Its funny watching those of you that used to call me crazy for my view of kirk. Now are we all crazy or did I just see it coming years ago?
Whats more funny is the loyal kirk fans who now dip their toes in the tub oh so gently with their critism of Kirk. That way if Iowa wins you can back away from that view point without anyone knowing.
Its funny those of you think firing greg davis would solve these problems. Why not though then you dont have to blame kirk. Give kirk another 3 years to find out the next OC is no good.
Its funny how most of you thought just wait until 2014 then kirk will break out an amazing 10 win season. Oh thatll shut the nay sayers up. A lot of you have been talking about this season for 2 years now. Is it how you thought it would go?
I'll man up for a serving of crow. I've followed you as a poster and felt that you have been too negative/impatient. Now that I've officially come off the Kool Aid, I think you were just seeing things that my love for the Hawks/respect for Ferentz left me blind to.
I have been a *staunch* KF supporter - in particular, through the 05-07 stretch, I would have described myself as "militant" (yes, I was a "hawknick" style poster who felt that my unflinching loyalty entitled me to define for all of Hawkfandom what a "true fan" should look like - everyone else could go to hell and find another team to root for).
I've done a lot of thinking lately, stretching all the way back to '99. My opinion of KF shapes up as:
-I think he's, at heart, a good guy who cares about the players & the long term health of the program (which all college coaches are supposed to do, but I think very few of them actually live up to - I think KF is one of the few).
-I think in specific areas, he is a good (maybe even very good) coach. Finding & developing overlooked talent at specific positions being a key one in this category.
-I think in specific areas, he is a very mediocre (maybe even poor) coach. Gameday coaching & inability/general unwillingness to deviate from "The Way" being a couple key ones in this category.
-I think his record over the past 16 seasons is a direct reflection of him being just good enough of a coach to capitalize on what has been an *extremely* weak Big Ten for the majority of his tenure. Just one similar example I'll point to the off & on success Washington State had in a short window in the late 90's/early 00's in the (then) Pac 10 during a time when that league looked a bit like glorified intramurals (before Pete Carroll showed up and upped the ante on everyone).
Here's the thing - if we were Washington State (or some other largely forgettable Power 5 team) trying to make it to a lower tier bowl maybe every other year (or 2 out of every 3 years during a good stretch) on a shoestring budget, I'm not sure I'd be terribly dissatisfied with the above. But that's the problem - while I am under no illusions we are Michigan or Ohio State, I think our tradition and - more importantly - budget dictates we are a better program than "some largely forgettable Power 5 team trying to make a lower tier bowl". That's a roundabout way of saying I am 100% confident that $4M/year (or whatever Ferentz is making now) should buy us better than the overall product we've seen over the last 16 years.
He needs to go while people like me can still remember his contributions fondly rather than continuing to build the impression of a fat cat hogging the seat & preventing us from getting someone who might do it better (like Bielema or Mark Stoops, for example)
