 Mike HlasHi, I'm Gazette/TheGazette.com sports columnist Mike Hlas. This is the Hlog. We will meet here, discuss things, and then go [...] |
|
Email the author
Brian Ferentz: “We’re not that far away”
New Iowa offensive line coach says "We're doing what we've always done"
IOWA CITY — Conventional thinking in these parts is that Brian Ferentz swooped back into the Iowa football program last February and got his dad to wake up to some newer thinking.
Head Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz made assistant coaches a little more available to the media in March and April. The staff seemed to quickly have more of a presence on social media, where high school and college kids do a lot of nesting.
And, Iowa seemed to be working at recruiting even harder than ever, landing way more early-commitments than ever before.
Brian Ferentz at Iowa's Media Day (Mike Hlas photo)
Brian, who turned 29 in March, and fellow first-year assistant coach LeVar Woods, sent a jolt through the Hawkeye complex, many assumed.
Who’s to know how much that’s the case, especially in recruiting? Brian’s certainly not about to take credit, and it isn’t as if the rest of Iowa’s staff isn’t extremely familiar with TSA agents and rental-car counter clerks.
But if any young assistant coach can feel safe expressing opinions to a veteran head coach, wouldn’t it the head man’s son? Especially if that son was coming off a stint on the coaching staff of the AFC champion New England Patriots.
Still, when you suggest to Iowa’s new offensive line coach that the Hawkeyes may have needed an injection of something to get them back to the kind of success they once had, he sort of bristles.
“I would preface that by saying to think this program needs anything or needs to get back to anywhere,” Brian Ferentz said Monday at Iowa’s Media Day, “I think it’s very easy to forget past history.
“We’ve beaten Michigan three years in a row. They won the Sugar Bowl last year.
“We beat Michigan State two of the last three. They were in the Big Ten championship game.
“We beat Wisconsin two of the last three times we played them, and obviously, the last game we lost, let’s be honest. It was pretty much our fault. And they won the Big Ten championship game last year.”
Of course, he didn’t mention Iowa has lost to Minnesota the last two years. Or that it got handled by Nebraska and Oklahoma in last season’s final two games. Or that it has gone 4-4 in the Big Ten, 7-5 in the regular-season in each of the last two years.
My guess is No. 1 Son Ferentz had a few private discussions with Pops Ferentz with some opinionated observations about how to improve on those things, but the son is way too smart to go public with any of that.
Iowa finished the 2009 season ranked seventh in the nation. But in last week’s coaches’ preseason Top 25 poll, the Hawkeyes didn’t get a single vote.
The offensive line coach and reporters (Cliff Jette/The Gazette-KCRG)
The difference between now and then, or now and when Brian played on Iowa’s offensive line from 2002 to 2005, isn’t as great as the previous paragraph suggests according to the new O-line coach.
“I don’t think we’re that far away,” Brian said. “I don’t. And I don’t think that much has changed since I’ve been here (as a player). I really think this is a continuation of whatever has gone on.
“I think what we’re trying to do is what we’ve done here, and find just a little better way to do it, maybe.”
Brian was on the Hawkeye outdoor practice field Monday answering questions long after his colleagues returned to the sanctuary of their offices.
Iowa’s staff isn’t much different from nearly every other college football staff. Which means, it isn’t chatty. At least not around cameras and microphones.
But this Ferentz hasn’t been asked the same questions a dozen or two dozen straight summers, so he happily plays the Q-and-A game. Plus, he seems to understand the need to promote the program even when ticket sales are strong. You never know which prospect will read or hear a comment that hits home with him.
“We’re doing what we’ve always done, which is go find guys who fit here, guys who are Iowa football players,” he said. “We’re not looking for the most-talented guys every time, we’re looking for the right guys.
“I think this is the same program that it’s always been. I think we’ve been doing it since 1999. There’s no one else in our conference that can say that.
“What we’re going to look to do is do it better than we’ve ever done. It’s no different from it was in 2002 or 3 or 4 or 5, try to do it better than we’ve ever done before. That will never change.”
The difference is in the details. Maybe an iota more of vigilance or innovation, perhaps one more spark in the right recruit’s living room.
This program, whether the head coach or offensive line coach will publicly admit it, needed a shove forward. It just may have found it.
-u20042.png?1366232523)
“The difference is in the details. Maybe an iota more of vigilance or innovation, perhaps one more spark in the right recruit’s living room.”
The sentiment that such a “spark” or “shove” forward was necessary seems to ignore several obvious observations.
FIRST OFF:
Is that missing “spark” responsible for Iowa’s lack of depth at a number of key positions? Is that why Iowa has lost so many guys to attrition on the defensive line and at running back? I was under the impression that the contrast in Coach K’s coaching style compared to the rest of coaching staff was a significant contributor to the depth issues on the DL. As for at RB, it would appear that a combination of injuries and poor decisions were deciding factors there.
What difference would we have seen on the D-line had we not lost guys like Dezman Moses or Jason Semmes? Without a doubt, lack of talented depth on the DL hurt Iowa significantly in ’11. Furthermore, how might fresher legs have helped the DL in ’10? Given the splash that Moses has made with the Packers, I’m inclined to believe that he could also have been a significant contributor in ’10 for the Hawks.
Similarly, how might things have turned out differently had our RB situation been so bizarre over the past several years? Having to continually deal with newer guys at RB implies that the QB necessarily has to deal with an extra deficiency in pass-pro. That, in itself, makes a tangible difference … and it doesn’t even account for any corresponding drop-off in rushing production due to any lack of familiarity in running behind our zone-blocking scheme.
SECOND OFF:
Whether anybody wants to admit it or not, Norm’s health was likely more than a little bit of a distraction for the program. Without question, Norm is an outstanding teacher and he has an uncanny ability to relate to young people.
While I might be mistaken, I’m under the impression that Ferentz would have preferred to have had Norm transition to a consultant-type role. That would have kept Norm an active member of the program, but it would also have been better for his health. Unfortunately, I’m also under the impression that UI administrators “dropped the ball” on that one and opposed such a move.
How might things have been had Norm’s health not been a distraction? How might things have been had we transitioned earlier to the “Phil Parker” era? Here, mind you, we needn’t even consider the impact made by any hypothetical innovation by Phil either.
LASTLY:
If you’ve watched the DL over the past 2 years, you also noticed that there were obvious “motivational issues” going on there. Again, how much of this falls on the players just been “fat cats?” How much falls on Coach K’s inability to inspire or lead the DL? If you read between the lines from some interviews of either Coach Ferentz or Dom Alvis, you gather quickly that the DL now is getting “built up” more and apparently is practicing now with “better energy.” Need we wonder why Trinca-Pasat may previously have considered quitting the team? Heck, an interview of John Raymon was far more explicit.
What’s ironic is that after the ’07 season, fans and critics alike were clamoring for change at Iowa. Much was made about the need for Iowa coaches to “show more fire.” Yet the very fire that Coach K brought to the table arguably seems, in retrospect, to have been far more detrimental to the squad on many levels.
Vigilance? Innovation? Really? The factors above easily account for the sort of margin for error that separates a 7-5 team from a 10-2 team. If you don’t believe me, go back and re-watch the ’04 season and get back to me!
While it’s obvious that results have slipped toward the average, BF’s comment (reported elsewhere) that these games are turning on 3-5 plays is, I think, accurate. OSU, 2010: Pryor breaking contain on 4 and 10. Wisconsin: special teams failure. Same is true on some big wins: Michigan last year at the goal line, McNutt on fourth down at MSU two years ago.
Ferentz’ teams are notable for never really getting blown out, and he plays closer to opponents, consistently, than just about anyone. His numbers bring an NFL-like parity to Iowa football results.
That said, there are talent and experience issues to contend with this year, so there can’t be any gross breakdowns (DE play against ISU, e.g.) or energy deficits (Clayborn his senior year) or someone will blow us out.
The running back I’m intrigued with is Dawson. That guy is no adolescent, based on a couple of pictures I saw; he’s a fully formed man.
I don’t believe you can say we lost the games we have simply as a matter of “execution”. The fact is, we are absolutely predictable on both sides of the ball by the fourth quarter. If you look at our last 15 losses, at least ten came after we were tied or leading in the 4th. The only thing I ask is that they shuffle it up in the late going once in a while, and they might be able to shake some of these late losses off. Look at Pitt last year. We were dead as a hammer until the offense went to the no-huddle, and Pitt had no answer for it. Where were the utterly predictable Hawks they were expecting? Pitt did not know whether to jump, hop or wind their watches in the face of that. That’s only one example, because that is the only time in five years I have seen any imagination from the coaching staff in such a situation.
I do not expect triple reverses and flea flicker end-around-Statue of Liberty plays, but departing from run/wide receiver screen/deep out throw, rinse, repeat routine might keep Northwestern from beating us three times in the last five years.
By the same token, an occasional blitz or different defensive package might also keep Minnesota from walking down the field in the fourth quarter like the only thing in their way was the stadium turf. It is so obvious that it drives me up the wall.
The only truly worthwhile people I know learn from their mistakes.
If you were to venture to guess … how much predictability is born out of necessity? How much simply out of philosophy?
If you really closely even just watch Iowa’s RB play, you quickly realize how often Iowa’s youth at that spot as resulted in missed blitz pick-ups in the passing game OR lead to missing the cutback lane in the running game.
Why do I bring this up? Because of the self-evident observation that young guys are still ascending the learning curve and they make plenty of errors! What is a result of this? First off, when they make those errors … it’s an EXECUTION error! Secondly, how do you avoid those sorts of errors? As a teacher (read coach) you SIMPLIFY things, if you can, in order to emphasize things that the guys can execute consistently. What is the result of this? Potentially some “predictability.”
This doesn’t only apply to the Hawks in the running game … it’s also impacted us on D too. When you possibly have depth issues … and we’ve had depth issues on the DL … it impacts what our D can do when we have in the back-ups or new starters. When the DL lost contain many times last year … it often cost us! Oh, and by the way, those are EXECUTION issues!
How about Iowa’s special teams woes through the past 2 years!? Those issues, in themselves, cost us game! And, mind you, those were EXECUTION issues that resulted from DEPTH issues!
Certainly you might claim that injuries and depth issues hit about everybody … so Iowa isn’t facing anything unique. However, I’d ask you to closely examine Iowa’s attrition at DL and RB. With a straight face, can you honestly say that those issues are NOT rather unique?
Lastly, there ARE elements to how Iowa does things where the predictability is somewhat by design. The Iowa coaches have quite a good reputation when it comes to player development and a significant component of player development goes into how they TEACH the fundamentals to the players. When you focus on the fundamentals and allow for a somewhat greater simplicity in scheme, you also enable players to play FASTER. Frankly, the very ability of Iowa’s D to play FASTER is a big reason why the D has had such a tremendous track record! In fact, some of the very things that Fiedorowicz and others have gushed about Coach Davis aren’t due to schematic “innovation” … but rather because things were further SIMPLIFIED!
Anyhow, if you compile Iowa’s special teams, RB, and DL errors over the past several errors … those issues, essentially in themselves, are the difference between mediocre W-L records and successful ones.
So …. what were you saying about predictability again?
“It is so obvious that it drives me up the wall.”
Says the person without a college head-coaching job. It’s extremely easy to second guess any coaching decision post-loss (even Belichek can be second guessed). However, this coaching staff’s MO has always been play it conservative and straight up. When it works, it’s beautiful. They refuse to get beat by increasing risk, and getting out-manned coverages.
I disctinctly remember this coaching staff getting killed for running a double-reverse against Texas in the Alamo bowl and getting stuffed…a play which ended any chances of a win.