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Beth needs to get ahold of

Dr. Thomas Davis, Steve Alford and Todd Lickliter are very strong arguments against shaking up a winning program.

Bump Elliott, the most successful AD we've ever had at hiring coaches, got it wrong twice with Lauterbur (4-28) and Commings (17-38) before he finally stumbled upon Hayden Fry. And this is the guy who brought us Lute Olson, Dan Gable. Vivian Stringer, Judith Davidson, and many other great coaches. It's a very difficult decision/job to hire a coach. Most people aren't good at it.
 
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Mark is 57 - doubt they'd want to bring in a coach at that age. Seth Wallace much more likely to get the job than Mark.

I would have been a bigger Mark fan if we wouldn't have seen such a sad display of faking injuries in our first bowl game against them. It was embarrasingly bad. I don't want that type of stuff in Iowa City.
^^^ THIS ^^^
 
Bump Elliott, the most successful AD we've ever had at hiring coaches, got it wrong twice with Lauterbur (4-28) and Commings (17-38) before he finally stumbled upon Hayden Fry. And this is the guy who brought us Lute Olson, Dan Gable. Vivian Stringer, Judith Davidson, and many other great coaches. It's a very difficult decision/job to hire a coach. Most people aren't good at it.
Hey Lauterbur also had a tie in there! 4-28-1
 
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Honestly? Not really. We don’t really know what his actual duties are as “assistant head coach.” It could be completely ceremonial for all we know. And besides, I don’t want KF picking the next coach. Iowa needs a clean break from the Ferentz’s which is why I hope an outsider gets hired.
I think the Wallace role goes beyond just ceremonial. I mentioned in another thread that I noticed during a timeout on defense with no commercial break Wallace did all the talking with Phil by his side. Think he has likely emerged as the right hand man to Phil especially with Parker on the mend from his accident.

Bottom line I think we would feel really happy with Wallace or Levar Woods and I have a gut feeling we will end up with one of them. They both would preserve the culture of the program and also play modern football.
 
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Some day folks are gonna really miss what Kirk put in the field annually. He’s kinda kind of like Bo Ryan at Wisconsin….folks there were bitchin’ about winning BB games 62-57….like they’d rather lose games 88-82…Now that Bo is gone, some fans are wishing he was still there…
I’m sorry but if you think Kirk is in the same stratosphere as Bo Ryan in terms of success then I don’t know what to tell you.
 
Why do we need a clean break from the Ferentz's? He's been a great for the school. A very well-respected coach - the stadium/season is sold out every year - and we're winning at a level well above our historical averages at Iowa. And look at where we are compared to our closest rivals - Minn, Nebraska, and Wisconsin - we've had more success than all of them the past 5+ years. In other words, we are in a very good position as a program. And you believe it needs to be blown up? That makes no sense to me.
Fatigue mostly. I, like a lot of people, are ready for something different. Sure they might take a step back but guess what? You can just hire someone else if that guy isn’t working out. KF has definitely had some great moments and seasons and I’m not taking that away from him but I’m just tired of “Kirkball”.
 
Fatigue mostly. I, like a lot of people, are ready for something different. Sure they might take a step back but guess what? You can just hire someone else if that guy isn’t working out. KF has definitely had some great moments and seasons and I’m not taking that away from him but I’m just tired of “Kirkball”.
And Wisky BB fans complained about “Bo Ball” too…. But a coach’s #1 priority is to win games. Period.
 
Dr. Thomas Davis, Steve Alford and Todd Lickliter are very strong arguments against shaking up a winning program.
Those are basketball coaches, and with the exception of Dr. Tom, who had a decent run, the others were hired to run a program that had long been neglected. They didn’t even have a practice facility.

Iowa football, on the other hand, has never hired a coach with the program in such a quality state. And Kirk Ferentz isn’t the only reason Iowa football is a very good job. The fans were loyal before him, and they’ll be loyal when he is gone.
 
That’s the only way a hire should be judged! There aren’t participation trophies for good effort.
What if I told you that virtually anyone that could have realistically been Iowas coach, Dr Tom included, would have failed to do much at Iowa from mid 90s to 2010s based on lack of investment in the program?
 
Bo had numerous conference titles and a national runner-up banner to back him up. Ferentz has nothing remotely similar.
I think you are missing the point people are trying to make. The point is fans will complain regardless of how good a coach is. Saban and coach K had detractors. When we have a successful program that’s top 10 in wins the pat 5 years and people are bored or tired with the coach - that’s just silly. We are extremely fortunate to win as much as we do and to have a classy guy like Ferentz in charge.
 
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Bo had numerous conference titles and a national runner-up banner to back him up. Ferentz has nothing remotely similar.
Because he brought “Bo ball” to the B10. Remember, Bo had to beg for the UW job and he had been passed over by Barry more than once. Barry was finally placed in a position to hire Bo because he couldn’t find anyone he wanted to take the job. Bo could coach. He had some personal shortcomings but Bo could coach winning basketball.
 
What if I told you that virtually anyone that could have realistically been Iowas coach, Dr Tom included, would have failed to do much at Iowa from mid 90s to 2010s based on lack of investment in the program?
Butler went to two national title games. And many mid-majors have made sweet 16’s, elite 8’s, and even final 4’s. Investment isn’t the issue.
 
Kirk could put a lot of speculation to bed by fielding a decent offense. This season will tell if that is possible.
Kirk figured out a long time ago that winning at UIowa was based on defense, special teams, field position and taking care of the ball. He was hired at UIowa to win football games. By any means of measurement, his time at UIowa has to be regarded as highly successful.
 
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Butler went to two national title games. Investment isn’t the issue.
Ah, let’s pick a monster outlier who had a crazy run with a generational local player who ended up making over $300MM in the NBA and aim for that!

If you think Iowa basketball was set up well for a coach to come in and build a consistent winner during that era, we can agree to disagree. And Steve Alford, for all his flaws, produced championship teams at Iowa in spite of the programs glaring recruiting deficiencies. He put a JUCO guy into the NBA. He took a couple of white boys from Iowa and built a BTT champ with them. He kept Worley home instead of at a Blue Blood. He was not some epic failure like many want to paint him.
 
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Ah, let’s pick a monster outlier who had a crazy run with a generational local player who ended up making over $300MM in the NBA and aim for that!

If you think Iowa basketball was set up well for a coach to come in and build a consistent winner during that era, we can agree to disagree. And Steve Alford, for all his flaws, produced championship teams at Iowa in spite of the programs glaring recruiting deficiencies. He put a JUCO guy into the NBA. He took a couple of white boys from Iowa and built a BTT champ with them. He kept Worley home instead of at a Blue Blood. He was not some epic failure like many want to paint him.
This is the point I was trying to make in my earlier post. Alford wasn’t some scrub that Iowa took a flyer on. He was a hot commodity at the time and even though it didn’t work out in the end that doesn’t make him a “bad hire”.
 
Ah, let’s pick a monster outlier who had a crazy run with a generational local player who ended up making over $300MM in the NBA and aim for that!

If you think Iowa basketball was set up well for a coach to come in and build a consistent winner during that era, we can agree to disagree. And Steve Alford, for all his flaws, produced championship teams at Iowa in spite of the programs glaring recruiting deficiencies. He put a JUCO guy into the NBA. He took a couple of white boys from Iowa and built a BTT champ with them. He kept Worley home instead of at a Blue Blood. He was not some epic failure like many want to paint him.
Alford’s problem was more his personality than his level of success.
 
This has been beaten to death but you’re using hindsight to judge those decisions. Alford and Lickliter were both considered great hires at the time.
That is my point. At the time many of the same Never Ferentz Bitter Enders were down talking a program that has not reached the same level after 3 coaches and 25 years.

Most coaching hires don't work out, hence the metaphor "coaching carousel."
 
Ah, let’s pick a monster outlier who had a crazy run with a generational local player who ended up making over $300MM in the NBA and aim for that!

If you think Iowa basketball was set up well for a coach to come in and build a consistent winner during that era, we can agree to disagree. And Steve Alford, for all his flaws, produced championship teams at Iowa in spite of the programs glaring recruiting deficiencies. He put a JUCO guy into the NBA. He took a couple of white boys from Iowa and built a BTT champ with them. He kept Worley home instead of at a Blue Blood. He was not some epic failure like many want to paint him.
Not entirely sure keeping Worley was a successful move. Kind of the poster boy of everything wrong with Alford as a coach and a person.
 
But a coach’s #1 priority is to win games. Period.
Maybe at the high school level, but this is big time collegeball
Priorities
1) build a cult following around yourself
2) negotiate an insane contract
3) recruit 8-man football like nobodies business
4) hire relatives
5) explain how you're working with more handicaps than Jerry Lewis
6) win games
 
Not entirely sure keeping Worley was a successful move. Kind of the poster boy of everything wrong with Alford as a coach and a person.
Worley was a blue chip recruit that didn’t pan out. He had lots of options coming out of HS. Options much better than Iowa.

He was productive, just not the star he was expected to be.

What went wrong for Alford was his toxic arrogance and an ill prepared opening game against Northwestern State. That team was built for the final four, and they got the bracket to do it. There was no coming back from that in year six or whatever it was. That season was everything to his chances of building something. He knew he had nothing else to sell.
 
Maybe at the high school level, but this is big time collegeball
Priorities
1) build a cult following around yourself
2) negotiate an insane contract
3) recruit 8-man football like nobodies business
4) hire relatives
5) explain how you're working with more handicaps than Jerry Lewis
6) win games
Sorry Charlie…Big Time football demands WINS! Don’t ever fool yourself otherwise. Once “winning” is no longer central to competition, their is no purpose fire these competitions.
 
He was great. Lute was pretty close. But Bucky O’Connor probably was the best. 2 Final Fours back to back.
Bucky was Iowa’s own. Ralph was a nationally eeknown coach coaching in America’s most competitive abd rugourous confeence (the Mo Calley)
He was great. Lute was pretty close. But Bucky O’Connor probably was the best. 2 Final Fours back to back.
Bucky was Iowa’s own…Ralph was brought in from outside. Back in the early 60’s the Mo Valley was Americas premier BB conference and Evy to bring Ralph from Wichita was a huge coup. Ralph’s success at Iowa was immediate and included 2 titles in his time here.
 
Worley was a blue chip recruit that didn’t pan out. He had lots of options coming out of HS. Options much better than Iowa.

He was productive, just not the star he was expected to be.

What went wrong for Alford was his toxic arrogance and an ill prepared opening game against Northwestern State. That team was built for the final four, and they got the bracket to do it. There was no coming back from that in year six or whatever it was. That season was everything to his chances of building something. He knew he had nothing else to sell.
The program regressed badly under Alford. Don't forget that 1st tourney champ was a miracle for a bad team that had no other road. First three seasons, losing Big Ten records. Season 4 was his first winning record, good for an NIT bid. The utter collapse to an inferior team was the Alford legacy.

But beyond all of that, Alford's greatest sin was the speed with which his smug and arrogant personality, inciting team division by having pets (e.g. Glen Worley) who kind of acted like Alford burned up all the good will built with the fans since at least Ralph Miller's time. Alford destroyed the good will he inherited, and the drama just made it hard to watch. It broke the fan's devotion to Iowa basketball. Then, the then reigning NCoY was hired, who was at least likeable but a terrible coach, obviously. Lick made Iowa a clown show. Iowa will be a surprise NCAA team in 24-25.
 
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