Alex Rodriguez of the NY Yankees, the highest paid player in baseball history, was benched for poor performance in the playoffs. He was 0-18 with 12 strikeouts. And before he was benched, the Yankees pinch-hit for him, and A-Rod’s replacement hit 9th inning homer to tie the game and a 12th inning homer to win it. Now the guy who did that, Raul Ibanez, is no A-Rod, but hey, give a guy a shot, and who knows?

Of course, if Kirk Ferentz managed the Yankees, A-Rod would have run his streak to 0-who knows how many. And after the loss, Ferentz would have said, “A-Rod is our third baseman, and we’re sticking with him.” Some might think if A-Rod and his hundreds of millions can be benched, maybe the Iowa QB could. But, of course, they would be wrong…

We know that Iowa has experienced some good success under the present head coach. But we’re not talking the past here, we’re talking the present and the future. So in that context, how is the current Iowa football program under Kirk Ferentz better than the Iowa B-ball program under Todd Lickliter?

Football seems out-manned and out-coached on a regular basis. It is boring. It is predictable. The head coach is in denial. Many fans have gone from cautious optimism to concern to disappointment to anger. The next phase, as we all know from watching the recent B-ball meltdown, is apathy.

And fanning the anger is the stone-walling of the head coach. He refuses to admit the obvious, and he refuses to even allow another QB on the game field despite being the worst starter in D-1 football and beyond. Unless a miracle akin to the parting of the Red Sea occurs, by the time this disaster of a football season mercifully ends with no bowl game, Iowa’s football program will be in a shambles similar to the end of the Lauterbur and Commings’ eras, and embarrassingly, the Lickliter era.

We all know the Head Hawk is stubborn, but continuing to do what he’s doing, and not doing, now seems well beyond stubborn. Some might say it’s kinda crazy.

And if you were one of those 30 recruits Iowa had on hand Saturday night, what would you be thinking?

The problem is Kirk lives by the motto “If it aint broken don’t fix it” and he doesn’t appear to realize Iowa’s offense is broken. He gave his answer to changing QB’s in the game as with less than 2 minutes left in the fourth James was sent back into the game. Kirk might as well as rang the dinner bell and said, “Come and get it”. James took a beating for what? To get experience? He is a 5th year senior with fewer and fewer games left for him to have a McGloin like transformation into an effective QB that doesn’t treat the endzone like superman approaching Kriptonite. A better use of the last 8 minutes of the game would have been letting Vandenberg sit and putting in the backup QB for some much needed experience. As James’s backup has no game experience at all. We failed to play the back-up in the win over Minnesota and now the loss to Penn State. I guess the perks of a huge contract and 20+million dollar buy out means you can be as stubborn as you want to be. If Kirk wants James to succeed bad enough by golly he’s gonna make it happen. This situation is so similar to the Christianson saga in that we were told week after week that there was no viable option besides Jake, until Iowa started Stanzi. The rest is history. I believe that decision to start Stanzi still sticks in Kirk’s craw (whatever that is, I googled it). I would very much like to see for myself if Ruddick is clearly inferior to Vandenberg, but I know I won’t be able to see it unless we are out of bowl contention. Tonight we were out coached and out played, at stretches in the game I thought James was confused at which team he was playing for as he threw interceptions, near interceptions, had unforced fumbles, and generally looked confused. Not all is James fault, Iowa had no running game tonight. The best runner on the field was Cotton who is now a receiver but someone I would like to be considered for running back. Garmon is simple to tentative to be a starter.

The above comment nailed everything accurately. We are officially in the Lickliter/Barta era of football. Replacing Barta will be a start. Iowa’s recruiting has been sub par for years. Last nights effort will probably be recruiting for O’Brien and Penn State. Ferentz is indeed in denial on many fronts, but so is the entire board of trustees and President Mason. Iowa is non-competitve in football, as the loss to Central Michigan and Penn State underscored.

If I were one of those recruits, Central Michigan and Lamar would look good to me right now. I cannot imagine why any of them would want to play for this program. I do not know what it is about eastern Iowa, but there is a Zone of Denial, about 30 miles in diameter, radiating out from Kinnick. Inside that Zone, reality has no place. Everything will be “just fine”. Everything is always “just fine”, and anyone who strays from that message will be subjected to repeated airings of the Iowa Fight Song until they come around. It’s like dealing with Moonies, and I wonder how they will spin this one at the next I-Club breakfast. I think the only way anything will change in this program is when the AD finally looks at Kirk Ferentz and says “Coach, you’re fired.” Like THAT will ever happen. Until then, we will pay four million a year for a series of 5-7, 6-6 and 7-5 seasons, and 4-4 in the Big Ten at best. God, what a joke we have become!

Criticism after a loss always rings sour. However, even after the Michigan St. win and even with a healthy Weissman it is obvious the Iowa offense “is” broke. There is plenty of blame to go around but here are a few things that I have noticed; 1) Vandy has been horribly inaccurate, not just this year but last year also. 2) There is absolutely no reason for opposing defenses not to blitz because they never pay a price. It is either quickly thrown out of bounds or dumped off for 2 yards. 3) Similarly there are way too many 2-3 yard patterns (appear to be 1st option and not check down) with the receiver’s back to the defense with absolutely no opportunity for YAC.

I honestly don’t know where the problem lies. I do see a QB that is playing poorly. I see a bad gameplan that doesn’t challenge defenses at all. I’m not convinced that Iowa doesn’t have just as much or more talent than teams that have beaten them (ISU, Central Mich, Penn St.). Many of the criticism’s of coach Davis from Texas fans seem to be ringing true at Iowa. Yes he did win a national championship when he had the best player in college football (Vince Young). But then again so did Gene Chizick with Cam Newton and now without Cam he can’t seem to win a game. However, I stop short of putting blame on Greg Davis or Phil Parker for that matter, because many of the approaches and changes that they talked about before the season have not been allowed to be implemented. I can only presume KF is stubbornly dictating this. The analogy of Lickliter to Iowa’s football offense is dead on. I am tired of what appears to be an approach of run out the clock and shorten up the game as much as possible, Iowa fans are paying big money to watch football not the clock run. If you believe you are the better coach and the better team on the field, generally a longer game should be to your benefit. I don’t know why the Penn St. offensive approach couldn’t work at Iowa. But that would mean change would need to be embraced by KF.

Kirk is stubborn to a fault. I honestly don’t think he thinks of the 100+ players on his team, the many fans, or even the QB’s when he gets like this. His PC was pure defensiveness, so that is all you need to listen too. He knows he “should” do something at QB. He’s not a complete idiot. His unwillingness to sub in Rudock last night was the big screw you to the boo birds. He’s stubborn. But he’s got bigger problems. The RB issue is real and doesn’t help. The OL issue is now real. And the QB issue is very real.

But you know, Wwen you see a reclamation project like McGloin you have to ask yourself, why do Iowa QBs regress. I think it falls on the HC. I am pretty certain Bill O’Brien would have pulled Vandy last night, if even for a right fielder to end the inning.

It is obvious to me that vanderberg has one receiver in his passing game, unfortunately the defense knows and can see it in his eyes when he drops back. How many times, did I say “who is he throwing it to” He continually throws into triple coverage with 2 of the three defenders in front of his receiver. There was more than one opportunity where I could not even see the receiver. This is not the offensive coordinator fault, it is a young man who is can not see the forest for all the trees. Ferentz is blind at this point as he continues to make excuses for this kid and look beyond what talent or lack of it that this kid has brought to a stadium every saturday this fall. Sure, weisman has brought something to cheer about but why did the coaching staff not see the talent in him before the injuries threw him into the spotlight. This leads to the entire coaching staff,s failure. This is the real reason for the hawks struggling this year and ferentz is making his excuses for a the lack of overseeing his staff just like he is for his players on the field.

I echo and agree with most of the comments made by Mike Hlas and others who commented in response to Mike’s article. The Penn State and Iowa football game was “men” (Penn State players and coaches) versus “boys” (Iowa players and coaches). I am a long time Iowa fan and financial supporter.
Here are my comments in bullet point format:
1. I feel sorry for the Iowa football players who put in a tremendous number of (countless) hours building up their bodies and practicing in order to be successful as individuals and as a team. Is their lack of success is due to the coaches philosophy/system/mistakes, lack of talent, or failure of the players to execute/mistakes? I believe that it is all of the above.
2. Iowa’s lack of recruitment and retention of quality/talented football players has really taken its toll on the football program and has put the program on an unstable foundation. For people (coaches, athletic director, fans and others) to say that 4 and 5 star players will not come to Iowa for their education and athletic experience is simply a cop out. Most coaches are successful because they can recruit and retain talented/quality student athletes, AND/OR they can adapt their “system” to the talent level and skills of the players they have.
3. Hiring Greg Davis as offensive coordinator was a huge mistake. The offense system implemented by the coaching staff (Kirk Ferentz and Greg Davis) is not working. Iowa coaches would probably say it is due to lack of execution by the players. Greg Davis was fired at Texas for a reason.
His coaching and system was not producing a successful result there even with the abundance of talent that he had on offense. So why would anyone think hiring Davis and implementing his system at Iowa (with less talent) would produce a successful result? It is my understanding that Greg Davis is a conditional hire, because he was hired on a fast track in lieu of interviewing other qualified candidates. I know this won’t happen, but this is an opportunity for Ferentz to let Davis go at the end of the season and hire an offensive coordinator who can implement and adapt a system that will allow the players and team to be successsful.
4. When Gary Barta signed Kirk Ferentz to a long term contract, it was both a blessing and a curse. Yes, it provided some coaching stability (for recruiting, etc.) for the Iowa football program, financial security for Ferentz, and potential job security for Barta. However, Iowa cannot now make a coaching change unless they are willing to buy out his contract for around $20 million. This probably will not happen unless the alums and major financial contributors are willing to demand a coaching change.
5. The 2012 Iowa football team (coaches and players) is very disfunctional
and underachieving. The Iowa football team may easily end up losing all of their remaining games. For the sake of the players who work so hard, I hope that the football season does not end in this way.
5. Lastly, when athletic teams win, people (mostly fans) tend to forgive (or at least tolerate) or forget the coaching and players (teams) shortcomings and mistakes.

People have such short memories, and comparing Kirk’s Iowa football teams to Lickliter’s basketball teams is completely ludicrous, I’m not going to get into all of the statistics, but maybe we should embrace reality just a little bit:

Comparison between Lickliter and Ferentz:
Lickliter’s winning percentage: 40%
Ferentz: 59%
Lickliter had three straight losing seasons, Ferentz has had one season under .500 in the last eleven years.

A better comparison here might be to Tom Davis’ basketball teams:
Tom Davis’ winning percentage in Big Ten play 54%
Kirk Ferentz winning percentage in Big Ten Play 55%

Of course all of the feelings about Hawkeye Football are bad right now just like they were for the men’s basketball program in 1997-1998. What followed was a (forced) early retirement for Tom Davis, who took his 1998-1999 team to the Sweet 16, and the worst years for Hawkeye Basketball in decades. So much so that Fran’s 18-17 (52%) team last year seems like (and is) an accomplishment, even though it is far less than Davis’ winning percentage of 66% overall and even far less that Ferentz’s winning percentage (57%) this year.

But what did we hear before Davis’ forced retirement? “We want to win national championships!” Now, 13 years later we are excited about a basketball team that is barely over .500 and some recruits with some stars who haven’t proven anything yet (though I hope they do).

What did we hear last year? “Get rid of KOK!” And, here we are with a downgraded offensive coordinator who can’t seem to get the ball past the line of scrimmage and we are supposed to believe this broken offense is due to losing one receiver (albeit a very good one) to the NFL, and the fault of a Quarterback who threw for 3022 yards, 25 touchdowns and only seven interceptions last year. A team that averaged 27 ppg. last year.

Right now, I would take the 27 KOK points per game. Maybe its not so much that Ferentz isn’t willing to change, maybe he was willing to change to much?

Any change brings the risk of getting worse instead of better, and it is much harder to rebuild then it is to improve…

I would say Fry and Kirk have given us some great moments, and Kirk will give us more in the future, definitely an improvement over Bob Commings…

Does anyone remember his winning percentage?

I guess not.

Wow, this is such a great an accurate article, and even the responses, minus the homer refusing to realize the basketball and football production should be just taken at face value for the sake of quick comparison.
Now that KOK is gone, Kirk has exposed himself as THE problem with Iowa Football. A couple of things come to mind here that I want to add that contributors have not yet…

1. We remember the recent Stanzi/Christensen qb controversy but let’s think back a little further, remember when Ferentz’s loyality kept a Heisman runner up on the bench? When Brad Banks got a shot and came in for McCann, look what happened. You can google all of Brad’s awards and you will be blown away.

2. Next, I am aware what a HC change can do to a program, however, at what point is a major university in a major conference going to call a program “rock bottom” before something is done? And why would we even wait for rock bottom to come before we do anything about it? As stats and time have proven, mediocrity with flashes of good, are what the Ferentz era will be. The guy isn’t getting any younger and with age, the less likely people are to change.

3. So if we are hovering in the area of major breakdown, why not revamp the whole program starting with the HC? I know the big excuse is buyout of his contract, blah, blah, blah. In a time where college football is DOMINANT, with tv money, bowl money, ticket prices, boosters, etc, the money on a buyout to us regular joe’s is big time, but for a college football program, it’s not impossible and it can be done. I am also hoping at some point KF decides to say enough is enough. Go take that NFL job that he uses as leverage and see how well you do. At least in the NFL, overpaid and underperforming is the norm, so he will fit right in.

4. Barta is another topic in itself and you will be spared of my thoughts and the reality of what he has done, or lack of, for another time.
Lastly, I am not anti-hawkeye or a hater in any way. I wish that we could have success under KF and the players/recruits that come in, or at least give them a chance to show they can or cannot play with the big boys. I do not blame any player for not giving it his all, every chance they get.

All I know is that it just hurts my heart and kills my spirit to watch what has become of our beloved Hawkeyes, and the worst part is, we aren’t seeing anything being done to fix the problem.

ZM memories are in the past if your satisfied with memories then fine but the future is now and KF and JVB are soon to be just memories of a horrible season instead of building now for the future of IOWA HAWKEYE FOOTBALL. The 30 + recruits that watched the game Saturday most likely will not be HAWKS in their future. Maybe KF has a game plan of his own. Maybe he figures he can get out with the big bucks (buyout) easily if he has bad teams and if thats the case it looks like his game plan is working.

Zach, I guess you missed the point that we’re not talking about what happened in the early days of Kirk. We’re talking about the present and the future, and any objective analysis would have to conclude it ain’t pretty. And since I sat through the Lauterbur and Commings eras and observed more than I wanted of Lickliter, my only conclusion is that, like the $4 million man, you too are in denial. Reality can be harsh. I get it, but it won’t improve by trying to ignore it.