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Football world and KF

obfuscating

HR Heisman
Jan 8, 2016
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Kirk Ferentz is probably never going to be fired as Iowa's head football coach. The longtime Big Ten head coach will get to go out on his terms.

While Kirk Ferentz has probably earned that, his son, Brian, has not.

Brian Ferentz has struggled mightily as Iowa's offensive coordinator. The Hawkeyes have an all-time bad offense this year. It's clearly time for some kind of coaching change.
But Kirk Ferentz is refusing to make it.

"The Iowa football program doesn’t belong to Kirk Ferentz. It belongs to the people of Iowa and the fans of the Hawkeyes. By putting family first, Ferentz is betraying them," Doug Lesmerises of cleveland.com wrote following Iowa's loss to Ohio State on Saturday.

Fans have been calling for a change at coordinator for a while now, but the head coach has refused to make it.

Even legendary announcer Gus Johnson is bothered by what he's seen from Iowa.

Firing family is obviously not easy, but it's far past time for Kirk Ferentz to make the move.

 
Calm down guys, barring a remarkable turnaround from this offense over the next 5 games and probably 4-5 wins required (bowl win a must), Brian Ferentz won't be o-coord next year. Kirk isn't going to die on a hill for Brian. He'll move Brian back to TE or offensive line coach.
 
Kirk hasn’t earned the right to leave on his terms, that’s bullshit. He’s not a friggin God, he’s a football coach, and just above average one at that in conference play. The program is headed down the toilet, but he’s earned the right to leave when he wants?
Yes
 
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Kirk hasn’t earned the right to leave on his terms, that’s bullshit. He’s not a friggin God, he’s a football coach, and just above average one at that in conference play. The program is headed down the toilet, but he’s earned the right to leave when he wants?

Exactly, Holy shit it's not like he's been doing it without getting paid. He's owed nothing. He's been paid handsomely. Now he is costing the program big time
 
If Iowa had fired Kirk and Brian at the end of last season, installed Woods as the Head Coach and kept Phil as DC - then hired the OC from UTSA, Memphis, UNT, WKU, or Toledo, would Iowa's record be at least 3-4 at this point?
 
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If Iowa had fired Kirk and Brian at the end of last season, installed Woods as the Head Coach and kept Phil as DC - then hired the OC from UTSA, Memphis, UNT, WKU, or Toledo, would Iowa's record be at least 3-4 at this point?
I'm not defending KF or his son but why would they have been fired last season after winning ten games and the west division championship?
 
That headline definitely feels pretty dead on. The offense has been a laughing stock all year, but we are moving past where it is funny and now people are seriously wanting to know wtf is going on.
 
Calm down guys, barring a remarkable turnaround from this offense over the next 5 games and probably 4-5 wins required (bowl win a must), Brian Ferentz won't be o-coord next year. Kirk isn't going to die on a hill for Brian. He'll move Brian back to TE or offensive line coach.
I believe it best that BF just move on. He has a negative impact on the program and is most likely unemployable. Not many places you can make $900,000 a year for being a failure and a five year one at that.
 
Replying to the headline: The Football World and KF.

It's crazy that he's the longest tenured coach in CFB and he doesn't know anybody else who can do a better job than his son. He hasn't made any other connections over his 20+ years as a head coach, and much longer career as an assistant, that he can go to? That is unbelievable, there are people out there. KF just doesn't want to.
 
Replying to the headline: The Football World and KF.

It's crazy that he's the longest tenured coach in CFB and he doesn't know anybody else who can do a better job than his son. He hasn't made any other connections over his 20+ years as a head coach, and much longer career as an assistant, that he can go to? That is unbelievable, there are people out there. KF just doesn't want to.
People connected to Kirk Ferentz's offensive inner circle are still communicating with smoke signals.
 
If Iowa had fired Kirk and Brian at the end of last season, installed Woods as the Head Coach and kept Phil as DC - then hired the OC from UTSA, Memphis, UNT, WKU, or Toledo, would Iowa's record be at least 3-4 at this point?
Only 1 way to find out.

I'd have more patience for a new guy trying than the old guy being arrogantly stubborn.
 
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Replying to the headline: The Football World and KF.

It's crazy that he's the longest tenured coach in CFB and he doesn't know anybody else who can do a better job than his son. He hasn't made any other connections over his 20+ years as a head coach, and much longer career as an assistant, that he can go to? That is unbelievable, there are people out there. KF just doesn't want to.
Had this year gone better, i believe KF would have retired and made the deal with GB to elevate BF to HC. Those plans are not panning out.
 
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If Iowa had fired Kirk and Brian at the end of last season, installed Woods as the Head Coach and kept Phil as DC - then hired the OC from UTSA, Memphis, UNT, WKU, or Toledo, would Iowa's record be at least 3-4 at this point?
Impossible to answer fantasy world questions, but one thing is for absolute certain - the new regime would have HIT THE PORTAL HARD, and even with additional losses as expected with a coaching change, as a result I have a hard time believing that team would have lost to ISU or Illinois.
 
Kirk hasn’t earned the right to leave on his terms, that’s bullshit. He’s not a friggin God, he’s a football coach, and just above average one at that in conference play. The program is headed down the toilet, but he’s earned the right to leave when he wants?
No coach ever earns the right to leave on their own terms “no matter what”. I do think Kirk has earned the right to try to respond to a bad year. Nobody likes when Kirk tosses out “we won 10 games last year”, but the reality is that they did. They haven’t been in a bottom-tier bowl game since 2014 and they haven’t missed a bowl since 2012. There are clearly changes that need to be made, but Kirk should get the chance to respond. If next year is more of the same, then we need to start looking at the end of the KF era…but not yet.
 
Kirk has earned the right due to Barta giving him a golden parachute buy out of $42 million. Blame Barta for being such a dumb ass signing that deal when no one wants KF. Iowa Football is bigger than KF and he will see that in the off season when Brian either resigns or gets fired by Barta, if he has the stones to do it. If not, it’s time to call for Barta to go.
 
Kirk has earned the right due to Barta giving him a golden parachute buy out of $42 million. Blame Barta for being such a dumb ass signing that deal when no one wants KF. Iowa Football is bigger than KF and he will see that in the off season when Brian either resigns or gets fired by Barta, if he has the stones to do it. If not, it’s time to call for Barta to go.
It's WAAAAAY beyond time for Barta to go.
 
I'm not defending KF or his son but why would they have been fired last season after winning ten games and the west division championship?
No one any good would have taken any sort of job at Iowa had they fired the head coach after winning 10 games and winning the division. They way KF handled the off-season and his reaction this season has been bad, very bad, but people saying he should have been fired after last season are delusional.

Everything about this season is entirely his fault. My worry is that his reaction to even the mildest of criticism from the media this year has been extremely defensive and off-putting. I get it, he probably feels like he's been doing this for a long time and knows football and what to do to fix it, but coming off as defensive and combative is not good leadership, it's petty and self-serving.

My personal feeling is that things will have to get worse than even this year before they get better. Not something people really want to hear, but it's the case.
 
If Iowa had fired Kirk and Brian at the end of last season, installed Woods as the Head Coach and kept Phil as DC - then hired the OC from UTSA, Memphis, UNT, WKU, or Toledo, would Iowa's record be at least 3-4 at this point?
Whether Kirk was fired or not but this years defense and special teams with even a 50th rated offense in yards and scoring would be a scary team for any opponent to play. Last weeks game would have been so different with Iowa scoring and OSU have to drive the field every possession.

It is all up to Kirk to right the ship by getting a much better offense and luring better players in the passing game and shoring up the Oline.
 
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Replying to the headline: The Football World and KF.

It's crazy that he's the longest tenured coach in CFB and he doesn't know anybody else who can do a better job than his son. He hasn't made any other connections over his 20+ years as a head coach, and much longer career as an assistant, that he can go to? That is unbelievable, there are people out there. KF just doesn't want to.
Tenure has nothing to do with success. If it did ,then coaches like Perles and Dantonio would still be at MSU. Even Chryst at Wiscy. When things went south, their ADs didn't sit around and sign them to long extensions. They fired them and moved on.
 
No one any good would have taken any sort of job at Iowa had they fired the head coach after winning 10 games and winning the division. They way KF handled the off-season and his reaction this season has been bad, very bad, but people saying he should have been fired after last season are delusional.

Everything about this season is entirely his fault. My worry is that his reaction to even the mildest of criticism from the media this year has been extremely defensive and off-putting. I get it, he probably feels like he's been doing this for a long time and knows football and what to do to fix it, but coming off as defensive and combative is not good leadership, it's petty and self-serving.

My personal feeling is that things will have to get worse than even this year before they get better. Not something people really want to hear, but it's the case.
I wish that KF would just admit his mistakes,own up to them,and say he will make the changes that are needed to correct them. The one thing he has done right over the years is keeping Parker.
 
I wish that KF would just admit his mistakes,own up to them,and say he will make the changes that are needed to correct them. The one thing he has done right over the years is keeping Parker.
That may happen this off-season. There is this balance between sticking to your principles and not being afraid to change when that is necessary. In KF's mind, he obviously thinks that what he's done recently has worked (Iowa's record from 2015-2021 is ridiculously good, like it or not).

Now, a reasonable person could say that huge red flags should have gone off about the offense after 2021. Iowa won 10 games, but it's pretty evident they won in spite of the offense, not because of it. The questions from the Iowa media post-season should be focused on why he made the decision to not make substantive changes and add QB coach to his son's duties.

I don't think there would be a ton to gain by him admitting a bunch of mistakes mid-season. His primary goal right now should be to help his team win as many games as possible. You don't do that by saying wholesale changes are going to be made on offense to staff or personnel. But he's not helping himself by being so defensive. He's keeping the Iowa offensive woes in the news cycle, when he should be doing the opposite.
 
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No coach ever earns the right to leave on their own terms “no matter what”. I do think Kirk has earned the right to try to respond to a bad year. Nobody likes when Kirk tosses out “we won 10 games last year”, but the reality is that they did. They haven’t been in a bottom-tier bowl game since 2014 and they haven’t missed a bowl since 2012. There are clearly changes that need to be made, but Kirk should get the chance to respond. If next year is more of the same, then we need to start looking at the end of the KF era…but not yet.
This is a reasonable answer. Agree that no one is bigger than the program, and no coach gets to go out how they want "no matter what." That is a family-owned business and not a football program.

The unfortunate part is the extension that was given. That alone should make Barta's seat hot. It basically takes away any leverage the university would have. Yes, the increased TV money coming in would make the buyout easier to manage, but wow, in another year that buyout is $35M. That is money that could have gone to address needs in other sports. Just terrible management/oversight from the AD.
 
This is a reasonable answer. Agree that no one is bigger than the program, and no coach gets to go out how they want "no matter what." That is a family-owned business and not a football program.

The unfortunate part is the extension that was given. That alone should make Barta's seat hot. It basically takes away any leverage the university would have. Yes, the increased TV money coming in would make the buyout easier to manage, but wow, in another year that buyout is $35M. That is money that could have gone to address needs in other sports. Just terrible management/oversight from the AD.
If there’s enough booster desire to change, the money will be found….but I get your larger point.
 
If there’s enough booster desire to change, the money will be found….but I get your larger point.

I don't know...and I DO NOT mean this to be political, but with where we are heading economically, I would be curious if those boosters would tend to hang on to their cash whereas if things were more solid on the money front, they would happily pony up to make a change. You're point is usually the right one, where they speak with their dollars, but an attitude of "I'll let the others handle this one" could be coming.
 
I don't know...and I DO NOT mean this to be political, but with where we are heading economically, I would be curious if those boosters would tend to hang on to their cash whereas if things were more solid on the money front, they would happily pony up to make a change. You're point is usually the right one, where they speak with their dollars, but an attitude of "I'll let the others handle this one" could be coming.
Maybe…and if they do, we’ll probably never know whether they were holding back cash or simply weren’t motivated to do it, but there are a lot of buyouts going around right now, so it doesn’t seem to be an issue at other schools.
 
Barta's postgame comments about how Kirk makes the decisions on his assistants points to a lack of control that the university has over the football program, particularly in the event of nepotism. Barta needs to be reprimanded for that and will need to demonstrate that he is in fact following university protocols or the person that he reports to will need to answer for his inaction.

This whole thing has turned into an HR nightmare and the only way out for a lot of people is for Barta to exert the control he should have over Brian.
 
I wish that KF would just admit his mistakes,own up to them,and say he will make the changes that are needed to correct them. The one thing he has done right over the years is keeping Parker.
He won’t. His ego won’t allow it to admit he was wrong. That’s not how those guys operate or think. They will take their decisions to the grave thinking they were right and everyone was wrong. He has $42 million reasons to play chicken with Barta on this one.
 
IMO, Ferentz will not make significant changes to the offense off-season. He may fire Barnett to save Brian. Ferentz is incapable of adapting to the realities or accepting the new college football offenses. JMO
 
What exactly is he all of a sudden costing the program?
Not adapting with change. Do not underestimate how good this new conference is going to be. There is a reason Barta is out trying to get ahead of it with his 'concerns'. Kirk and him do not want change. They want that cupcake conference schedule and regulations regarding portal and the NIL. If it is this bad now, think how bad it is going to get.
 
If Iowa had fired Kirk and Brian at the end of last season, installed Woods as the Head Coach and kept Phil as DC - then hired the OC from UTSA, Memphis, UNT, WKU, or Toledo, would Iowa's record be at least 3-4 at this point?
That depends on whether or not the new coaching staff pulled in some O-line transfers and if we still had the same O-line coach. With this O line as is, 3-4 is probably best case scenario. They are comically bad and the root of our issues.
 
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