I tried to delete this yet it is still here……I guess my thought was, I shouldn’t get involved at all. I really don’t understand this level of bitterness or constant disdain for what has been the most successful Iowa coach we have had, but there isn’t much point in me fueling the fire I suppose.

Chad

Sue-Don:

I agree with b and c.

As for “a”, I agree that good teams have an identity. Iowa is a hard-nosed football team that develops “hidden” talent. However, the other part = “identity” is a stubborn thing = isn’t always true. Part of Iowa’s identity – besides being hard-nosed – is that they’re quite predictable and fairly simple to gameplan for offensively and defensively. Couple that with a dearth of playmakers on the offensive side (mostly) through the KF years, and you will struggle more and more over time, which is what Ferentz has done as well.

I believe that for this season to be a strong that the offense not only be allowed but be PUSHED to lead the team to success rather than follow the defense as it has most of the past 12 years. Many others see it that way as well; we only hope that KF meant what he said of by doing whatever was necessary to win games. That way, he can win games AND keep the fans and media happy!

Thanks Mike….and because I do believe in introspection, yes at times I am indeed condescending and jerky if you will. And honestly I really don’t like myself when I am. With that said a lot of people feel like I do and actually enjoy what I say, because they grow very tired of the incessant griping and finger pointing.

See you guys don’t get it…..we aren’t defending KF, we are defending what has been, over time, a terrific football program. We all know how fickle it can really be, because we have perspective and appreciation for those great programs who have let it slip away. We don’t think KF is infallible, but we know we don’t know enough to honestly call “them” out….being disappointed is one thing, but you guys are waaaayyyy past that, and the best thing….the thing that makes you mad at guys like me….

Is that you are very easy to disperse….you have no answers when we point out the fallacy of your logic and shortsightedness…Yes I can be condescending, but I’m here to defend myself and I am very honest about who and what I am. You shout barbs and disparaging, unhelpful, even hurtful insults at that which I have grown up following diligently. You don’t want Iowa to be dominant any more than me, and I sincerely doubt you watch more or read more about football than me……I’m no football coach and quite frankly have zero problem admitting when I’m wrong in life…with that said I know enuff to tell you and others like you, that you are mean spirited and all wet, when it comes to what you think you see…..

My advice to you is to take a different tone and angle when mad about how Iowa and KF let you down. As for me, as long as you aren’t just making crap up, tearing down the team or calling people like me out, I’ll avoid you……

Fair enuff….

Chad

chad – thought you said you were done! (just kidding!)

I’d like to respond to few things you pointed out:
- I also have a strong (and sometimes wordy – not all of us can be worsdsmiths like Doc, Morehouse and Hlas) competitive streak
- We agree the Iowa program has been successful to this point; where we still seem to differ is what level of success we desire for the program in the future = whether its current levels of success are acceptable or not (some of us desire more, others seem content with current levels), and whether or not Iowa is capable of sustaining a higher level of excellence
- I agree Iowa record-wise the past 10 years absolutely back your standing that Iowa is one of the top programs in the Big Ten
- I agree it is encouraging, but not acceptable to be in a lot of close games where one or two plays can make the difference, but still come out on the losing end a majority of the time the past 5 years
- We agree that you’re sometimes you’re sorry and over the top – oh wait, I mean over the top and sorry about it (and perhaps you’re a LITTLE baited into that mode by, um, OTHERS)

–Youth movement: This is a two-pronged subject. First, we did graduate a number of longtime starters from last year’s team, making this team, especially defensively, inexperienced and young – a dangerous combination. However, part of my issue with this is we have SO many walk-ons on top two levels of the depth chart. So not only are we young we’re also not as talented (yes, I know and appreciate the track record here development, but you can’t live off it if you want to sustain higher levels of excellence). Part of that is through player attrition and recruiting misfires (not many special talents want to play in a pro style program – no matter how many guys we get to the NFL), part of that is by not working in some of the older inexperienced players in years past- how horrible could it have been to work Daniel, Nardo, etc. into the NFL-caliber rotation 8-10 plays a game? It’s not as if we weren’t physically spent by the middle of the 4th quarter last year multiple times, causing in part multiple close game losses.

– I LOVE your krpytonite quote about execution – but since I’m much stronger than Superman, it doesn’t apply to me. Execution is easier when the defense doesn’t know what’s coming; execution is easier when you have 1-3 true playmakers on each side of the ball and/or special teams; execution by Iowa, especially offensively, has been lacking for most of the KF era – and the stats bear that out as well. If offensively we’re NOT predictable, how come we struggled so much last year with execution with a 3-year starter at quarterback, 2nd year RB (Robinson was good until the last couple of games), top-flight WR’s (which we almost NEVER have at all – much less TWO at the same time!) and above-average offensive line? How come we struggled with so much with 3 NFL rookie DL starters 2-3-year starters in the D-back field? (OK, I know that the Angerer and Edds and Hunter graduations hurt there more than most understand – but still……)

Is shotgun offense more predictable? Sometimes yes; for Iowa, even if they run it periodically the whole season, it isn’t going to be because they haven’t had made significant adjustments to their offense since 2004 and there won’t be much film to go off of compared to a majority of their rest of their offensive sets. Considering that JVB, KMM and KD are all back next year perhaps it should become a more permanent part of our offensive package. We’ll have to see. Simple is only better IF you can consistently execute the plays necessary to win games of all types – close and with wider point spreads.

– “We” don’t give credit to the staff for the changes do make. First of all, there haven’t been too many changes to any of our offensive/defensive packages over the years – that’s part of our stubborn identity. I’d like to ask you: Can you list 3-5 changes that have positively impacted the team without any fanfare? I can, but I’m REALLY curious to hear your list. I’ll give you one WITH fanfare: starting Stanzi over Christensen in 2008 when many who watched the games knew it was the right thing to do long-term but was pretty surprised that Ferentz would bench an older, more experienced player; to a lesser degree, you could argue Daniels over Binns last year.

I do give credit to the staff for getting FROSH involved on special teams and other areas. Sometimes he was forced to (Morris, Alston, Canzeri, etc.) but I believe he did make a conscious effort to play younger guys. It hasn’t fully paid off yet because we’ve struggled on special teams since 2005 – since we don’t have much depth we can’t afford many starters playing ST’s and because the young guys on ST’s aren’t as ready physically and there seems to be a lot of walk-ons there too.

– Philosophically, we’re just on different planes for what we desire for Iowa’s fortunes. One group is proud of and more satisfied with what Iowa’s done and where Iowa is on a national scale in terms of success. The other group is also proud of what KF has done to rebuild the program; however, it sees OPPORTUNITY for even greater success when it comes to all the close losses rather than temporary disappointment with all the close “damning” losses.

Iowa is close in so many games because of all the strengths that we already know about: toughness, execution (especially defensively, until the past few years) and playing relatively low-mistake (penalties and turnovers) football. What “others” feel it lacks are enough playmakers on each side of the ball; less that, more “wrinkles” or variety in their offensive/defensive approaches – NOT wholesale changes. Why?

The college game is always evolving, even though the basics of momentum, timing, etc. all still are parts of the game. However, it’s PLAYMAKERS above all that can swing all those basic elements of football – which comes back to recruiting. Absent consistent playmakers, strategies/philosophies MUST be slightly (or signficantly, depending on the situation) altered to more wrinkles both offensively and defensively. If those adjustments aren’t made then it greatly increases the need for near-perfect execution – which is difficult enough to do without individual playmakers much less at crunch time. That’s where Iowa’s struggled the past few years at crunch time. That’s where others see opportunity to get that extra 1-3 wins a year.

– I’d like to part by saying that Iowa’s program, nor its staff, is terrible by any means – it’s pretty good by any measure and salary (the salary doesn’t bother me – it’s not taxpayer/student money so why should it ?). I just see a small hump that KF and crew haven’t been able to consistently get over and stay over the last few years. Ten wins used to be a special achievement, but in reality 10-3 is just a pretty good record nowdays; 11-2 really good to great, and 12-2 through 14-0 is great to awesome. I truly believe that Iowa is very close to not only reaching that “excellent” or “great” level but staying there as well. I don’t feel comfortable just accepting 8-10 wins a year just because it’s Iowa – not when I believe we’re so close.

I’ve also been lucky enough to become pretty edumacated on football and life. I’m also lucky enough to see the difference that 1-2 playmakers and/or strategical adjustments can make on a football field, from the high school level on up. That’s why it’s frustrating to be able to envision small adjustments/influxes on talent on the Hawks and see 10-win season become a regular thing at Iowa rather than a special accomplishment for the program. With conference championship and bowl games, that’s up to 14 games a year, and 8-9 wins doesn’t mean what it’s used to……..

FRANK:
By the way Frank, just because some people question Ferentz doesn’t mean they HATE him or the program. Telling everyone whose opinions of KF/Iowa don’t agree with you to go cheer for another team sounds a lot like “get out of MY sandbox”. It’s not YOUR sandbox to eject people from – and besides, ISU’s bandwagon appears to be full currently (though we should check back in about 5 weeks!).