Why is it hard to win at Iowa?

M

MrTHawk

Well-Known Member
Chuck Hartlieb said something very interesting on the Ken Miller show this week. When asked the secret to Bill Snyder's success at Kansas State, he noted that the Kansas State football program enjoys the full support of the university, and that that is NOT the case at Iowa.

This week I had a conversation with a former player during the Fry era, and someone who's brother played during the Ferentz era. Both of them stated that issues like playing time and recruiting are strongly influenced if not dictated by boosters and university admin; and that to a great extent the head coach's hands are tied.

Is that what Hartlieb was alluding to when saying Iowa's football program does not have the full support of the University?

Are playing time and recruiting decisions really influenced/dictatated by politics and money at Iowa, more so than at other universities?

Is that a possible explanation for why the program is in its current state?

If so, then shame on the University of Iowa.

I would appreciate any informed opinions and input on this subject.
 
No long hairs allowed (as the featured QB) is our policy at Iowa......says the boosters and administrators.....

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MrTHawk said:
Chuck Hartlieb said something very interesting on the Ken Miller show this week. When asked the secret to Bill Snyder's success at Kansas State, he noted that the Kansas State football program enjoys the full support of the university, and that that is NOT the case at Iowa.

This week I had a conversation with a former player during the Fry era, and someone who's brother played during the Ferentz era. Both of them stated that issues like playing time and recruiting are strongly influenced if not dictated by boosters and university admin; and that to a great extent the head coach's hands are tied.

Is that what Hartlieb was alluding to when saying Iowa's football program does not have the full support of the University?

Are playing time and recruiting decisions really influenced/dictatated by politics and money at Iowa, more so than at other universities?

Is that a possible explanation for why the program is in its current state?

If so, then shame on the University of Iowa.

I would appreciate any informed opinions and input on this subject.
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No way in the world does Hayden Fry stay stay at Iowa if true. I find that completely ridiculous.
 
I have a hard time believing that the boosters and admin have a say in this. Maybe the Admin when it comes to classes taken or missed or bad grades with players on the roster. And admissions.
If thats true, I would be severly disappointed and would really re-think my fandom. Not really, but I dont think I would watch them much.
That really bothers me. Some dude that owns a large business and donates a millions gets to tell KF that he cant play so and so? What happened to boosters just giving envelopes to players?
 
I would not be surprised if those entities exerted some influence but I would be surprised and disapointed if they dictated to any significant degree who plays.

Recruiting? sure - there is an apparatus. If you don't have an apparatus you don't get players to come to the cornfields.
 
Ever hear of that feminist whack-nut that has tried to force the athletic department to remove the pink from the visitor locker room because it is "insensitive"?

And with that making it to the public every once-in-a-while, what do you think goes in the HQ behind the walls of Ft Kinnick on a daily basis?
 
HawkPrdatr40 said:
No way in the world does Hayden Fry stay stay at Iowa if true. I find that completely ridiculous.
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Fry was last here 16 years ago. Things can change a lot in 16 years.

Hunter Rawlings nearly did nearly motivate Hayden to leave...Hayden outlasted him. Yet what Rawlings started never completely disappeared. (the recurrent pink locker room scuttle is one indicator) It had just the appeal for a lot of the East Bank academics...and has given them a rallying point for hope at the wine and brie soirees ever since.

Competitive sports...how gauche and cretin. Never mind that the exposure brought by IOWA football and basketball was good for the University as a whole...including the stuffiest of academic pursuits. A rising tide lifts all boats. Of course, expecting liberal college professors to understand such a real-world economic and dynamic market concept....is a fool's errand.

Being pushed against the locker once in 8th grade, or not getting a date to the prom because you were the homely girl sticks with some people a long time.
 
When i first saw this thread title I just assumed it was going to be the usual story about Iowa being a low population rural state with 2 P5 schools competing for recruits.

Or maybe something about academic standards getting in the way, which may explain why Iowa can't just follow the Kansas State example.

But this whole theory that the boosters are influencing playing time is not one I have heard before.

Without using specific examples, it all sounds made up or exaggerated. Or without specific examples, it is hard to really understand what you mean.

I mean does Ferentz meet with boosters directly and they tell him, I will donate to the new football facility if you start Kidd over Kornbrath? I made that one up but is something like that going on?

Or is it things like A-Rob and Coker leaving after starting most of the year?

I really have no idea what you are really saying.
 
admission standards are way diff at KSU than Iowa. Snyder lives off the JUCO scene and Iowa can't get most admitted. Anderson just left Wisconsin and had, just prior to leaving, sited admissions challenges as an issue
 
HawkPrdatr40 said:
No way in the world does Hayden Fry stay stay at Iowa if true. I find that completely ridiculous.
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I personally have no way of knowing what's true and what's not because I am just a regular fan with zero connections/involvement with the UofI, but wasn't there a ruckus of some sort between Bob Bowlsby and Tom Davis over the recruitment of Joey Range? Something along the lines of "Don't recruit him or else" and Davis recruited him anyway. Thought I'd read that in the past, anyway. Soon, Davis was gone, and so was Joey Range. Coincidence?

Or I thought Ray Thompson was eligible by Big Ten and NCAA standards to play in the 1989 NCAA Tournament, but the University said "He can't play". If memory serves me correctly.

Again, I have no idea if there's any truth to this, but if so, then it pi$$es me off to no end and seriously hurts my view of Iowa's admins and athletic department. They need to stay the frick out of the way and let our coaches do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Iowa has enough inherent disadvantages with the low in-state recruiting grounds without hamstringing our coaches by interfering. Not necessarily saying I believe it's true, but if it is....

Then again, Fran recruited Anthony Hubbard. But then again, Hubbard didn't exactly last long, either, never having seen the court. Maybe the situation was 100% on Hubbard, but it does make me wonder if he was forced out in some way due to his background.

So I really am not sure what to make of all this.
 
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Adm. has a big influence. Like when they ran off Coker. Smart kid who wanted a education Football was secondary. Big Boosters influence the program. But I don't belive for one min. That they influence playing time
 
1977Hawkeye said:
Care to elaborate? I seriously haven't heard about this until now.
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See my other post.

Begin your research with the name Hunter Rawlings, who took over as President in 1988...at the height of IOWA's athletic success (multiple National titles in wrestling, an elite 8 and sweet 16 in hoops and 2 Rosebowls in four years). With a Master's from Princeton and the IVY league attitude to match... Rawlings immediately set a course to put athletics in its proper place. And there were plenty of ultra-lib faculty (it's not a stereo-type if it's true) that loved every minute of it and applauded his efforts.

Many of them could not STAND the idea of IOWA as a sports power and Hayden's comments like "little dumplings" and his pink locker room were just more than they could stomach. (the pink locker room still pops up every few years) Rawlings proposed tougher academic standards (above the Big Ten standards) in a thinly cloaked effort to put jocks in their place. He failed and Hayden outlasted him, as he ultimately got the IVY league job he wanted, as President of Cornell in 1995.

Make no mistake, there is still a core group on campus that despise the fact that athletics is such a prominent part of the University's identity. (competitive sports is after all, the antithesis of the euphorian equality which should be our core mission) And they'll continue to undermine it when given the opportunity.
 
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hawkdrummer1 said:
See my other post.

Begin your research with the name Hunter Rawlings, who took over as President in 1988...at the height of IOWA's athletic success (multiple National titles in wrestling, an elite 8 and sweet 16 in hoops and 2 Rosebowls in four years). With a Master's from Princeton and the IVY league attitude to match... Rawlings immediately set a course to put athletics in its proper place. And there were plenty of ultra-lib faculty (it's not a stereo-type if it's true) that loved every minute of it and applauded his efforts.

Many of them could not STAND the idea of IOWA as a sports power and Hayden's comments like "little dumplings" and his pink locker room were just more than they could stomach. (the pink locker room still pops up every few years) Rawlings proposed tougher academic standards (above the Big Ten standards) in a thinly cloaked effort to put jocks in their place. He failed and Hayden outlasted him, as he ultimately got the IVY league job he wanted, as President of Cornell in 1995.

Make no mistake, there is still a core group on campus that despise the fact that athletics is such a prominent part of the University's identity. (competitive sports is after all, the antithesis of the euphorian equality which should be our core mission) And they'll continue to undermine it when given the opportunity.
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YEP
 
hawkdrummer1 said:
See my other post.

Begin your research with the name Hunter Rawlings, who took over as President in 1988...at the height of IOWA's athletic success (multiple National titles in wrestling, an elite 8 and sweet 16 in hoops and 2 Rosebowls in the early 80s. With a Master's from Princeton and the IVY league attitude to match... Rawlings immediately set a course to put athletics in its proper place. And there were plenty of ultra-lib faculty (it's not a stereo-type if it's true) that loved every minute of it.

Many of them could not STAND the idea of IOWA as a sports power and Hayden's comments like "little dumplings" and his pink locker room were just more than they could stomach. (the pink locker room still pops up every few years) Rawlings proposed tougher academic standards (above the Big Ten standards) in a thinly cloaked effort to put jocks in their place. He failed and Hayden outlasted him, as he ultimately got the IVY league job he wanted, as President of Cornell in 1995.

But make no mistake. There is still a core group on campus that despise the fact that athletics is such a prominent part of the University's identity. And they'll continue to undermine it when given the opportunity.
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Wasn't he an athlete in college? A baseball pitcher? He was a tall $##@$. i was young when all this went down, so my memory is a little foggy, was Bump Elliot a strong AD? That core group you mentioned they have to be getting old they can't have that much influence, after the Stoops/committee debacle Bob Bowlsby pretty much got what he wanted.
 
hawkdrummer1 said:
Fry was last here 16 years ago. Things can change a lot in 16 years.

Hunter Rawlings nearly did nearly motivate Hayden to leave...Hayden outlasted him. Yet what Rawlings started never completely disappeared. (the recurrent pink locker room scuttle is one indicator) It had just the appeal for a lot of the East Bank academics...and has given them a rallying point for hope at the wine and brie soirees ever since.

Competitive sports...how gauche and cretin. Never mind that the exposure brought by IOWA football and basketball was good for the University as a whole...including the stuffiest of academic pursuits. A rising tide lifts all boats. Of course, expecting liberal college professors to understand such a real-world economic and dynamic market concept....is a fool's errand.

Being pushed against the locker once in 8th grade, or not getting a date to the prom because you were the homely girl sticks with some people a long time.
Click to expand...

I can honestly say that there is a very strong chance that I would not have gone to the University of Iowa were it not for being a fan of the athletics as a child.
 
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