A little info on Fidone from rivals...

[bojihawk44]

YOu must be new to the board... for several years KF has been demonized for saying Iowa isn't sexy, we are a developmental program, etc. THat would be how you "undersell" your program. Go back in the football forum and recruiting posts and you will see several references to this.

He doesn't undersell the Iowa program, He tells recruits how college football really is: nothing is guaranteed and you'll have to bust your ass for several years. Dumb kids blinded by fame and money don't respond well to that, but smart kids do. That's why we've been so successful and why most kids in our program are successful. Give me that over a coach who lies and blows smoke up recruits asses just to get them on campus and then they inevitably fail.

Give me KF's approach every time. To each their own, I guess.

 

[grayhair81]

I guess I’m confused what you mean by Alabama recruiting over them. I think it’s naive to say Alabama doesn’t develop players. Schools like USC, FSU, etc., who have huge recruiting classes yet fewer players drafted than Iowa; don’t develop players.

This. Very, very few players would be ready for the NFL right out of HS. EVERY college out there is getting their players bigger, stronger, and more knowledgable every year. Yes, KF and staff are great at developing players. They are not the only coaches able to do that. Elite prospects believe they can make it to the NFL no matter where they go to school.

 

[Hawkfan_08]

I don't know. Fant and Hockenson would have wound up in the NFL no matter which college they had chosen. They were just that good. That said, they did benefit from going to Iowa as the Hawks have excellent development at the TE position and also feature the position well in the ways that NFL teams want to use TEs--to block well and be a threat in the passing game.

They were just that good? Hindsight is great, isn't it?
Hockenson:
2-star on ESPN (http://www.espn.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/209210/tj-hockenson)
3-star on Rivals (

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) and 247 (https://247sports.com/Player/TJ-Hockenson-77736/).
Noah Fant:
3-star on ESPN (http://www.espn.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/206085/noah-fant), 247 (https://247sports.com/Player/Noah-Fant-66764/), and Rivals (

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)

I have to agree with BB. Maybe Fant gets drafted due to his size and speed but probably not in the first round. I am not sure how many people saw the development of Hock coming. Iowa seemingly pushed all right buttons to turn Hock into the player he became. In turn, TJ bought into what the staff was telling him and busted his butt to become elite.

 

[obfuscating]

He doesn't undersell the Iowa program, Jesus fvcking Christ. He tells recruits how college football really is: nothing is guaranteed and you'll have to bust your ass for several years. Dumb kids blinded by fame and money don't respond well to that, but smart kids do. That's why we've been so successful and why most kids in our program are successful. Give me that over a coach who lies and blows smoke up recruits asses just to get them on campus and then they inevitably fail.

Give me KF's approach every time. To each their own, I guess.

Does Ohio State, Clemson, Bama, LSU, Oklahoma and the like sell them on "developmental and we ain't sexy?"

 

[obfuscating]

So Frosty sits on the couch and spews non-sense about how they will be Nat'l contenders next year ("just look at those way too early preseason polls kid") and they're bringing back the huskers of the 90's ...while Kirk tells the kid our program will continue to compete for division championships, be invited to upper tier bowl games and develop you for the NFL.

Yeah, if I were a kid I'd buy what Frosty is selling before what Kirk is promising.

Nebby - they are not elite, but they do get higher rated classes then Iowa. Again, the 4-5 stars that are going to the teams that repeatedly get to the championship aren't listening to KF on the "development" part. YOu will have a few (Epy) that do it. NOt saying KF's way is wrong, I am saying his pitch does not pull in top 35 recruiting classes like the others. That DOES play a part in a kids decision.

 

[Eternal Return]

They were just that good? Hindsight is great, isn't it?
Hockenson:
2-star on ESPN (http://www.espn.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/209210/tj-hockenson)
3-star on Rivals (

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) and 247 (https://247sports.com/Player/TJ-Hockenson-77736/).
Noah Fant:
3-star on ESPN (http://www.espn.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/206085/noah-fant), 247 (https://247sports.com/Player/Noah-Fant-66764/), and Rivals (

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)

I think it was pretty clear that they were underrated. Did you see the video of Hock throwing down while playing basketball. No matter where they went they would have emerged as NFL talents. However, had they gone to other schools not utilizing TEs as Iowa does, they probably wouldn't have been 1st round draft picks. They might have gotten lost in the late rounds like Kittle did (who only fell that far because he was often injured at Iowa).

 

[Eternal Return]

Yeah, no. We develop talent better than most schools, that's quantifiable. If TJ and Noah went to Illinois they're not getting drafted in the forest round.

Oh, I agree that they wouldn't have gone in the first round if they had gone elsewhere. But they were so good that they would have made a team even if they were drafted in the later rounds and they would have shown out at the NFL level like they have just as Kittle has (who went in the 5th round because he was injured at Iowa and didn't get to show his skills like he would have had he been healthy).

 

[Eternal Return]

I have to agree with BB. Maybe Fant gets drafted due to his size and speed but probably not in the first round. I am not sure how many people saw the development of Hock coming. Iowa seemingly pushed all right buttons to turn Hock into the player he became. In turn, TJ bought into what the staff was telling him and busted his butt to become elite.

Yeah, it is doubtful they would have gone in the 1st round. I just meant that they were so good that they would have made an NFL roster and played above their draft position in the NFL because they were that good. TEs definitely benefit at Iowa because of development AND, especially, because of the way Iowa uses TEs just as pro offenses most desire--as blockers in the run game and threats in the passing game. TEs at Iowa have the benefit of having a lot of tape to show that they're worthy of being drafted higher than they would if they had gone to schools that don't feature TEs like Iowa does.

That said, Bama is one of the college schools that uses a lot of pro offense concepts and features the TE (most years). I have NO IDEA why any quality TE would go to Nebraska, though. Michigan and Penn State would be the other two B10 schools besides Iowa who utilize TEs well in terms of preparing them for the NFL.

 

[BBHawk]

I have to agree with BB. Maybe Fant gets drafted due to his size and speed but probably not in the first round. I am not sure how many people saw the development of Hock coming. Iowa seemingly pushed all right buttons to turn Hock into the player he became. In turn, TJ bought into what the staff was telling him and busted his butt to become elite.

This. My point was that generally kids coming in to Iowa are behind physically and skills-wise compared to those recruited to AL or OH State. The Iowa kids are now getting drafted ahead of those from the aforementioned blue bloods. Iowa is the factor causing this to happen.