Derrick Willies is tearing it up at Texas juco
- Thread starter QChawks
- Start date
I like how he mentions he was open to a return, but the feeling didn't seem mutual. From what we have heard from those close to the program, that is false. He is a player I really wish we had, would be an added dimension to this offense. From the looks of things he plays in a leauge with zero defense.
I think that is exactly how this went down. We could have benefited from his talents this year
He quit on his team in the middle of the season. I don't think it was the other way around. Couldn't care less. It isn't like we will face him in a meaningful game. Extremely small chance we see him in a bowl game but so what? I would rather play with the kids who don't quit on the middle of a season. Even my 7 year old who doesn't like soccer, and want to quit his team understands that once you start a season you finish it.
I guess I really don't give a crap about the ethical ramifications of quitting temporarily mid season. KF played the less talented guy at qB and Beathard was going to transfer if he didn't get named the starting job. Rudock quit on the team after Beathard got the job. It is big time football, if you think you should be starting and your talents are being wasted on the bench, you transfer. Let the performance on the field determine who starts.
Yeah, I think KF should have taken the guy back, if the only thing he had done was quit football temporarily.
Okay so lets say Willies quit and you just take him back. What next? Does he have to practice if he don't want to?Does he have to go to school? I mean as long as we don't give a crap about ethical nonsense why even make him go to class? If you are going to let a guy quit and then just let him back on the team without any consequences, where do you draw the line. If the guy is talented maybe there shouldn't even be a line.
KF don't play that way. We realize you hate him and this is what you have to hang on to right now but it's KF's team. Your job is to bitch about it. Well done.
Dumb de dumb dumb dumb
I agree with the other posters, these players need to be held accountable. If you up and quit mid-season, you don't get to make the rules on how you return. I have ZERO problem with KF telling him that he has to wait and earn his way back in the spring, which seems to be the general concensus.
I guarantee Willies will one day wish he had just stayed and earned his way back.... mist likely he already wishes he had, with the success CJB and the team has had thus far.
Sure we miss the raw talent, but next MAN in.
I guarantee Willies will one day wish he had just stayed and earned his way back.... mist likely he already wishes he had, with the success CJB and the team has had thus far.
Sure we miss the raw talent, but next MAN in.
Okay then where do you draw the line for an incredible talent or is there a line? Lets hear you pearls of wisdom on this subject. Then kindly tell me what you tell your team when he comes back to practice no questions asked?
I am on record saying if you quit on the team and you want back, you are going to earn it and thats only if the team captains choose to have you back. If you past the players requirements thats great. Then you get to my requirements.
Lets get your thoughts. Because I think we all know you would could have been a national championship college football coach but you just had so much unfinished work to do on the Internet.
No, not really. Basically the deal was Willies had to go to the back the depth chart and earn his way back. How awful. He chose not to. It was up to him and he chose not to take the route KF offered him, which was generous considering the circumstances. But we have always a few here who create some different narrative that it's somehow KF's fault.
Dumb, dumb, dumb is believing it was somehow different.
The damage had already been done by not playing him. I'm not saying I agree with him leaving but if you're Kirk you have to do whatever it takes to get him back. His athleticism could really be used this year at a position where Iowa doesn't really have anybody that can stretch the field other than true freshman. I know most of you would rather go 0-12 as long as you're "doing things the right way" but I enjoy watching the Hawks win. Heat Dawg was of course going way over the top in his response talking about him not having to go to class and other nonsense.
Maybe we ought to be looking at the two Trinity Valley QB"s -- 456 yards passing per game, 62% completion percentage, 27 TD's and only 1 INT. 399 yards rushing on 71 carries. If Willis wanted to be a Hawkeye, he would have stayed and worked his way back up the depth chart. When a player walks out on the team, they need to earn back the trust of their teammates and coaches. You can't expect a coach or team leaders to "do whatever it takes to get him back."
Where did you hear that?
Not saying you're wrong at all, just hadn't heard that before.
There should certainly have been some consequence and if that's all it was it doesn't seem unreasonable at all.
Oh and it doesn't take a genius to figure out how to address the team about bringing him back. All you have to tell them is something like "the situation is being handled internally with the coaching staff and he will take the field again when we feel he has earned his way back". The terms never would need to be told to the players even if it was something as simple as an apology from Willies to the team. The players would trust Kirk's word.
Wait how can I go over the top if you just want to win. If you just want to win and helps you do it , then there should be no line. Right? Ya I went to what I would call extreme because I wanted to find out where you guys draw the line? Im still waiting to hear that but I guess it's easier to just bitch about it.
Let me bring it down lower to something that is more realistic.
Hypothetical. He doesn't show up for practice on Thursday. Do you still play him?
Hypothetical. He mouths off to Kennedy and walks out of practice. Do you still play him?
These aren't over the top hypotheticals because he actually did quit on the team.
Also, still waiting to hear what would you say to the team that was at every practice while Willies was off quitting.Im sure you would make a fine coach because you just want to win while we are stuck with a guy that does it the right way. The fact that you admit it's the right way and that doesn't sit well with you tells me a lot.
Let me bring it down lower to something that is more realistic.
Hypothetical. He doesn't show up for practice on Thursday. Do you still play him?
Hypothetical. He mouths off to Kennedy and walks out of practice. Do you still play him?
These aren't over the top hypotheticals because he actually did quit on the team.
Also, still waiting to hear what would you say to the team that was at every practice while Willies was off quitting.Im sure you would make a fine coach because you just want to win while we are stuck with a guy that does it the right way. The fact that you admit it's the right way and that doesn't sit well with you tells me a lot.
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You're going overboard to an unrealistic level the other direction.
Heres my take, it shouldn't be that hard to find a way to get a receiver that talented on the field no matter how difficult of a personality he is. I just don't see very many other programs having these kinds of problems. Especially ones struggling to win 7 games against cake schedules 4 years in a row.
If a guy is really talented play him despite mistakes and let him learn on the job, thats what most others do unless they don't have to like Alabama or OSU.
Maybe he was a complete ass, so was DJK and he helped win allot of games that likely otherwise wouldn't have been.
All the other stuff you are saying is not part of a realistic conversation.
Why, why. WHY do people keep doing this thread? JFC let it go.
DJK also found himself in Kirks doghouse more than once. And we all know how that saga played out.
Absolutely wrong. You cannot, as a head coach, ever have the attitude that somebody is so good you'll set aside the rules for them. That's how you lose a team.
Oh, and 0-12 doing it the right way vs cutting corners and winning is a false dichotomy. In fact, this year I believe 0-12 is off the table. Nice try though...
The simple fact is that this team is winning this year because they are close and like a family.....family doesn't quit on other family members....he was a cancer on the team and that was obvious when he put his own personal agenda in front of the teams...he was playing as red shirt freshman, perform on the field and you keep playing, pretty simple really. Geeze I bet if we had him right now we would be 3-0.....oh wait, nevermind.....what was the point of this thread again?????? Maybe we should talk about Jake Ruddock again
To date, according to at least one independent source, Iowa's schedule is better than 75% of the teams from the Power 5 conferences.
See the post directly above yours. I don't know why you are so caught up on how Kirk would address the team, it wouldn't of been that difficult. It's like you've never heard of a coach giving a player a second chance before. If Kirk really wanted Willies back, he'd be on the team right now, simple as that. And to your last sentence, yes, I like winning. I've already established that.
Why, why, why do people that don't want to read about it keep opening up AND POSTING in the threads they don't like? JFC let it go.
Take his inflated JUCO numbers and divide by 2.5, that is what he would have at a Div I school....he quit on his team why do you guys want him..?? We are fine with Smith, Hillyer and VDB....they want to be Hawkeyes....
Coach Ferentz and his staff deal with each instance individually. They have exhibited leniency toward players (second, even third chances) when the situation(s) were merited.
In this case it did not work out. Plain and simple as that. Some choose to believe the coaching staff to be entirely at fault; others can look more objectively and see things differently.
It is what it is. You can continue to fret over it until the cows come home. Nothing will be different.
You can have the attitude, you just have to be smart about it how you handle it with the team. Kirk absolutely would have not lost the team if he decided to bring Willies back. The players would of welcomed him back (outside of maybe a few WR's low on the depth chart). Players like winning and playing with other good players believe it or not. Oh and you're really missing the point in your last paragraph by taking what I wrote literally. Obviously I exaggerated the record to prove a point, I would hope you could understand that.
I don't think you understand the difference between fact and opinion. And who are your sources saying he was a cancer on the team? That's news to me.
You chastise another poster for mistaking fact for opinion. Curious to know if the bolded/underlined portion of your post above is factual?
Finally, a well though out post from the other side on this. Yes Willies could have been demanding he start right away or something crazy like that when he came back. In that case maybe he wouldn't have been the type of personality you want on the team. I'm choosing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't demanding anything crazy and the Ferentz was simply "sticking to his guns", but I could be wrong. I would hope Kirk tried to show leniency in this situation given how talented he is and the current talent we have at WR.
Geez "chastise" is a bit strong I would say. And after I just got done complimenting your prior post. Oh well, the bold is what you would call a strong opinion.
That's fine... however, your statements portray actual knowledge of the situation rather than hypothetical material.
The facts are that Willies was suspended and then left the Iowa team. He now plays at the Texas juco (interesting that someone of his talent was not immediately snapped up by a major program?). He likely will have the opportunity to play for a FBS program again in the future. Here is hoping he does well.
