Willies Gone?

[HawkWT]

I am not going to slam any kid that wants to be close to his family while medical issues are going on.

 

[BLKNGOLD48]

---

-Per HawkeyeHeaven who texted with his Mom:
"He is not getting the opportunity to grow like he was led to believe"

-Myself and several others here were told following the ISU game (by sources within the team) that he was unlikely to stick around for a coach that wouldn't throw the ball down field. He was definitely disillusioned by our pathetic offense (as are some other players)

So, while his Father may very well be ill, put the above two items together with the fact that Rock Island is only an hour away...(hardly a prohibitive distance) and you have a convenient warm and fuzzy press release. Take another drink of the kool-aid

I 100% agree with what you said. When you actually have WR that can stretch the field and you keep checking down it makes zero sense. This is why I think most fans want CJB to play, is he's not afraid to take shots, the WR saw the ball more when he was playing. Now, we have JR who KF has taught very well to not make any mistakes to just check down all the time. CJB goes against everything KF believes in and that is the reason he doesn't see the field. I would rather see CJB throw 3 picks down the field then watch another check down. See the trend, Willies is fed up with the philosophy and others will follow. This is all on KF.

 

[BLKNGOLD48]

I am not going to slam any kid that wants to be close to his family while medical issues are going on.

I haven't seen very many posters slam Willies for leaving. But as previous posters suggested, he is an hour from home. Are you going to say the same thing when he transfers twice as far away? Have a another sip of the kool-aid.

 

[Easton]

Anyone thinking Willies leaving mid season is OK, this is a major problem and this might just be the beginning. I have no clue what happened, and KF saying he wants to be close to his sick Dad is BS. Most fans don't buy that BS anymore or at least I don't. Personally, I think the ship is sinking, and has been for years. How GD is still employed after the last 2 season is beyond me, but KF gives him praise. I like KF, but I honestly believe it is time for a change, and I know that will probably not happen with his buyout and contract, but if we see some talented players like Willies jumping, that has me worried about the future. I think there is more coming, hate to say it. Very frustrated right now, we're 5-2, and in the hunt for the west division and it seems to me that the team is falling apart. I think there is some players that are as frustrated as the fans right now too. I hope I'm wrong, but this just does not feel right.

You think they are lying about the kids dad being sick?

Not sure what to think of that, maybe you need a break from obsessing over 19 year old football players.

 

[Easton]

I haven't seen very many posters slam Willies for leaving. But as previous posters suggested, he is an hour from home. Are you going to say the same thing when he transfers twice as far away? Have a another sip of the kool-aid.

His dad lives in Arizona. Guardian in quad cities.

 

[528646]

And this is precisely what's wrong around this forum... what we have
is a bunch of barely legal adults whose moral compass says it's perfectly
OK... even laudible... to walk out on your team mid-season.

There's really no answer for that... it's indicative of what society has become.

You know what I blame this on the downfall of? Society.

 

[BLKNGOLD48]

You think they are lying about the kids dad being sick?

Not sure what to think of that, maybe you need a break from obsessing over 19 year old football players.

Actually, I never said the kids Dad wasn't sick. Take a break from obsessing, you're the one who's telling me info on a 19 year old. Granted that's what's reported is he's leaving to be close to his sick Dad, which now is reported that his Dad lives in Arizona. So, it makes more sense that he will transfer to the West Coast, which I stand corrected. But I don't buy KF BS anymore about why kids leave, do you really think he's going to say he was unhappy with the offense? His mom was asked and said he was promised things that didn't happen. Believe what you want.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

He's not going to find another school closer to home... If his father is ill and he wants to be close to him I get that. But if he's leaving the program to go pretty much anywhere else that's not the end all be all reason.... I stand by what was told to me. He's been in dog house a few weeks now and it's something between him an Kennedy. I can see with his Dad being ill it impacting his decision to leave right now. But as far as him transfering away going forward that's because of all the obvious reasons and him not endearing himself with the staff.

 

[Easton]

Actually, I never said the kids Dad wasn't sick. Take a break from obsessing, you're the one who's telling me info on a 19 year old. Granted that's what's reported is he's leaving to be close to his sick Dad, which now is reported that his Dad lives in Arizona. So, it makes more sense that he will transfer to the West Coast, which I stand corrected. But I don't buy KF BS anymore about why kids leave, do you really think he's going to say he was unhappy with the offense? His mom was asked and said he was promised things that didn't happen. Believe what you want.

Sorry for telling you info that is readily available. Wild speculation and conspiracy theories are much more reliable.

Can you read the players minds from your computer? Good skill to have if you got nothing else.

 

[CPHAWK82]

I just hope the coaches told him he doesn't need to make it official until after the season and that he can take this time to go and see his dad and think about his future. I also hope that they reiterated their plans for him going forward and how much they plan on using him. None of that may matter, I'm just holding out hope.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Maybe a parallel would be the guy who "kills it" at the Senior Bowl and NFL combine and then turns out to be a complete dud in the NFL. Maybe this is the situation with Willies? At this point, do we really know?

A (possible) better example might be guys that "kill it" in PTL...and fail to "kill it" during "real" games...

 

[BlindDogScooter]

---

-Per HawkeyeHeaven who texted with his Mom:
"He is not getting the opportunity to grow like he was led to believe"

-Myself and several others here were told following the ISU game (by sources within the team) that he was unlikely to stick around for a coach that wouldn't throw the ball down field. He was definitely disillusioned by our pathetic offense (as are some other players)

So... what you're saying is we have a kid who
has already made this decision three games into
his first year on the field.

Guess what? If that's true he doesn't belong here
and not many other D1 coaches will be welcoming
him with open arms.

Do you see how ridiculous that sounds? of course you don't... doesn't fit the narrative.

 

[BLKNGOLD48]

Sorry for telling you info that is readily available. Wild speculation and conspiracy theories are much more reliable.

Can you read the players minds from your computer? Good skill to have if you got nothing else.

Do I really need to read players mind to figure out what's going on? Like you said, the information is out there. We have a talented player leaving mid-season, that doesn't throw up a red flag to you? I'm not going to dispute what KF said that the kid wants to be closer to his sick Dad. My point is, what is a head coach going to say in that situation, that he is unhappy with the program and the lack of offense? I just see this as a major issue, and you act like this is the first time a player has left, it happens too often at Iowa. Carry on.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

---

-Per HawkeyeHeaven who texted with his Mom:
"He is not getting the opportunity to grow like he was led to believe"

-Myself and several others here were told following the ISU game (by sources within the team) that he was unlikely to stick around for a coach that wouldn't throw the ball down field. He was definitely disillusioned by our pathetic offense (as are some other players)

So, while his Father may very well be ill, put the above two items together with the fact that Rock Island is only an hour away...(hardly a prohibitive distance) and you have a convenient warm and fuzzy press release. Take another drink of the kool-aid

I thought he moved to Rock Island to play football and that his family lived elsewhere...

 

[alexzelada]

I'm not going to disagree with anything you say here, but we still do not know the whole story. Maybe the guy is a "locker room lawyer". Maybe he screws up routes a lot. Who knows?

You're working too hard to avoid the obvious

 

[BlindDogScooter]

Why do people keep pretending we haven't seen him in game action?

Probably the same reason some people think they know everything that's going on off the field...

 

[Easton]

Do I really need to read players mind to figure out what's going on? Like you said, the information is out there. We have a talented player leaving mid-season, that doesn't throw up a red flag to you? I'm not going to dispute what KF said that the kid wants to be closer to his sick Dad. My point is, what is a head coach going to say in that situation, that he is unhappy with the program and the lack of offense? I just see this as a major issue, and you act like this is the first time a player has left, it happens too often at Iowa. Carry on.

Leaving to be with sick family member doesn't raise a flag with me. Of course I believe in taking people at their word and i understand that the tinfoil crowd will always believe they know more.

Players leave all the time, correct. Players do not leave mid season unless their are other circumstances. You can believe a kid is giving up a year of football because he is mad, or you can believe he is leaving to be with family.

If he is leaving out of spite than he is forfeiting more than he understands. You don't get years of eligibility back because you are feeling slighted.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Do I really need to read players mind to figure out what's going on? Like you said, the information is out there. We have a talented player leaving mid-season, that doesn't throw up a red flag to you? I'm not going to dispute what KF said that the kid wants to be closer to his sick Dad. My point is, what is a head coach going to say in that situation, that he is unhappy with the program and the lack of offense? I just see this as a major issue, and you act like this is the first time a player has left, it happens too often at Iowa. Carry on.

<<(T)hat doesn't throw up a red flag to you?>>

Some times yes, some times no. There have been guys in the past that quit mid-season with "nagging" injuries, school, etc. Aaron Greving quit in the middle of 2002. The same Aaron Greving that was, before injury, slated to be starting at RB.

He stayed at Iowa and finished school, i.e., not EVERY person that leaves the team hates the offense, the coach or the school.

In fact, I'm kind of surprised there hasn't been a lot more made of the arrest of a certain LB last weekend and that he was (possibly) drinking because of how bad this program is...

 

[Eda]

I was interested to see how the catch allocation went this year compared to the rest of the conference as well. Here's something I pulled from the stats page at ESPN:

Team........     WR    TE    RB    OTH
Illinois.....   62.9%    10.2%    26.9%    0.0%
Indiana......    69.7%    7.3%    22.9%    0.0%
Iowa.........    51.8%    23.8%    21.3%    3.0%
Maryland....    74.3%    2.7%    23.0%    0.0%
Michigan....    75.0%    14.2%    10.0%    0.8%
Minnesota...    50.7%    30.7%    17.3%    1.3%
MSU.........       77.6%    14.0%    7.7%    0.7%
Nebraska....    78.3%    5.0%    15.0%    1.7%
NW..........       81.0%    0.0%    18.3%    0.7%
Ohio State..    42.6%    16.4%    41.0%    0.0%
Penn State..    64.3%    22.8%    12.9%    0.0%
Purdue.......    46.4%    24.8%    28.1%    0.7%
Rutgers......    63.2%    11.2%    17.6%    8.0%
Wisconsin...    52.8%    27.0%    19.1%    1.1%

This graph is a reflection of the level of talent we have at WR, TE, and RB out of the backfield. It also reflects the gameplan changing weekly (targeting the TE and RB vs Maryland; throwing deep vs Pitt etc).
I'd add that it would make it harder for defenses to gameplan against us, as the ball is getting spread around.

Good stuff... thx for posting.

 

[docholihawk]

So... what you're saying is we have a kid who
has already made this decision three games into
his first year on the field.

Guess what? If that's true he doesn't belong here
and not many other D1 coaches will be welcoming
him with open arms.

Do you see how ridiculous that sounds? of course you don't... doesn't fit the narrative.

Other coaches will be more than happy to welcome him. If you don't believe me take a look at Fred over in Ames and what he has welcomed. Another example is Dorial Beckham-Green going to Oklahoma. Some coaches sell their souls for talent.