What is keeping us from being great?

[CallMeDragon]

How do you define great? I beleive Iowa is now a legit top 25 "program". If great equates to "elite" then the biggest obstacle is (and will likely always be) recruiting. If you look at the truly "elite" teams (over a period of time), their rosters are deep with top notch talent...go to players at multiple positions.

Outside of that, I think the biggest obstacle is our predictability. One could argue that Ohio State follows a very similar philosophy...the difference is the number of "playmakers" they can put on the field on a given snap.

 

[gohwks13]

Elite talent.

More quality depth.

Luck.

Iowa is still a very good team.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Stale predictability.

I know it sucks because we all love and respect KF, but the buck stops at the top. KF has the tools to run a truly elite program if he's willing to make some hard choices.

With a few exceptions the offense has underperformed for years and the defensive scheme is eminently exploitable by smart offensive coordinators who are willing to ditch balance and air it out. Now our defensive system can work if we have a shutdown corner, exceptional safeties, hyper-athletic linebackers and a line that can create some kind of a push with 4 linemen. If you're missing even one of those ingredients? Well, you're living with the results of that.

I guess i just don't believe that "if you're patient and execute you can beat us" is the best defensive philosophy in the world. I'll gladly take more risk and aggression and live with the outcome.

As for O'Keefe...well, he lost me against Michigan in 2001 when he pulled Banks for McCann. So I'm not surprised at all with futility on that side of the ball. I just expect it.

<<Stale predictability>>

Yeah, like USC from 2002-2006, or Alabama last year. Or OSU just about any year.

<<Now our defensive system can work if we have a shutdown corner, exceptional safeties, hyper-athletic linebackers and a line than can create some kind of a push with 4 linemen>>

Genius. Now...name a defensive system that CAN'T "work" when it has all of that.

<<If you're missing even one of those ingredients? Well, you're living with the results of that.>>

To be accurate, we lost 2 LBs from last year, then a couple more to injury this year. Our shutdown corner left early for the NFL. Our safeties are spending more time helping young CBs than "playing centerfield" than they were able to do in 2008 and 2009. And on the offensive side, we lost two RBs that had appreciable experience, and two more that were serviceable. The current backup really couldn't play before game 4 because of injury.

Frankly, LAST year's team was a facemask-and-torn-ankle away from possibly being undefeated.

<<As for O'Keefe...well, he lost me against Michigan in 2001 when he pulled Banks for McCann. So I'm not surprised with futility on that side of the ball. I just expect it.>>

You must have REALLY been ****** at O'Keefe in 2004 when he (and staff) completely changed the offense...

 

[hawkincal]

Kirk's strength is definitely player development of under-the-radar recruits.

IMO, the staff continuity is not the great advantage Kirk thinks it is. I wonder where this staff gets fresh ideas. Because, like it or not, college football of 2010 is different from the college football of 1999/2000 when Kirk was first starting as Iowa's head coach.

At some traditional powerhouse schools, you can get by with running the same schemes year after year because of the tremendous talent that is recruited by those schools. Iowa doesn't have that luxury.

I would view Kirk as the CEO of company in a very competitive field, who has been very successful (despite some restrictions). However, as the market conditions change, that CEO needs to adapt accordingly, or the company will fall behind other more aggressive competitors.

 

[dagdaj]

I'm a messageboard moron.

 

[dagdaj]

What would our record look like without losses to Northwestern, ISU, Western Michigan?

 

[HawkeyeNTexas]

Mentality. Plain and simple.
This team consistently year to year doesn't prepare mentally for weaker teams. It has been a complaint of mine from the start of KF's coaching career at Iowa. It doesn't make sense.

 

[HawkeyeJim75]

Re: Don't know what the answer is...

-Time Management

-Dumbfounded play calling (pass when we need to run, run when we need to pass, call a timeout when we need to spike the ball, spike the ball when we need to call a timeout, kick a fg when we should be trying to score a touchdown, when we run a trick play it is at the completely wrong time)

-No guts, no glory. Taking a knee to go to OT on the road against big time opponents.

- Almost always using a base ultra conservative defense and offense regardless of the talent we have. Little to no adjustments according to who we are playing.

-Injuries and losing key players to the NFL (but that happens to almost every team, at least the injury part)

-Player regression at QB (even though Stanzi's picks are down this year, I think he was a more savvy QB last year. For the most part, not always, QBs seem to get worse in the program with each year they play).

-Not getting up for teams with lesser talent

-Not getting up for key big games when the spotlight is on us (when we are trying to make a move to the next level). We seem to always play better in our bigger games when we are expected to lose.

-Poor Special Teams play

I agree with you Hayden, might I add something. Last year we had a 1,2 punch of physical and speed combined at RB with Wager and Robbison. We don't have that this year. Wagher was able to shoot through gaps or holes with his quickness while Robbison uses a physical style that barely gets the job done. Not saying that Robbinson can't get the job done, it is more of a compliment between the two. One could feed off the other and make things happen. I think Iowa could have had that in Coker if he had not gotten hurt setting him back some.

Our O-line is in a growing process. Having a new center and RT that are not as good, but improving much and could be better when all said and done than Bulaga and Eubanks makes a difference. Last years O-line clicked and also had a lot more experience. Experience does matter. Wisconsin's line is so dominate not because of it's massive size, but because of the experience they have gotten through the years. You saw them last year, they were games away from being dominant. This year it shows. I think that Iowa's O-line is improving much. The left side is obviously the strong side. Zues, Keoppel, Gettis, Ferentz and McMillion are taking some pretty good strides but lack the experience than the left side guys. Next year out side of JV, we should be much more improved and could show signs of dominance.

Time will tell but I think that plays part on why the O is not as effective as we think it should be

 

[AcctHawk99]

Unwillingness to adapt - insist on giving 15 yard cushions w/ CB's even though we're getting torched on short passes
Poor Personel decisions - playing guys who are seniors even though there is a more talented player that is younger and then not redshirting the younger player burning a year of their eligibility.
Poor game management - TO situation w/ Wis where any 10 year old kid who has ever played NCAA on xbox knows how to handle the situation, but our $3M head coach doesn't.

All of these are examples from this year, but they have happend in the past as well. A lot has been made about the continuity of our coaching staff being a plus, but isn't it also a negative? No one is coming to Iowa to beg KOK to be their head coach, no assistants are leaving Iowa to take jobs at actual elite programs (FLA, OSU, TEX, ALA, etc). Ferentz has a comfort level with these guys which he likes, but I think it hurts the program. It seems like everyone is content to keep the program the way it is, win 8-9 games, go to a florida bowl, repeat, but there is a point ($3M?) where winning 8-10 games isn't enough? Being the highest paid coach in the Big Ten despite having 0 national titles let alone sole Big Ten titles and none shared since '04? There needs to be some sense of moving forward, but it seems like it's been 2 steps forward and 2 back with KF. I compare Iowa football to my favorite MLB team the Minnesota Twins. They have won their division 6 of the last 9 years, but have only made it through the 1st round of the playoffs once in that time. After that much failure in the playoffs I don't get excited about winning the division anymore if it means another 1st round exit. There should be some progress made. Same with Iowa football. We've been consistently winning 7-10 games for 8 years, but have yet to make that step to elite. Only 1 thing has remained the same for this past decade and that's the coaches. I'm not saying fire them all by any means, but some shake up has to happen whether that is coaches or scheme. If it hasn't gotten us close to elite in 12 years I don't see it changing anytime soon.

Just so I add this in there and don't get accused of putting this all on the coaches, obviously the guys playing the games are part of the equation of us not being great. Lack of execution, poor decision making, etc comes from the players. Iowa has had alot of talent go to the NFL in Ferentz's time so it's not like the talent hasn't been there for him to use (whether he groomed it or they came in as 5 star recruits) I just see the coaching aspect of this as a much bigger factor. It's not like Stanzi's Peyton Manning on the field and calling his own plays out there or Prater is saying, I'm scared so I'm going to play 15 yards off the ball in case this guy beats me. That comes from the coaches. Something has to change there since players always rotate out.

 

[dagdaj]

No one is coming to Iowa to beg KOK to be their head coach, no assistants are leaving Iowa to take jobs at actual elite programs (FLA, OSU, TEX, ALA, etc). Ferentz has a comfort level with these guys which he likes, but I think it hurts the program.

I'm not necessarily going to fundamentally disagree....although I do in some ways.

But, one of the reasons they're not leaving, is they may not be actually looking, or making themselves available. Coaches can often become the flavor of the month, and there's been plenty of talk about KF being headhunted. But he clearly has chosen Iowa.

I've always amazed when a high school kid chooses Iowa when they've been recruited by other higher profile schools. I know sometimes it's about the opportunity to actually play etc. etc. But sometimes, it's clearly something offered by the university, campus, coaches, fans, city, or other element.

Maybe coaches have chosen Iowa for the same reasons.

 

[AcctHawk99]

I'm not necessarily going to fundamentally disagree....although I do in some ways.

But, one of the reasons they're not leaving, is they may not be actually looking, or making themselves available. Coaches can often become the flavor of the month, and there's been plenty of talk about KF being headhunted. But he clearly has chosen Iowa.

I've always amazed when a high school kid chooses Iowa when they've been recruited by other higher profile schools. I know sometimes it's about the opportunity to actually play etc. etc. But sometimes, it's clearly something offered by the university, campus, coaches, fans, city, or other element.

Maybe coaches have chosen Iowa for the same reasons.

You definitely could be right and I actualyl agree with you. If you had the choice of having a job that paid well, let you do something you love, and had little to no accountability wouldn't you want that too? I think the disrepair of the basketball team helps KF/KOK, etc keep jobs because people say, well they may not be winning Big Ten titles or going to the Rose Bowl but at least the program isn't as bad as the basketball program? I guess I don't understand why Ferentz gets upset with fans being disappointed when he's getting paid more $ than "The Vest" who has won and been to other National Titles and consistently wins the conference. If Ferentz was the coach at Alabama or Florida or fill in your power school, they wouldn't be ok with losing to teams like Northwestern and Iowa State a more often than not. Iowa has proven it can be a good football school. We need our Urban Meyer or Nick Saban to come along and make it great. I just haven't seen that in Ferentz.

 

[dagdaj]

I wouldn't say there's no accountability. I think there's accountability there that we don't always consider, beyond Big 10 titles and BCS appearances.
Like it or not, it is a business.

I dunno about you guys, but my phone seams to ring the day after any significant Hawkeye win...and it's...guess who.....the Alumni Association calling. It's because they have these little tick boxes that include your major, the year you graduated, etc. etc.... and if you're a football fan. This allows them to merge and sort to their hearts content.

If there weren't significant wins, my phone's only ringing annually and whenever they decide to upgrade the Journalism building again.

I'm sure there's pretty significant obligations that KF has to successfully fulfill that go beyond winning and losing....but have a fair amount to do with winning and losing.

 

[cibula11]

I have been thinking about why Iowa loses to NW and what is it about Iowa that just seems to keep us from getting over the hump. I think we are close but some things need to change and I do not know if KF is the type to admit or make these changes and or if our AD has the balls to request them being made. What are your opinions?

1. Killer instinct of putting teams away hard. Hear me out on this. Teams that can run up the score seem to score fast. This type of play where Iowa currently gets a comfortable lead and then grinds out the win I think hurts them when they need ot score fast, or it keeps teams around that shouldn't. Now Saturday was just weird and awful How many dropped passes did Stanzi have that were not his fault? I guess we did go deep on the INT that swung the momentum back to NW. I would just like to see us make some better play calling where we act like we are the best team on the field.

2. QB coach... I think if we are going to compete nationally we need to act like it and have the support staff to develop the QB's into NFL prospects. I think Stanzi has done a great job but it sounds as if he has put the time in himself. It seems that other QBs in the league develop faster and out of nowhere when compared to ours.

3. Special Teams coach... shared duties on a part of the game that could be the differecne of a 9-1 season right now. More time and attention needs ot be put in place I think.

So my theories are all opinion but it seems we are just not there yet and it seems we are so close. I am just guessing at what I jhave observed this year. This is a dispointing season based on expectations, but it could be worse. Go Hawks!

We've been over the hump....last year.....in 2002 as well. You CANNOT realistically expect iowa to be a BCS contender year after year after year. It takes a lot more than talent to even get close to a championship of any kind. Last year and this year's Iowa teams aren't that different......just a play or two that went the other way this year. A ten win year every so often and a bunch of 8/9 win seasons aren't bad. In fact, comparative to coaches across the country, not paying players....that's about as good as it gets.