*****Mark Gronowski COMMITS to IOWA but Needs Surgery. Won't begin on-field team workouts until June*****

[jonesy5960]

When Iowa football no longer plays keep away with a second half lead then folks might believe Lester (not Ferentz) is calling the shots. JMO

So here's where the Lester vs Kirk influence is today and will likely remain IMO.

Lester has the following:

Complete control over the QB room including recruitment, coaching, and who plays.

Complete control over the scheme and gameplan. Kirk of course provides input, but it's Lester's offense to implement.

Kirk retains the following:

Control over all coaching personnel evaluation involving compensation, hiring, firing. This includes all offensive staff.

Decision making authority on higher risk in game decisions on 4th downs, fake punts, etc..

That's it.

 

[Franisdaman]

Ryan is SDSU's offensive coordinator.

 

[Franisdaman]

Beau Pribula reportedly got $1.5M from Mizzou and apparently spending $1.5M per year on a QB was not an issue for Brad Heinrichs / SWARM.

The issue? Pribula thought Mizzou was a better fit.

So, is Mark getting around $1.5M in "NIL?" We'll never know officially....

 

[Cormac McHawkeye]

Well yeah. It all starts with the coaches. The players are only there because the coaches recruited and signed them. If the players don't develop into what they'd hoped, that's a reflection of poor evaluation and/or development. Anybody who believes otherwise hasn't ever run a successful organization.

I agree for the most part, but injuries are also part of the equation.

 

[BonzoFury]

So here's where the Lester vs Kirk influence is today and will likely remain IMO.

Lester has the following:

Complete control over the QB room including recruitment, coaching, and who plays.

Complete control over the scheme and gameplan. Kirk of course provides input, but it's Lester's offense to implement.

Kirk retains the following:

Control over all coaching personnel evaluation involving compensation, hiring, firing. This includes all offensive staff.

Decision making authority on higher risk in game decisions on 4th downs, fake punts, etc..

That's it.

You come by this how?

 

[jonesy5960]

You come by this how?

Just an opinion. Same as everybody else.

 

[Rambler Hawk]

He's no Deacon Hill or Petras or McNamara, but maybe he'll work out.

Watching his film, he kind of looks like what I thought McNamara would bring to the table....so let's hope things work out better!

 

[nosok23]

My memory of Stanley was he was overall a “good” Iowa qb but he failed in games of consequence and big moments. Defenders point to “But the woodshed game!”, well the season was pretty much over with Iowa already having 3 B10 losses by that point.

Lack of mobility was frustrating! He could sneak it well!

 

[IowaHawk1994]

Tim Lester got his QB.

View embedded media

Go Hawks!!!

What is this kid thinking ... looks like only Big 10 offer

 

[IowaHawk1994]

Th

Hopefully this is the guy Lester needs to bridge the gap.

The hope is not a disaster season like 2-10 or 4-8. 5 wins would be big.

 

[Birky]

What is this kid thinking ... looks like only Big 10 offer

Me: (clicks on ignored poster)…yep, not doing that again.

 

[Zooropa_NCR]

So here's where the Lester vs Kirk influence is today and will likely remain IMO.

Lester has the following:

Complete control over the QB room including recruitment, coaching, and who plays.

Complete control over the scheme and gameplan. Kirk of course provides input, but it's Lester's offense to implement.

Kirk retains the following:

Control over all coaching personnel evaluation involving compensation, hiring, firing. This includes all offensive staff.

Decision making authority on higher risk in game decisions on 4th downs, fake punts, etc..

That's it.

There’s still something off with the play calling. We saw it so many times this year, the tale of two halves.

Even first game of the year, the play calling was literally the last three years of BF. Fans were already freaking out

Second half, throws all over. WR catching the ball…KJ long runs

The only game that didn’t seem to flow this way was Washington.

I feel like there’s two playbooks. Kirk’s conservative run out the clock and take no risks and the Lester scheme

Go all the way back to KOK days and one of the reasons he drove us mad was the inconsistent play calling, usually dictated by the tale of each half….or turtle up with lead, air it out when absolutely forced to

Either Lester is a clone of KOK with his tendencies, or Kirk has some say on how what scheme to follow

 

[jonesy5960]

There’s still something off with the play calling. We saw it so many times this year, the tale of two halves.

Even first game of the year, the play calling was literally the last three years of BF. Fans were already freaking out

Second half, throws all over. WR catching the ball…KJ long runs

The only game that didn’t seem to flow this way was Washington.

I feel like there’s two playbooks. Kirk’s conservative run out the clock and take no risks and the Lester scheme

Go all the way back to KOK days and one of the reasons he drove us mad was the inconsistent play calling, usually dictated by the tale of each half….or turtle up with lead, air it out when absolutely forced to

Either Lester is a clone of KOK with his tendencies, or Kirk has some say on how what scheme to follow

Well I think a lot of what we saw was a lack of confidence/performance in the QB position. Cade was terrible. There was incremental improvement under Sullivan, but it was maybe 50/50 whether he would even throw it on any given passing down given the protection issues and his propensity for tucking and running out of the pocket almost as soon as the ball was snapped. It was obvious they had no confidence in Shaggy regardless of what they were telling people. He only threw 29 total passes in 2 full games for a reason.

Lester went out and picked up 2 portal QB's including the predicted starter for a reason. Let's see what happens next year.

 

[BigOHawk]

C'mon man. Brian sucked. Get the cobwebs out of your brain.

Offensive efficiency under Brian got worse every year he was there until the O'Keefe training wheels were gone and it completely cratered. The only thing worse than Brian running an offense was Brian working alongside Kirk in running an offense. Neither one had any idea how to reverse the trajectory and no amount of flailing around was going to fix things. Either Brian had to go or Kirk and Brian had to go. I know a lot of people wished it were Kirk. I'm fine with seeing how Lester does before Kirk rides off into the sunset.

Year Offensive Efficiency
Ranking
2017 30
2018. 44
2019. 53
2020. 57
2021. 88
2022. 92
2023. 121
Edit 2024. 50

I'll go back to an analogy that Jon Miller would talk about time and time again under BF and maybe a bit under KOK as well.

Iowa was essentially playing football 'in a phonebooth.' Razor thin margins for error, inviting defensive pressure into the box, running stretches to short side of field and really doing things you shouldn't do if you know anything about attacking a defense. Simply relying on 'execution' or a defensive mistake is recipe for disaster and you saw thins on full display in 21, 22 and 23. That offense simply doesn't work regardless of personnel (blocking 8 defenders with 7 guys). Lester knows this and you have create space and schematic advantages.

 

[eyesofhawk]

I'll go back to an analogy that Jon Miller would talk about time and time again under BF and maybe a bit under KOK as well.

Iowa was essentially playing football 'in a phonebooth.' Razor thin margins for error, inviting defensive pressure into the box, running stretches to short side of field and really doing things you shouldn't do if you know anything about attacking a defense. Simply relying on 'execution' or a defensive mistake is recipe for disaster and you saw thins on full display in 21, 22 and 23. That offense simply doesn't work regardless of personnel (blocking 8 defenders with 7 guys). Lester knows this and you have create space and schematic advantages.

Care to read the thread much?

 

[nu2u]

Watching his film, he kind of looks like what I thought McNamara would bring to the table....so let's hope things work out better!

I’ve watched more than a dozen SDSU games over the past couple of years including 3 SDSU games in person (vs. USD 2x and vs. NDSU). I feel very confident saying that Granowski is a superior scrambler and far better ball carrier.

 

[Franisdaman]

What can Tim Lester do with a completely overhauled QB room?

Chad & Doc discuss that here:

 

[Franisdaman]

A good season at Iowa would increase Mark’s NFL stock.

Check this out & watch:

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

Check this out & listen/watch:

 

[jonesy5960]

Please don't let him be Cade Jr. 🙏

 

[Franisdaman]

story from the Gazette:

 

[Bow.to.the.Narrative]

I'll go back to an analogy that Jon Miller would talk about time and time again under BF and maybe a bit under KOK as well.

Iowa was essentially playing football 'in a phonebooth.' Razor thin margins for error, inviting defensive pressure into the box, running stretches to short side of field and really doing things you shouldn't do if you know anything about attacking a defense. Simply relying on 'execution' or a defensive mistake is recipe for disaster and you saw thins on full display in 21, 22 and 23. That offense simply doesn't work regardless of personnel (blocking 8 defenders with 7 guys). Lester knows this and you have create space and schematic advantages.

Not just Miller, everyone was saying this. Sportswriters from opposing teams were saying this and shaking their heads.

 

[Bow.to.the.Narrative]

What is this kid thinking ... looks like only Big 10 offer

USC was looking at him, ya fukkin Nebbie doosher.

 

[Franisdaman]

not good.

 

[Franisdaman]

full text of tweet:

Iowa Quarterback Mark Gronowski will have surgery in the coming weeks and will not begin on-field team workouts until June.

“Mark played last season with a common football-related injury,” Ferentz said. “While he could have continued to play through the injury, Mark is choosing to have a procedure to address the issue, and we support him in his decision. Our sports medicine team thoroughly reviewed his records and has confidence he will be fully rehabbed in time to participate in our summer program. Mark will participate in all non-practice team activities while he recovers.”

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

Why is there always a catch on nice things for us?!

 

[HawkBall23]

Please don't let him be Cade Jr. 🙏

Way to jinx it!

 

[jonesy5960]

View embedded media

WTF??

 

[Franisdaman]

Way to jinx it!

Iowa can't seem to have nice things ;(

 

[Franisdaman]

WTF??

maybe this is why the negotiations took so long

 

[jonesy5960]

Way to jinx it!

I was joking! I didn't know the staff actually has a thing for crippled QB's.

 

[HawkBall23]

I made a comment in some other thread the other night, about what/where the catch was on this string of good portal news .....

It appears I found it.

 

[HawkBall23]

I was joking! I didn't know the staff actually has a thing for crippled QB's.

I think we're seeing concrete proof that KF has a real thing for projects, not only 2-star HS recruits but also for injury-'damaged' portal QBs.

 

[Franisdaman]

I was joking! I didn't know the staff actually has a thing for crippled QB's.

its almost becoming comical

how long of a run did we have where the starting QB took every snap for the entire season?

now we can't keep QBs healthy....

 

[Franisdaman]

I made a comment in some other thread the other night, about what/where the catch was on this string of good portal news .....

It appears I found it.

whatever the procedure is, it has to be minor, right?

after all, Kirk said this:

“Mark played last season with a common football-related injury. While he could have continued to play through the injury, Mark is choosing to have a procedure to address the issue, and we support him in his decision.

Our sports medicine team thoroughly reviewed his records and has confidence he will be fully rehabbed in time to participate in our summer program. Mark will participate in all non-practice team activities while he recovers.”