Senior Class

[fan_4_life]

Now that the dust has settled on the careers of Telford, Evans, Moore, Dziewa and Kelly has anyone picked up on or heard rumblings that teammates and coaches are "ok" with this group moving on? On the most recent hawkeyereport podcast Balbinot mentioned that some people "in the know" with the Iowa program have mentioned this group hadn't bought in to fully living the lifestyle of Iowa Wrestling which has caused some issues from a team chemistry point of view. I'm not pointing fingers at any individuals and I hate to label the group but the more you think about this notion, it certainly seems possible based on the lack of aggressive offense from some members in the lineup.

 

[wahlberg]

What I am about to say may not be so popular due to all the Brands lovers on this board (and honestly, I like T and T - just look at my signature). However, this point in the OP gets brought up every year (guys not buying into the program), and I just think that if THAT many guys are not buying into the program, then maybe change what your are selling! Is it not on the coaching staff if they cannot get THEIR OWN recruits to "buy in" to THEIR program? Especially within 5 years in the program. I mean, holy cow! C'mon.

 

[GetNAfterIt]

It's a very simple concept, you get what you earn. Some guys just aren't cut out for what it takes to be the best.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[MVPFAN]

Megaludis had a quote recently I will paraphrase where he said he was going to spend extra time on technique now vs conditioning as he knows how to be conditioned. I think we could do the same. I get the feeling we spend so much time trying to out work everyone we forget that knowledge is also power and to me technique is knowledge.

 

[#10Hawk]

No offense, but Babinot should stick with women's basketball team.

 

[artradley]

Originally posted by GetNAfterIt:
It's a very simple concept, you get what you earn. Some guys just aren't cut out for what it takes to be the best.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

So in your opinion, this isn't about Brands' coaching, it's about his recruiting?

 

[HoundedHawk]

Originally posted by wahlberg:
What I am about to say may not be so popular due to all the Brands lovers on this board (and honestly, I like T and T - just look at my signature). However, this point in the OP gets brought up every year (guys not buying into the program), and I just think that if THAT many guys are not buying into the program, then maybe change what your are selling! Is it not on the coaching staff if they cannot get THEIR OWN recruits to "buy in" to THEIR program? Especially within 5 years in the program. I mean, holy cow! C'mon.

The term "coach" is from the concept of like a stagecoach. It moves people from one point to another desired point.

If the Brands are losing an entire recruiting class then it is the antithesis of coaching.

However, I don't think this is what is happening.

 

[Tommy Gavin]

We finish 2nd in the country with 6 All-Americans and the sky is falling for some of our fans.

 

[artradley]

Originally posted by Tommy Gavin:
We finish 2nd in the country with 6 All-Americans and the sky is falling for some of our fans.

Or you could say "Our best finish over the last five years is second place, while one of the Brands' best recruiting classes just graduated."

 

[TarpHawk]

I'm okay with this senior class moving on, because they won 0 team titles and 0 individual titles, though I'd happily clone Telford for another four years. No one from the entire class ever placed higher than 4th--and that was 2 years ago. Our freshman and sophomore classes have already surpassed the seniors' career performances.

Whose fault is it?

Scenario 1: They had good skills and worked hard--they just didn't have the eye of the tiger, and there's nothing Brands could've done to change that.

Scenario 2: They had the eye of the tiger coming in, but they lost it somewhere along the way because Brands forced them into a mold that wasn't them--it was Tom.

Scenario 3: Something else, or a mix.

I'm not close enough to have an opinion, but always happy to relish in the sordid gossip and innuendo of others.

 

[fan_4_life]

Thomas Gilman quote regarding the offseason and the 2016 NCAA Tournament "We've got to get tough. This is a tough tournament. It is a long, tough year and it takes a mentally tough person. It's not going to take a person who wrestles for six months. It takes a person who wrestles 12 months out of the year."

Am I reading too deep into his comments? This quote coincides with guys not living the lifestyle during the year or am I reaching?

 

[pablow]

Originally posted by fan_4_life:
Thomas Gilman quote regarding the offseason and the 2016 NCAA Tournament "We've got to get tough. This is a tough tournament. It is a long, tough year and it takes a mentally tough person. It's not going to take a person who wrestles for six months. It takes a person who wrestles 12 months out of the year."

Am I reading too deep into his comments? This quote coincides with guys not living the lifestyle during the year or am I reaching?

I wish Thomas would forget the 12 months razzmatazz and worry about going seven minutes.

 

[MVPFAN]

This was interesting as well:


Gilman noted with the seniors struggling, the younger core "took the reins and ran with it and put these guys under our wings. And we're going to take these guys under our wings and run with it again next year. We've got a lot of big shoes to fill. But then again, the shoes aren't that big."

 

[hawkeyesports92]

Originally posted by MVPFAN:
This was interesting as well:


Gilman noted with the seniors struggling, the younger core "took the reins and ran with it and put these guys under our wings. And we're going to take these guys under our wings and run with it again next year. We've got a lot of big shoes to fill. But then again, the shoes aren't that big."

I love Gilman.

 

[wasdt21]

im just glad we have a younger core

 

[Azchief32]

Originally posted by fan_4_life:
Thomas Gilman quote regarding the offseason and the 2016 NCAA Tournament "We've got to get tough. This is a tough tournament. It is a long, tough year and it takes a mentally tough person. It's not going to take a person who wrestles for six months. It takes a person who wrestles 12 months out of the year."

Am I reading too deep into his comments? This quote coincides with guys not living the lifestyle during the year or am I reaching?

Not really. If you look at who wrestles all year around...Gilman, Clark, Brooks, Burak, Meyer, Sorensen etc, a pattern starts to emerge. None of the older guys did. Freestyle is a great chance to improve your offense in neutral...try new things. Before their senior year, the elite PSU guys all wrestled freestyle even though two of them were returning national champions and could have rested their bones a bit.

I love Mike Evans but every time he lost in the semifinals, he fell down into the 5th and 6th place match. In 2014, his performance was pretty tantrum-like ugly. Thomas Gilman lost in the semi's in the worst possible way and came back and pinned last year's finalist. Yea, he lost the third place match but it shows he is mentally tough. Cory Clark beat two guys he had lost to before this season. I think both guys will be good team leaders.

If you look at the elite guys coming up, they are all off season mat junkies with the exception of a Bo Jordan or two. I think when you have a guy like Terry Brands at your disposal in freestyle, you have to use it.