KF's post game interview was one of his best, most candid and most revealing in a long, long time IMO.
These nuggets stood out to me (and partially explain his stance, decision making and seeming resistance to change engendering all the criticism of him the last couple of weeks) and certainly exemplify his 'stability' as a coach and his mindset vs the reactivity we have as fans:
1) Re: the kickers: "LeVar let him know yesterday morning. Only because we weren't sure. The guys have been going back and forth and I've been saying all along we're probably going to ride the roller coaster a little bit. Aaron, you haven't seen the last of him. He's done a good job. We have two good kickers right now. Hopefully they can get comfortable."
Acceptance of 'ride the roller coaster a little bit' is not something KF is known for or assumed to be part of his makeup on our discussion board so it kind of reflects a change (at least publicly) from the KF of old. The last line is a bit mysterious........could have multiple interpretations.
2) Re: the Offense: "Spencer, I thought, made some beautiful throws tonight and some real near misses. Hopefully in time those will be completions. Whether it's throw a little off or maybe the receiver a little bit off, that type of deal"
"Probably the biggest gain for us was Nico, because he's a veteran. He's a good player, he's nifty and he knows how to play, he really does. That was good. I want to compliment Arland (Bruce), too. Arland had a heck of a game, not only on offense, but special teams. He's really playing hard. " From KF, this is "high praise" for both Nico and Arland.
"You're not going to throw deep balls 80 percent of the time. But you got to throw 'em, otherwise they're going to be right in your back pocket the whole time. So I think that was good to see some balls going down the field." I suspect he wants it 'out there' that he knows Iowa's tendencies and how opponents view how to beat his team by stacking the box, etc. For him, it's almost always 'risk aversion' first and foremost so if your top receivers aren't able to go, not going to throw the ball downfield and risk and INT. Now that they are 'back', especially those in which he has the most confidence, he acknowledges what many on her have been carping about to loosen up the defense. This directly contradicts the opinion of some of our more vocal Lounge members that he doesn't have a clue .....
3) Re: Keagan J. in street clothes 2nd half: "No, he just didn't feel like he could get loose. So I think just the disruption probably affected him today."
also, Noah Shannon: "He's had a nagging injury. He tried today and just didn't feel like he was real effective."
Perhaps not different from the past (I don't know) but seems more open or public about sharing his athletes input on whether they can go 100% whereas previously it seemed like it was almost always a 'coaching decision' and the reasons for that decision not forthcoming.
4) Re: Kaleb J.: "He has a good attitude. He has a little energy to him that's fun. He's not -- naive is not the right word -- but it's all new to him, so it's kind of fresh. He has been fun to work with and he has done things."
Again, high praise from KF so as his confidence in Kaleb grows for not turning over the ball, the more we'll see of him, I suspect.
5) Re: a shutout: "For us especially, we never seem to get shutouts. You start putting the reserves in, the ball seems to go down the field fast. It was good to see the backup guys play well for a change"
About as close as KF gets to throwing guys under the bus. He's either sending a message to his reserves to work harder or he's citing this to show they are creating some depth that hasn't always been there in the past and the recruiting uptick we've noticed is starting to pay some dividends. I think this is an unusually blunt and revealing statement from KF.
6) Re: OL: "We actually rotated about three guys at the right guard spot. Pretty much stable everywhere else. We're letting the guys compete and we'll see who can grab onto the job."
7) Q. At what point would you like to have a sure fire, here's our starting five each week on the line?
KIRK FERENTZ: Three weeks ago. But just hasn't worked that way. You play it out. I want to let the guys compete and see. We're talking about some guys that really haven't played very much either. You just got to see them in game action. Sometimes it's painful. But those mistakes will get cleaned up and they will get better and we'll try to figure out it. And practice is a big evaluation time for us too. So it's obviously pretty close right now or we wouldn't be doing that.
This last passage almost summarized his entire philosophy. Lots of us cite his devotion to veteran players even though, in our eyes, younger guys may be more deserving. I don't think he views it that way. With him, it's how the practice and veterans allow him more practice sessions to evaluation and have a 'book' on than younger guys.........and then how that practice transfers into game performance. He has his benchmarks (turnovers or lack of effort/giving up chief amongst them) but someone like Tyler Goodson did, Kaleb Johnson, Arland Bruce, Cooper DeJean and Aaron Graves are doing currently, prove he's not adverse to youth but it's all about earning it in his eyes and the eyes of his staff.
I think these his responses illustrate he's aware of the criticisms of the offense, his staff, his philosophy and his 'resistance to change'. But, I think they also show he HAS and IS changing with the times, recognizes the same things we see but prefers to address them 'in house and keep it all buttoned up within the program. In that aspect, he has been very consistent over the years.
These nuggets stood out to me (and partially explain his stance, decision making and seeming resistance to change engendering all the criticism of him the last couple of weeks) and certainly exemplify his 'stability' as a coach and his mindset vs the reactivity we have as fans:
1) Re: the kickers: "LeVar let him know yesterday morning. Only because we weren't sure. The guys have been going back and forth and I've been saying all along we're probably going to ride the roller coaster a little bit. Aaron, you haven't seen the last of him. He's done a good job. We have two good kickers right now. Hopefully they can get comfortable."
Acceptance of 'ride the roller coaster a little bit' is not something KF is known for or assumed to be part of his makeup on our discussion board so it kind of reflects a change (at least publicly) from the KF of old. The last line is a bit mysterious........could have multiple interpretations.
2) Re: the Offense: "Spencer, I thought, made some beautiful throws tonight and some real near misses. Hopefully in time those will be completions. Whether it's throw a little off or maybe the receiver a little bit off, that type of deal"
"Probably the biggest gain for us was Nico, because he's a veteran. He's a good player, he's nifty and he knows how to play, he really does. That was good. I want to compliment Arland (Bruce), too. Arland had a heck of a game, not only on offense, but special teams. He's really playing hard. " From KF, this is "high praise" for both Nico and Arland.
"You're not going to throw deep balls 80 percent of the time. But you got to throw 'em, otherwise they're going to be right in your back pocket the whole time. So I think that was good to see some balls going down the field." I suspect he wants it 'out there' that he knows Iowa's tendencies and how opponents view how to beat his team by stacking the box, etc. For him, it's almost always 'risk aversion' first and foremost so if your top receivers aren't able to go, not going to throw the ball downfield and risk and INT. Now that they are 'back', especially those in which he has the most confidence, he acknowledges what many on her have been carping about to loosen up the defense. This directly contradicts the opinion of some of our more vocal Lounge members that he doesn't have a clue .....
3) Re: Keagan J. in street clothes 2nd half: "No, he just didn't feel like he could get loose. So I think just the disruption probably affected him today."
also, Noah Shannon: "He's had a nagging injury. He tried today and just didn't feel like he was real effective."
Perhaps not different from the past (I don't know) but seems more open or public about sharing his athletes input on whether they can go 100% whereas previously it seemed like it was almost always a 'coaching decision' and the reasons for that decision not forthcoming.
4) Re: Kaleb J.: "He has a good attitude. He has a little energy to him that's fun. He's not -- naive is not the right word -- but it's all new to him, so it's kind of fresh. He has been fun to work with and he has done things."
Again, high praise from KF so as his confidence in Kaleb grows for not turning over the ball, the more we'll see of him, I suspect.
5) Re: a shutout: "For us especially, we never seem to get shutouts. You start putting the reserves in, the ball seems to go down the field fast. It was good to see the backup guys play well for a change"
About as close as KF gets to throwing guys under the bus. He's either sending a message to his reserves to work harder or he's citing this to show they are creating some depth that hasn't always been there in the past and the recruiting uptick we've noticed is starting to pay some dividends. I think this is an unusually blunt and revealing statement from KF.
6) Re: OL: "We actually rotated about three guys at the right guard spot. Pretty much stable everywhere else. We're letting the guys compete and we'll see who can grab onto the job."
7) Q. At what point would you like to have a sure fire, here's our starting five each week on the line?
KIRK FERENTZ: Three weeks ago. But just hasn't worked that way. You play it out. I want to let the guys compete and see. We're talking about some guys that really haven't played very much either. You just got to see them in game action. Sometimes it's painful. But those mistakes will get cleaned up and they will get better and we'll try to figure out it. And practice is a big evaluation time for us too. So it's obviously pretty close right now or we wouldn't be doing that.
This last passage almost summarized his entire philosophy. Lots of us cite his devotion to veteran players even though, in our eyes, younger guys may be more deserving. I don't think he views it that way. With him, it's how the practice and veterans allow him more practice sessions to evaluation and have a 'book' on than younger guys.........and then how that practice transfers into game performance. He has his benchmarks (turnovers or lack of effort/giving up chief amongst them) but someone like Tyler Goodson did, Kaleb Johnson, Arland Bruce, Cooper DeJean and Aaron Graves are doing currently, prove he's not adverse to youth but it's all about earning it in his eyes and the eyes of his staff.
I think these his responses illustrate he's aware of the criticisms of the offense, his staff, his philosophy and his 'resistance to change'. But, I think they also show he HAS and IS changing with the times, recognizes the same things we see but prefers to address them 'in house and keep it all buttoned up within the program. In that aspect, he has been very consistent over the years.
