
 
It just feels like it is time for Coach Ferentz to retire. The fire is gone out of the program. He is almost 60 years old. He will be on the Mount Rushmore of Iowa coaches. Time to ride off into the sunset.

Bielema would be a great hire, if he would take the job.
 
This reminds of the basketball search where a name like Bruce Pearl was considered to be the number one target by many. Did not happen.

Bielema would be great but he is not coming here for less than 4 million a year over 6 years. Add that to the 11-13 million we will pay out to KF. Toss on top of all that what BB will demand for assistants pay. You are looking at a serious outlay before another game is played or won.

Go after a young up and coming coach looking for his first Power-5 HC job where you can move on quickly and painlessly if it does not work.
 
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