Tired of this excuse

H

hawks365

Well-Known Member
I'm tired of people giving the excuse that we don't have a recruiting hot bed here in Iowa.

Before you go off, telling me there really isn't that much talent here, I'll agree with you.

Look at Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Hell, even Boise State.

Anyways, my main question is: Is there an actual recruiter/scout that is designated for the team? How much do KF/KOK/Norm recruit?

I know we have a conservative recruiting standpoint, but why the hell can't we recruit just like the above schools can?

I know they have the tradition and I know it's cold in the North.

I just wish the program would recruit aggressively and relentlessly ie. Fran.

Am I completely out of line to be wanting more from the recruiting standpoint of the coaching staff?

Thanks in advance for your opinions/answers.
 
Iowa City is way nicer than Lincoln, NE or Manhattan, KS. Or Stillwater, OK.

It's a bullsh@t excuse to say Iowa is hard to recruit to. I mean really...why would a kid want to play at a program with an historic stadium, awesome city, great social scene, sweet facilities and oh by the way it's in the B1G and you're on TV every single week.
 
I'm tired of haters posting that they're tired of this or that re KF and the Hawkeye football program. This fanbase dwells on losses like no other.
 
That's the frustrating part of this. We have top notch facilities that are still being improved. We have a solid fan base. A good, but not great Stadium. Solid Education. Pretty solid tradition the past decade.

I really think the coaching staff could be more aggresive.

I also think that if Iowa really wants to reach that next and top tier of college football, going from a good to great school, the stadium must be upgraded to 80,000-85,000+ Capacity.
 
Don't get me wrong. I loved growing up in IA and think Iowa City is a great college town. However, people on the coasts and in southern USA would lump us in with other state such as Wyoming, Rhode Island, South/North Dakota and other inconsequential states. The question isn't why the great athletes from other states don't want to come to Iowa. The question is why would they given the other great programs in bigger states with significantly more things to do that go to bars every night.
 
SteveGarvey said:
I'm tired of haters posting that they're tired of this or that re KF and the Hawkeye football program. This fanbase dwells on losses like no other.
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You're missing the point that I'm actually getting at.

This post and thread has hardly anything to do with the loss at Minnesota, although the lack of depth is very apparent. It's more based at the general recruiting of the football program as a whole.

Whether you believe it or not, Iowa has a top 15 football program in the country. Coaching staff, facilities, academics, fans, etc.

There is no excuse for us to not have be in the top 15 or around the top 15 recruiting classes year in and out.
 
HawkeyePT said:
Don't get me wrong. I loved growing up in IA and think Iowa City is a great college town. However, people on the coasts and in southern USA would lump us in with other state such as Wyoming, Rhode Island, South/North Dakota and other inconsequential states. The question isn't why the great athletes from other states don't want to come to Iowa. The question is why would they given the other great programs in bigger states with significantly more things to do that go to bars every night.
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Tell me exactly what else there is to do in any other college town? Barring the college town isn't on the Ocean or in a very large city. Therefore, 90%+ of college towns.
 
hawks365 said:
Tell me exactly what else there is to do in any other college town? Barring the college town isn't on the Ocean or in a very large city. Therefore, 90%+ of college towns.
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Part of the reason is...is just that. They are from out of state. Most of the kids are staying in-state, and we, no matter what you say, don't have the tradition to recruit like OK or the top schools.
 
The op is correct Iowa is not relentless in recruiting Norm is not recruiting and KOK is not dynamic either. Iowa has great facilities, great fan base, and solid tradition we need some changes in middle management just look at the one change we made bringing in Eric Campbell that has paid off Iowa has much better talent at that position. The biggest change is Norm must go time for new blood.
 
I would say that the higher the in-state population, the larger the talent pool. The further away from home a kid is, the more likely he will become homesick, unhappy or what-have-you and transfer out.

UW, Neb, Boise are the only BCS schools in their states. Iowa has to deal with ISU and granted we win most of those battles, there are still some we'd like to have. Plus, how many of those kids who only get an ISU offer would walk-on at Iowa if ISU did not exist?

We haven't fared well taking talented kids from talent rich areas that are also high-crime/high risk areas. We have a low rate of success with Iowa players from Glenville, OH , Detroit maybe too.

I believe all of the coaches recruit in some capacity with all but Norm hitting the road to do so (health has limited/eliminated that). You can't just hire a recruiter for the team without eliminating someone else (and I don't have an issue with shaking up the staff a bit but you still wouldn't have someone that ONLY recruits. They would coach as well). The coaches generally have an area/state that they concentrate on and have built contacts in.

I think you'll be surprised to see where UW, NE and Boise's class rank relative to Iowa's each year.

.
 
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Not looking for just a recruiter looking for a defensive coordinator and recruiter we do not have that now, and time for a change at the end of this season.

Norm, has been a fantastic coach at Iowa just time too retire.
 
I've been happy lately with the recruiting classes. We have good players, are putting many of them in the League....no reason we should struggle against inferior teams the way we do.
 
ThunderHawk said:
Iowa City is way nicer than Lincoln, NE or Manhattan, KS. Or Stillwater, OK.

It's a bullsh@t excuse to say Iowa is hard to recruit to. I mean really...why would a kid want to play at a program with an historic stadium, awesome city, great social scene, sweet facilities and oh by the way it's in the B1G and you're on TV every single week.
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You make a good case. In this day and age distance should not be as much of a factor as it was many years ago.

Boise State is in Idaho and look at how that program is performing. Look at Oregon and Nebraska. All three states are low population states.

I think good coaching and selling your program to stable prospects are the biggest factors in sustaining success at pretty much any BCS school.

There are a lot of positives about the University of Iowa and the Iowa football program. Also there are tons of good recruits within a 500 mile radius of Iowa City. All one needs is a coaching staff that can recruit well (including identifying prospects that WANT to play for Iowa and will stay 4 or 5 years), develop these players and PROVIDE them with a game plan to win consistent with their abilities and capabilities.

The current Iowa coaching staff at times struggles with recruiting, does well with player development and tends not to make necessary adjustments to maximize player performance during football games.
 
YEAR...IA...NE...WI...BS...MSU...MO...IL...OK...OKS...ISU...MICH
2011...22...26...36....67...29......51...37...16....20.....68.....23
2010...45...29...33....97...32......28...57....2.....18.....73.....12
2009...75...33...51....60...37......38...35...10....45......79....14
2008...44...21...26....64...56......31...19...13....40......58.....6
2007...37...21...41....57...51......39...20...30....24......69....10
2006...40...29...37....78...43......58...28.....8....16......59....10
2005....8...10....35....73...40......37...45.....5....65......50.....2
2004...41...38...37....72...13......36...44.....7....33......57.....5
2003...30...28...36....73...96......52...31.....3....29......60.....8
2002...40...44...53....75...39......57...47.....2....32......69....19

AVE....38...28...39....72...44......43...36...10....32......64.....11
HI........8...10...26....57...13......28...19.....2....16......50......2
LOW...75...44...53....97...96......58...57....30....65......79....23
 
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Hawkeye11en1 said:
Part of the reason is...is just that. They are from out of state. Most of the kids are staying in-state, and we, no matter what you say, don't have the tradition to recruit like OK or the top schools.
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I don't see anybody saying we have Oklahoma's tradition. But some people talk like we are Iowa State. It's not like we have ZERO tradition. Iowa is a good, solid football program. I don't see any reason that Iowa can't get Top 25 recruiting classes a little more consistently. Out of what, 115-120 teams, our classes tend to be somewhere in the 40's nationally? That's not great, but not horrible, either. I'd call it average to maybe a little above average.

Our saving grace is that KF seems to excel at developing underrated talent.
 
I agree witht he OP. I'll say again, show me the recruiting dynamo that Iowa has on staff. What I mean is, take Frank Martin at K. State for example. The only reason K. State has been able to land supreme talent is because of Frank Martin. Iowa doesn't have that and most years Iowa is able to land 3 or 4 four star recruits and even better than that they are able to land many players that have offers from pretty darn good programs yet the choose the University of Iowa.

To me it's an easy sell. A great stadium, with a great atmosphere. Damn good facilities and as we speak new ones are going up. Damn good tradition since 1980, which is 30 years worth of success. And the willingness to pay a top notch head coach 3.5 to 4 million dollars.
 
Iowa and Wisky ave about the same ranking, with Iowa coming in 1 spot higher.

Iowa ave ranking of 38 with 2 Top 25 Classes (2011 and 2005)

WISC has never had a Top 25 recruiting class since Scout/Rivals began doing it in 2002. Ave 39

NEB ave a 28 ranking with ONLY 1 Top 20 class back in 2005

Mich St ave class of 44. Only 1 Top 25 Class coming back in 2004

IL ave 36 with 2 Top 20 classes

MO ave 43 no top 25

Boise doing more with less and taking care of business in their 2 only tough games per season.
 
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hawks365 said:
There is no excuse for us to not have be in the top 15 or around the top 15 recruiting classes year in and out.
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Why let Kirk off the hook? I personally feel that Iowa should NEVER have a class ranked outside the top 5. Iowa City is one of the top 5 cities in the world. Our football history is top 5 all time. I think we're #1 in all time wins.

Personally, at least 3 national titles per decade is the BASELINE for this program. 5 per decade is more reasonable.
 
I know the perception is that Wisc is a better program than Iowa but based on what?

Iowa is 20-8-1 vs Wisc since 1980 winning 6 of last 9 good for 71% winning percentage vs the Badgers. Iowa is 26-12-1 vs WI going back to 1970.

Iowa is 6-3 in bowl games under Ferentz with victories over SEC teams LSU, Florida, South Carolina; B12 TT, ACC Georgia Tech.

Wisc is 4-5 in bowl games over same period witch victories over Miami, Ark, Colorado and Auburn.
 
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