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How would you fix the offense?

isuisshit

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Sep 19, 2021
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Pretend you're the new AD. Barta got fired for incompetence, as the university president should absolutely do tomorrow, and you're hired to oversee iowa athletics.

Me, I'd fire brian ferentz 1 second I got hired. Kirk would be pissed so I tell him he's free to resign. We'll negotiate a severance package and give him a bronze statue down the road. If he wants to stay on I tell him to fire everyone on the offensive side of the ball and that he has no say in how the offense is run. I only give him one piece of "advice".......hire the best offensive mind in high school football, let him build his own staff and stay out of his way. It should be obvious that the new OC has to hit the transfer portal HARD in the offseason. I try to find some boosters who are willing to pony up NIL deals to "convince" a few very dangerous offensive threats they'd look good in black and gold. At the very least we wouldn't be dead last in offense.
 
Unfortunately as the new AD there would be nothing I could do because the previous AD agreed to the most ridiculous contract in the history of college football and the current buyout is just too high.
But, I would make the cheerleaders wear those long sleeve sweaters like USC makes their cheerleaders wear.
Oo La La.
 
I read that BF reports to Barta because they had to do it that way to get around the obvious conflict of interest in hiring your son at $900K. The obvious play is for Barta to fire BF and then let KF chew on that.

The offensive talent is so Bad, there really is no way to make this a good offense. Clearly KF needs to hire a real offensive guru and that guy needs free reign without KF interference on anything...playcalling, blocking schemes, scholarship choices.
 
A home run threat at wide receiver and running back would make a big difference. They have failed to recruit playmakers on offense. This team is still good enough to go bowling.
 
Copeland may be victim to the Ferentz offensive undertow but he has got to go also. He has been her long enough to not get a pass for how atrocious our WR are.


My fix: clean house, go to Phil and ask him what offense he prepares against he thinks would support his side of the ball the best. Go get the guy and staff to run it. If KF has any issue with that, Can KF and make PP HC.
 
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You set it up well with your premise "Pretend you're the new AD.". That's where it should start with Barta canned. The progression then is new AD fires Brian in his oversight role that was a farce previously but which would now be used appropriately. Kirk is given specific performance parameters, which is consistent with conversations most ADs have with their coaches. KF either works with those or resigns. I'm guessing that he's not going to stick around at his age to deal with a new AD who he doesn't control who just fired his son and put him on notice. Now the offense can be changed.
 
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I'm not an AD, but here's what I would do as coach, going forward this season, with the current personnel and their limitations.

Personnel:
1. Petras is done. I don't care how he practices, I've seen enough of him on Saturdays. Either he isn't any good or he's broken. There is no upside. If Padilla isn't bought in to play beyond this season, move on to Labas and/or May.
2. End the Colby experiment at RT. Plumb isn't good, but Colby can't block anyone in pass pro.

Running Game:
3. Get Jones to snap the ball on time. That shouldn't be difficult.
4. All but eliminate lateral rushes. This OL can't maintain blocks. Reverses and lateral runs lose yardage more often than they gain 4+. Fortunately, we've run enough of those types of plays that fakes could still be good occasionally for misdirection and play action.
5. Get out from under center more often. You can still run downhill from the gun, and it will help the passing game. You can also put a defensive player in conflict with even a reasonably mobile QB.

Passing Game: Our QBs lock on early and don't go through progressions. That's due a combination of failure of coaching to teach progressions and the fact that they rarely have time before the pass rush gets home.
6. Once again, get out from under center. 5-step drops from under center with an OL that doesn't block well are idiotic. If there is no essential purpose to being under center, give the QB the advantage of better vision and more time.
7. Install choice routes. Based on the alignment of the defense and the response of the coverage, receivers modify their routes. The QB can make a pre-snap read regarding which defensive player(s) will be in conflict. They likely know before the snap where they will go with the ball, but it may not be their favorite receiver. It would reduce the tendency to lock on to the favorite receiver and throw into the open space in the defense.
8. RPO the safeties that are flying downhill to the LOS on the snap. It doesn't take much to slow them down.
9. Padilla (and everyone else) is more mobile than Petras. Practice the scramble drill. Brecht seemed lost when Padilla scrambled his direction.

All of these are things that an old freshman coach would do next week if his offense ever performed this poorly. I don't think it's too much to ask from a P5 OC and his staff.
 
Even the TV announcers yesterday said maybe it was time to just let Iowa's defense also play offense. It's been suggested here before. And frankly, although it's generally said in jest, I would actually do it. There was a time, long, long ago, when that was how football was played. It was called "limited substitution," so most players played both offense and defense. You could only sub a couple of players at a time. Then in 1965 unlimited substitution was adopted, and two-platoon football has been the standard ever since.

Then again, if you were the nation's worst OC and someone suggested letting the defense play offense, you might ask, "What's the upside?"

For one, how about Copper DeJean at QB? Let's see those D-linemen chase him around all game long. That, alone, would be a pretty huge upside, IMHO. And maybe the D-linemen could block somebody once in a while. And maybe Riley Moss or Castro or Merriweather could run down the field and catch a pass. It would be fun to find out, right? :)
 
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