Tom Brands is the best coach at Iowa

smoot27

Well-Known Member
The passion he and his staff show on the mat flows through to the team. The guy hates losing and never blames execution (code for players) after a loss (happens rarely). If you frequent wrestling forums like The Mat, other team's posters jump all over Iowa for the "uncivilized" behavior Brands Co. displays during matches (similar to how our football posters criticize other coaches who don't stand around like a gum chewing statue). Gable was the same way.
 
Brands is clearly an outstanding coach. But if jumping around like a lunatic was great coaching, my 5 year old would be Knute Rockne. Especially tonight.
KF is a cool laid back dude, even on the sideline. That's his style. There's no one right way to coach.
 
The passion he and his staff show on the mat flows through to the team. The guy hates losing and never blames execution (code for players) after a loss (happens rarely). If you frequent wrestling forums like The Mat, other team's posters jump all over Iowa for the "uncivilized" behavior Brands Co. displays during matches (similar to how our football posters criticize other coaches who don't stand around like a gum chewing statue). Gable was the same way.

Agree. You certainly can't argue with the success Brands and his team have had!
 
Brands is clearly an outstanding coach. But if jumping around like a lunatic was great coaching, my 5 year old would be Knute Rockne. Especially tonight.
KF is a cool laid back dude, even on the sideline. That's his style. There's no one right way to coach.


It's not the jumping around. It's the intensity. It's the no excuses attitude. His wrestlers know if they get lazy they are going to get an earful. Look at how Gable tore the great Joe Williams a new one after losing a match. Gable was that way and Brands is similar.
 
I agree. But, he also has the recruiting advantage that football and basketball do not of winning tradition(national championships).
 
I agree. But, he also has the recruiting advantage that football and basketball do not of winning tradition(national championships).


I don't expect us to win championships. I realize we have a far greater advantage in wrestling in the recruiting front. I'm referring to beating bad teams. Iowa losing to Minny would be like the Hawkeyes losing to Purdue in wrestling. It should never happen. The coaching staff wouldn't tolerate it. Brands would have probably committed hara-kiri.
 
It's not the jumping around. It's the intensity. It's the no excuses attitude. His wrestlers know if they get lazy they are going to get an earful. Look at how Gable tore the great Joe Williams a new one after losing a match. Gable was that way and Brands is similar.

I don't disagree. I'm sure KF takes care of business in his own way. Behind closed doors at practice. Not in public in front of cameras.
Wrestling is an intense personal one on one sport with more short bursts of raw emotion. Everybody knows rasslin' coaches is crazy.:D
 
I don't disagree. I'm sure KF takes care of business in his own way. Behind closed doors at practice. Not in public in front of cameras.
Wrestling is an intense personal one on one sport with more short bursts of raw emotion. Everybody knows rasslin' coaches is crazy.:D


Not aimed at you personally, but we often hear that excuse when evaluating the hypocrisy of Iowa fans who criticize football coaches that yell and turn a blind eye to Brand's behavior. Wrestling and football are not unlike enough that coaches require two different personalities. Again, I'm not referring solely to the jumping around yelling. I'm referring to the excuse making and seemingly visual apathetic attitude. Brands would blame himself for every loss. He wouldn't say, "we just didn't execute."
 
The passion he and his staff show on the mat flows through to the team. The guy hates losing and never blames execution (code for players) after a loss (happens rarely). If you frequent wrestling forums like The Mat, other team's posters jump all over Iowa for the "uncivilized" behavior Brands Co. displays during matches (similar to how our football posters criticize other coaches who don't stand around like a gum chewing statue). Gable was the same way.


I will agree Brands is very intense and obviously hates losing. No coach likes losing. Kirk doesnt like losing and his demeanor is who he is.

I disagree about Brands not blaming "execution". I am sure I have heard him be critical of wrestlers after the match for not moving or something similar. What name do you have for those type of comments (if not lack of execution?)?????
 
Not aimed at you personally, but we often hear that excuse when evaluating the hypocrisy of Iowa fans who criticize football coaches that yell and turn a blind eye to Brand's behavior. Wrestling and football are not unlike enough that coaches require two different personalities. Again, I'm not referring solely to the jumping around yelling. I'm referring to the excuse making and seemingly visual apathetic attitude. Brands would blame himself for every loss. He wouldn't say, "we just didn't execute."

I know one thing for sure, he wouldn't shrug his shoulders and say, "that's wrestling."
 
Not aimed at you personally, but we often hear that excuse when evaluating the hypocrisy of Iowa fans who criticize football coaches that yell and turn a blind eye to Brand's behavior. Wrestling and football are not unlike enough that coaches require two different personalities. Again, I'm not referring solely to the jumping around yelling. I'm referring to the excuse making and seemingly visual apathetic attitude. Brands would blame himself for every loss. He wouldn't say, "we just didn't execute."

Wrestling requires that kind of intensity. The number of successful college wrestling coaches who are/were laid back is likely VERY short, if there's even a list at all.

Football doesn't REQUIRE a different attitude than that. It just doesn't require any particular mentality from coaches, outside of competitiveness. But football coaches can be either laid back or intense and be successful either way.
 
I will agree Brands is very intense and obviously hates losing. No coach likes losing. Kirk doesnt like losing and his demeanor is who he is.

I disagree about Brands not blaming "execution". I am sure I have heard him be critical of wrestlers after the match for not moving or something similar. What name do you have for those type of comments (if not lack of execution?)?????


It's rarely the play calling or clock management or anything that would indict him alone. Sometimes it happens, but many times it's the execution, which seems to translate to, the players just didn't do a very good job and it's not really my fault.
 
so Paul Rhoads is a lunatic for jumping around and showing emotion, but Brands is a great coach for doing the same? weird how that works
 
I will agree Brands is very intense and obviously hates losing. No coach likes losing. Kirk doesnt like losing and his demeanor is who he is.

I disagree about Brands not blaming "execution". I am sure I have heard him be critical of wrestlers after the match for not moving or something similar. What name do you have for those type of comments (if not lack of execution?)?????

This. Brands is willing to shoulder blame, too. But he'll tell it like it is, and if that means it's cause McDonough (for example) screwed up, so be it.

Part of that probably has a little to do with the perception that wrestling coaches/athletes/fans are a totally different breed. People flip out on football coaches who call out players, but with wrestling....well, that's just wrestling (that was intentional).
 
Wrestling requires that kind of intensity. The number of successful college wrestling coaches who are/were laid back is likely VERY short, if there's even a list at all.

Football doesn't REQUIRE a different attitude than that. It just doesn't require any particular mentality from coaches, outside of competitiveness. But football coaches can be either laid back or intense and be successful either way.


John Smith doesn't really "go nuts" like Brands, but they have a different attitude than Ferentz. You don't get a feeling that it really doesn't bother him win or lose. I realize Ferentz doesn't like losing, but it doesn't come off well.
 
Exactly my point

Generally, I don't mind what Rhoads does. The psychosis he displayed in the Texas game was a little much, though. Getting THAT demonstrative with an official just doesn't come off well to anyone.

With Brands, it's almost like he's playing a virtual reality video game, trying to control his players' movements.
 
Listen to what Tom said on the big ten network, it may have been with the gable deal they had but I know he said somethig along the lines of we want to win, we are greedy, we are selfish, we want to dominate and take everything that's in front of us.
 
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