This is not a rhetorical question.
There's no doubt all coaches care about winning. But what about caring about the offense? Scoring points. Exciting playmaking. Innovation. That sort of thing. Is Kirk genuinely content winning 6-4 or 10-3 week in and week out against lesser Big 10 west opponents but routinely getting blown out against teams who can put up points against us? He's getting paid handsomely to do it, so maybe that is enough for him.
In 2021, the Hawks ranked 99th in scoring offense. That is a failing. By all standards, the head coach of the 99th ranked scoring offense would be forced to rethink the offense and retool his staff and his playbook. Right? Whether he's at the high school level or the NFL. So what staff changes did Kirk after the embarrassment against Michigan and getting thumped (yet again) by Purdue and Wisconsin?
Rather than being proactive and upgrading at any coaching position (or hitting the transfer portal hard), Kirk downgraded at virtually every offensive coaching position. He lazily assembled one of the most haphazard mishmash of available guys who committed to being thankful for just having jobs and a willingness to be "yes men."
Offensive Coordinator. Rather than firing the architect of Iowa's 117th ranked offense, Kirk doubled down in interviews questioning Brian's competence, acknowledged no inadequacies in playbook or play calling, and gave his son a six figure raise for good measure. Most power 5 head coaches would have fired a staff member whose unit ranked 117th and was the direct reason for several losses & an overall boring product on the field, Kirk rewarded the failures and gave him even more authority. I think most know that Brian put out feelers to other programs after 2021 knowing that fans had enough, but he received no bites in the job market.
OL Coach. Iowa's OL coach left to become an offensive coordinator. Kudos to him on the promotion, as he knew he couldn't move up at Iowa. He was replaced by a guy who was at his previous job for less than 4 months and who quickly got the attention of every tv analyst who broadcast Iowa games last year, being the butt of numerous comments on the atrociously outdated OLine play. He underperformed at "OLine U" despite being gifted the nation's top linemen at center. That is no easy accomplishment. Worse yet, expect the same state "zone blocking scheme" this year, but with worse players.
TE Coach. Brian left his role as TE coach to coach the QBs. So rather than bringing in an offensive minded coach with a TE or OL background, Kirk brought in a guy who has never coached or played offense at any level. I loved Hodge as a linebacker at Iowa, but if you're going to hire a TE coach purely based on nostalgia, why not go for a Dallas Clark type or any number of stud ex Hawk TEs who actually know the position?
RBs Coach. Derrick Foster left Iowa to become RB coach for the Chargers last year. The NFL saw potential in him. Kirk replaced him with...a guy who was coaching high school ball at this time last year. In his first season coaching college football, Betts seemed out of his league. He inherited a returning 1st team all Big 10 RB in Goodson and a run first offensive scheme. He coached Goodson to his most underachieving, disappointing season at Iowa, marked by a national lead in runs for a loss of yards (you can't say good coaching couldn't have improved this). It appears Betts can recruit. But whether he can coach remains to be seen. It would have been nice to give an RB coach with some college experience a shot. The Big 10 ain't high school ball.
QBs Coach. Iowa's seasoned QBs coach retired after a pretty solid career. Rather than replacing O'Keefe with a QBs coach who offered new blood, new ideas, or an expertise in throwing mechanics...Kirk handed the job to the above mentioned failed offensive coordinator. The one who led the nation's 99th ranked scoring offense. The one who has never coached a QB or thrown a pass before. Staff downgrade. Why not give someone like all-time Hawkeye QB great Drew Tate (a current QBs coach who recruits Texas) or David Raih (former Iowa QB who spent 5 years with the Packers and was the OC at Vandy) a shot?
So again I ask, does Kirk care about offense or are they just out there to fill time until the defense can go out there and dominate? It sure doesn't seem like any effort has been made to bring in a staff that can improve upon last year's extremely disappointing offense. They surely aren't going to get better by bringing players in from the portal.
There's no doubt all coaches care about winning. But what about caring about the offense? Scoring points. Exciting playmaking. Innovation. That sort of thing. Is Kirk genuinely content winning 6-4 or 10-3 week in and week out against lesser Big 10 west opponents but routinely getting blown out against teams who can put up points against us? He's getting paid handsomely to do it, so maybe that is enough for him.
In 2021, the Hawks ranked 99th in scoring offense. That is a failing. By all standards, the head coach of the 99th ranked scoring offense would be forced to rethink the offense and retool his staff and his playbook. Right? Whether he's at the high school level or the NFL. So what staff changes did Kirk after the embarrassment against Michigan and getting thumped (yet again) by Purdue and Wisconsin?
Rather than being proactive and upgrading at any coaching position (or hitting the transfer portal hard), Kirk downgraded at virtually every offensive coaching position. He lazily assembled one of the most haphazard mishmash of available guys who committed to being thankful for just having jobs and a willingness to be "yes men."
Offensive Coordinator. Rather than firing the architect of Iowa's 117th ranked offense, Kirk doubled down in interviews questioning Brian's competence, acknowledged no inadequacies in playbook or play calling, and gave his son a six figure raise for good measure. Most power 5 head coaches would have fired a staff member whose unit ranked 117th and was the direct reason for several losses & an overall boring product on the field, Kirk rewarded the failures and gave him even more authority. I think most know that Brian put out feelers to other programs after 2021 knowing that fans had enough, but he received no bites in the job market.
OL Coach. Iowa's OL coach left to become an offensive coordinator. Kudos to him on the promotion, as he knew he couldn't move up at Iowa. He was replaced by a guy who was at his previous job for less than 4 months and who quickly got the attention of every tv analyst who broadcast Iowa games last year, being the butt of numerous comments on the atrociously outdated OLine play. He underperformed at "OLine U" despite being gifted the nation's top linemen at center. That is no easy accomplishment. Worse yet, expect the same state "zone blocking scheme" this year, but with worse players.
TE Coach. Brian left his role as TE coach to coach the QBs. So rather than bringing in an offensive minded coach with a TE or OL background, Kirk brought in a guy who has never coached or played offense at any level. I loved Hodge as a linebacker at Iowa, but if you're going to hire a TE coach purely based on nostalgia, why not go for a Dallas Clark type or any number of stud ex Hawk TEs who actually know the position?
RBs Coach. Derrick Foster left Iowa to become RB coach for the Chargers last year. The NFL saw potential in him. Kirk replaced him with...a guy who was coaching high school ball at this time last year. In his first season coaching college football, Betts seemed out of his league. He inherited a returning 1st team all Big 10 RB in Goodson and a run first offensive scheme. He coached Goodson to his most underachieving, disappointing season at Iowa, marked by a national lead in runs for a loss of yards (you can't say good coaching couldn't have improved this). It appears Betts can recruit. But whether he can coach remains to be seen. It would have been nice to give an RB coach with some college experience a shot. The Big 10 ain't high school ball.
QBs Coach. Iowa's seasoned QBs coach retired after a pretty solid career. Rather than replacing O'Keefe with a QBs coach who offered new blood, new ideas, or an expertise in throwing mechanics...Kirk handed the job to the above mentioned failed offensive coordinator. The one who led the nation's 99th ranked scoring offense. The one who has never coached a QB or thrown a pass before. Staff downgrade. Why not give someone like all-time Hawkeye QB great Drew Tate (a current QBs coach who recruits Texas) or David Raih (former Iowa QB who spent 5 years with the Packers and was the OC at Vandy) a shot?
So again I ask, does Kirk care about offense or are they just out there to fill time until the defense can go out there and dominate? It sure doesn't seem like any effort has been made to bring in a staff that can improve upon last year's extremely disappointing offense. They surely aren't going to get better by bringing players in from the portal.
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