Was KOK Pushed out the door?

[Hawk1960]

ferentz used the word stale as I recall. "Things had gotten a bit stale"

that's the only thing i remember

If it was "stale" back then we must be growing mold and mildew now.

 

[NCHawker]

BS offense. Beyond Stale.

how's that for a name?

 

[linus19]

I believe Ken was just ready to move on. IIRC he had previously interviewed for the Indiana job. The chance came to up to work with Joe Philbin again and I believe he had a daughter living in Florida and its the NFL so he took it.

I agree with this. Plus if you are going to be a no name coodinator, you might as well do it in the NFL, the payday is a lot better.

 

[PCHawk]

BS offense. Beyond Stale.

how's that for a name?

That actually works good because people could misinterpret the "bs" and it would still be accurate.

 

[cecilB]

I believe Ken was just ready to move on. IIRC he had previously interviewed for the Indiana job. The chance came to up to work with Joe Philbin again and I believe he had a daughter living in Florida and its the NFL so he took it.

He did go for the Indy job, his daughter does live in Fla, working for philbin while being around family, grand kids, near reitirement age in so fla was too much to pass up. Heck, many would envy the chance to end a 40 yr coaching career this way. KF and KOK have been friends for 2/3 of their lives... Still are. It happened fast, not sure it would be categorized as catching anyone off guard. It was an emotional day as he left. He is missed in levels beyond his coaching contributions

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

No way did Kirk Ferentz force his friend KOK out.. IMO if Norm Parker was still around the program so would KOK..

 

[cecilB]

No way did Kirk Ferentz force his friend KOK out.. IMO if Norm Parker was still around the program so would KOK..

See family info and stage of career in post above. It wasn't a football decision. All other conjecture is just that

 

[dwh5er]

Exactly, I remember losing to Iowa St. among other cream puff teams with KOK too. I also remember the 3rd and 6 run plays for no gain and the same boring offense that we often see under GD. I also remember reading the forums about how people couldn't wait for his replacement. People forget how bad he was too. And don't give me the two shared big ten titles because had we not lost easy games those two years well we coulda been a contenda.

Perhaps he wasn't all that bad and perhaps GD isn't all that bad either when given the green light to do what they want to. What's the one constant between both OCs? If we are running the same 3rd & 6 run plays and the same boring offense, do we really need to speculate as to why?

 

[RocknRollface]

I thought Ken leaving caught KF off-guard. I think he wanted him to stay.

Maybe he was tired of the fans here. Maybe he legitimately thought it would be a better opportunity to work with Philbin in the NFL.

Whether or not its the reason he left Im sure Ken was tired of taking the blame for an offense that was not his fault.

KOK was bitched about almost as much as Davis. In some years even more intensly.

Nearly everyone openly desipsed KOK except for the few who knew Ferentz was really the problem and not much has changed.

 

[RocknRollface]

I don't have any facts either, just guesses. After the Pitt game where Iowa went to a no huddle offense for a quarter and a half and won, like now, the fan base clamored for more, for change. Kurt put a big damper on that notion (after about the 10th question asked in a presser). In that presser he said Iowa's offense would revert.

KOK, being an offensive innovator and all, might have had enough of the conservatism and scape goating.

Hence the real problem.

We won a share of the big ten title in 04 with the KOK offense, brought back the same personel next year but reverted back to the Kirk offense and predictably didn't come close to the year prior.

 

[mrolympia]

Fanbase was really tough on KOK. I don't think we realized how good of a job he was actually doing.

.

I blamed KOK for years before I finally realized that ferentz was the cause of the inept offense. Regardless, the vast majority of the fan base (me included for many years) are reaping what we sew now and the results can only be described as a crime against nature.