Those worried about an 05 letdown...

E

ElleHawks

Well-Known Member
I had the opportunity to see coach Doyle speak yesterday and this is something he said the coaches a very aware of. I don't want to try to get into specifics for fear that I might not be able to accurately convey his message as he would wish. I'm not a journalist. Basically the staff is constantly evaluating itself and the program to identify areas for improvement. This is one of those instances and I think this coming year will be different. Doyle is an absolute class act who plays a huge role in the success of our team.

On a side note he said Matt Kroul was at the facility working out yesterday and shared a cool story about Matt's first season with the Jets. Rex Ryan, while addressing the team at practice this year, awarded Matt Rex's personal parking spot at the team facility because he said Matt was the only member of the team that practices like a champion. Awesome!

Go Hawks!
 
There are a lot of things to love about this coaching staff but that is my favorite. They seem to learn from their mistakes as well as anyone I have ever seen. Next season may not live up to expectations, but I am very confident that it will not be because of a "fat cat" attitude like it was in '05.
 
2005 wont happen again just like the 2002 Orange Bowl disaster didnt happen this year. The coaches are smarter and more prepared to handle success than they were in 2005

Plus, we have a better team which helps

EDIT - In 05 other than ISU and at OSU the games we lost were extremely winnable and couldve beat a good FLorida team in the Outback. 06 was clearly the letdown team imo with the fat cat mentality
 
Last edited:
theboat said:
There are a lot of things to love about this coaching staff but that is my favorite. - as well as anyone I have ever seen. Next season may not live up to expectations, but I am very confident that it will not be because of a "fat cat" attitude like it was in '05.
Click to expand...

I agree on the they learn from past mistakes,lets hope the Oline gets fired up knowing that they will be the biggest area of concern this year.Everything else is in place,outside a few linebackers.
 
'05 is the only year since KF has been here that we've gone into a season with high expectations in terms of what the media and the 'experts' expected of us. '10 looks to be similar in terms of outside expectations.

I will be very surprised if we live up to or exceed the outside expectations. I say this because very few teams ever live up to outside expectations. Those teams that do live up to lofty expectations are typically the traditional powers, such as FL, TX, AL, USC, etc.

When much is expected of those teams similar to Iowa in terms of prestige they usually fall quite a bit short. Name a BCS conference team with prestige similar to ours that has started a season in the Top 5 or 10 and finished there.
 
Good story.

IN 2005, we lost to MI in OT where the referees tried their damnedest to keep MI in the game, then we decided to play for OT.

We chocked a 2 TD lead away to NW.

We got jobbed in the Outback vs FL.

We weren't far off of 10 wins in 2005. Just shows how close to the edge we can be from 6 or 7 wins to 10 wins.
 
The one thing that this coaching staff excels at is learning from their past mistakes. I also think that this team has better leadership among the players. We also have a pretty strong willed guy at QB.
 
The 05 team was a pretty good team. They really struggled stopping the run, with the loss of the whole D-Line, however. In 2004 Greenway and Hodge looked like world beaters, and in the tOSU game in 2005, they looked a day late and a dollar short for much of the game. Did they get worse? Nope. They just had to fight off a lot more blocks because of what was going on in front of them.

There were a few close losses that were wins in 04, as well. The margin is thin, and in 05 we were on the other side of that margin.

We were also about 2 plays from winning the B11, as well, in 2005.

Didn't the 2005 team lead the B11 in Offense or Scoring?
 
I think they'll be fine next year....This team has seen alot of adversity and have responded at almost every level...
 
Each season/situation is different. We have to remember that "outside" observations are cursory, at best.

A better indication, IMO, is to see what DiNardo, Mason and C-Mart have to say in August. They were pretty much on the money with their observations this year with their thoughts on IOWA, which I will attempt to reiterate:

--DiNardo:
Thought IOWA looked to be the most complete team in the conference. Concerns were finding a RB, health of OL and WRs and Stanzi feeling pressure if he had to carry the load by himself. Liked what he saw from McNutt, DJK and the TEs, and absolutely loved our DL and LB play

--Mason:
Pretty much same as DiNardo (hey, the guy isn't the most "original" thinker out there", but expressed concerns about Special Teams and DBackfield depth

--C-Mart:
Very impressed with "potential" at RB and thought, within context of overall offense, that the job would get done. Loved our D front 7 (who didn't?), and thought our young DBs were developing very well, but would experience the growing pains young DBs go through. C-Mart showed the most "love" for McNutt, as I remember.

Forget Phil Steele, Tom Lemming, Todd McShay or any of the other self-professed "gurus" out there. Come August listen, instead, to what DiNardo/Mason/C-Mart have to say on BTN (Big Ant, Howard Griffith and the others tend to focus more on upcoming games vs. projecting outthe whole season), and for non-BTN guys, look to Adam Rittenberg, given that he focuses on the Big Ten within his position at ESPN.com.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top