The 4 Areas of opportunity for this program to get better.

[Ihawkd9times]

First off, I will say I don't want the Brands replaced because the are 2 of the best practice room coaches in the world. But they need to be open for change because I want them to lead us back to the top. Starting with....


1. RECRUITING. Problem isn't just Cael is in PA. True its an issue but Cael is outworking Tom all over the country in recruiting. Quit using just PA kids as a crutch when he is getting elites from other states. Why didn't we get Bo Nickal but settled for Alex Meyer. Its because Cael is in way more homes, logs way more miles and also is the first person an elite recruit meets. Cael is like Gable, if he shows up first in your home, your knees are week and you are ready to commit and excited about what he says. Likewise Morningstar is the first person that elite sees and maybe if your lucky Tom flies in to try and close you. Do you see the problem?

The Gilman article said it all. Brands about lost Gilman because he backed off to give Gilman space and Gilman thought Iowa just didn't want him. Meanwhile when Cael want you he is at your doorstep at midnight. One coach totally gets sales and the other has no f'ing clue. Do you see the problem.

If this was car sales Cael would drive the car to you at your convienance at work, home whatever and sit in the seat and test drive with you and tell you how good it looks in your driveway. Brands would tell the customrer that he has an hour open in the afternoon if you can make it to the dealership, then you can take it out by yourself and if you like Morningstar can fill out the paperwork.

The solution. Brands needs some selling classes/seminars/books(something) on working with humans because you dont back off 17 year old kids so they feel neglected, and also needs to log more flyer miles than he could ever imagine. Morningstar cant be the first guy to visit an elite. Can you imagine how it looks to parents or the kids. Are you to too busy for Nicakl because Alex Meyer is the easier recruit and you think you can out X&O a less talented guy time and time again. That's stubbornness has caught up to him.

2. MAT WRESTLING. If we aren't making tilts a top priority then we are losing. And that's the problem. Period, end of discussion. Do we have any coaches in the room that can teach this because it appears to me that Clark and Brooks, Meyer are the only ones who can do this and that was taught to them way before D1. This is where PSU and Ohio/PA high schools kids are kicking our butts.

I believe half the reason guys are afraid to shoot are they fear losing a scramble because they don't sepend enough time rolling around and being comfortable in uncomfortable situations. So instead of fun wrestling like Nolf, Nickal, David Taylor we get guys who are content to drop to a knee and half lunge way too much.

Solution. Hire Jaybo and let Morningstar go. M* was only brough on to do what Tom Terry or Zaddickdidn't want to bother with. Traveling for recruits. Tom getting on the road frees up Jaybo to teach tilts and riding to turn. Jaybo needs to be in the practice room. Honestly the middle weights haven't been as good since Frayer left but that never gets talked about.

3. VISION. I honestly don't think Tom sees far enough ahead to see his starting roster 2 years out. Brands is a great coach but he needs a lot of work on managing kids and being a CEO. It seems most the time he leaves weight decision up for the kids to decide and its put them behind in strength. Cael seems to recruit chess pieces for weight 2-3 years out and sees the bigger picture and sales it to a Cortez or Suriano one here tey can start and redshirt. I fully believe Tom has no clue who 157 will be between Kem or Brandon at this point. But he should. Vision leads into......

4. STRENGTH. Kids need to be looking to gain strength and move up and carry quickness up in weight classes. Quickness travels up, not down as evident by Grothus. The quicker guy typicaly wins as we saw with Snyder vs Gwiz or Gwiz vs a 280 pounder. I also didn't like Brands comments on him telling Rutt what needs done. Let the strength coaches do their jobs. Doyle tells Ferentz.not the other way around. Only thing Brands should tell Rutt to follow Doyle around with a notebook and let them come up with their ideas.


To sum it up. Brands needs to be a road warrior (which he is still slowly getting through his head) to get elite kids that we can teach to be less plodding and more a mat wrestler which the modern champion has in his arsenal. Then we need to get them in the right weights and be the quicker guy at an above weight, not the slower sucked down plodder getting beat to the punch, who half attempts knee lunges to look active because hes afraid to get beat in a scramble and titled.

 

[pablow]

Good job Ihawk9. I might add that once recruiting gets straightened out it may free up a lot of coaching gray matter to devote to items #2, #3, and #4. In fairness, our coaches have been very distracted lately.

 

[Jackhawk87]

All good points ihawk9. I hope our issues are not as bad as you think, but all are issues.

Hopefully the recruiting and strength issues are on the rise as they seem to be.

Hopefully they can find a TnT2.0 version to roll out to get better at all of the other issues. I am hoping that we can get it done next year - and I tend to be optimistic/over optomistic, but unfortunately, I am a little skeptical given our recent results.

 

[Sandor45]

It that really true about Tom not visiting enough recruits homes?
If so, that would explain the lack of elite recruits.
Kids want to feel important and wanted. What's the message we're sending to recruits if we're sending out the assistant coach to build these relationships. And, I hate to say it, but an assistant coach who's best credentials is a 3rd place finish at NCAAs isn't going to compare to a NCAA champion or Olympic Champion when it comes to winning these kids over.
Stuff like that is in the kid's back head. Credentials matter. Brands has them, but he needs to be in front of their faces himself not an assistant.

 

[dunkej01]

9xs that was pretty good. A couple of things to add.

You dont see recruits tweeting or facebooking pics of Cody or Casey but you do Cael. Why? Because your right he is on the road making things happen. Hes 36 yo and full of energy. 47 isnt old but ask a 47 yo if they have the same drive as they did at 36. Then magnify that with the Super type A personality that Cael has.

Cael can do this because he is the unquestioned CEO which allows him to delegate out duties. Duties that he knows are being taken care of and he doesnt have to micromanage. The saying that behind all good men is a good woman...well in this case Cael isnt Cael if his support staff wasnt as great as they are at home and in the office. Im sure TnT have very supportive people, but M* and others are not Cody and Casey on several levels. Tom is the boss and lightning rod but is he truely unquestioned in the program? Probably not with Gable and Terry out there. I dont know this just surmising.

I think this support network is what is different between our programs right now. His Exec VP is cody and I would say without equivocation that if PSU lost Cody, we would be operating at 50%, he is that important to the machine from a logistics, philosophy, energy perspective. the VP of product development is Casey and the wrestlers love him once they are on campus and this comes through to the recruits when they get on campus. If PSU were to loose either of them it would be a huge gut punch to the program and I think it would quickly show on the mat.

If the field wants to hurt PSU, poach one of those two guys.

Further drill down....
Cornell has Dake/Hahn, Nebby has Burroughs/Snyder, Rutgers has pritzlaff, Dresser has Zadick, Heffernan has Perry/Hunter, NC State will soon have Gwiz, tO$U has jaggers/steribler/etc
vs
Iowa has M*, Wisky has Ruschell, Minny has Eggum

the arms race isnt just on the mat but the front and back offices too.

 

[OneRoughneck]

I am pretty certain TnT know exactly what they need to do to win the NCAA's. It's not like they aren't in the fire every single day. The results are not meeting fan/university/coach/athlete standards but I have no doubt they are doing everything they can to develop this team into champions. Possibly it doesn't look like it from an outsiders point of view. Possibly they aren't the best coaches in the country but they are without a doubt near the top.

 

[pumpdog20]

Though these recruiting "accusations" appear plausible, I still have a hard time believing Tom doesn't put the miles in. But again, I don't have a clue about the inner workings of the staff. I'll go along and say that M* does most of the in home visits. I'm not sure that's a bad thing. He's brought in studs dating back to his days at Wisky, so I'm sure he's a good salesman. I'm going to say it has more to do with our scholarship packages, and the lack of studs in the state.

 

[Jackhawk87]

Further drill down....
Cornell has Dake/Hahn, Nebby has Burroughs/Snyder, Rutgers has pritzlaff, Dresser has Zadick, Heffernan has Perry/Hunter, NC State will soon have Gwiz, tO$U has jaggers/steribler/etc
vs
Iowa has M*, Wisky has Ruschell, Minny has Eggum

the arms race isnt just on the mat but the front and back offices too.[/QUOTE]

Good points, but probably not fair to say that Cornell has Dake, Nebby has Burroughs, NCSt will have Gwiz, and tO$U has Striebler and say that Iowa has M* (without including Ramos, McD and Metcalf).

Tom has Terry that can monitor the room as well or better than himself. Tom is needed to be the head coach and do the administrative stuff AND RECRUITING. When you meet Tom, he is a really great guy - not necessarily the intense hard nosed guy you see in interviews. If he is not making the trips to see the recruits and be in the houses of the families, that is a big mistake. Whatever it is that is making our recruiting not as good as it can be needs to change.

 

[pumpdog20]

I'm telling you right now, the Brands' are very misunderstood. Everyone thinks they are just a bunch a hand fighting, grind you into the ground, un-adaptable goons. Do yourself a favor and and go to a father/son camp, or sit in on a Eastern Iowa Wrestling Club meeting.

They preach playing other sports and being an athlete. They preach that if your kid is not feeling like going to wrestling practice, don't force him. Tom and Terry very much know that kids are not wired like they are. Why do you think Nelson didn't start until what, 8th grade?

What does this mean about their recruiting? I guess it means that some of you probably don't know what you're talking about.

 

[el dub]

I was sitting in a bar with a few hawk fans the other day and one of them brought up the fact that we tend to recruit plodders as projects rather than athletes. The athletic kids would appear to have much more upside than the plodders. For instance, I'd love to see what the staff could do with that kid from Dowling. (Michael Zachery?)

Was there no interest from the Hawks or what happened there?

 

[dhm47]

First off, I will say I don't want the Brands replaced because the are 2 of the best practice room coaches in the world. But they need to be open for change because I want them to lead us back to the top. Starting with....


1. RECRUITING. Problem isn't just Cael is in PA. True its an issue but Cael is outworking Tom all over the country in recruiting. Quit using just PA kids as a crutch when he is getting elites from other states. Why didn't we get Bo Nickal but settled for Alex Meyer. Its because Cael is in way more homes, logs way more miles and also is the first person an elite recruit meets. Cael is like Gable, if he shows up first in your home, your knees are week and you are ready to commit and excited about what he says. Likewise Morningstar is the first person that elite sees and maybe if your lucky Tom flies in to try and close you. Do you see the problem?

The Gilman article said it all. Brands about lost Gilman because he backed off to give Gilman space and Gilman thought Iowa just didn't want him. Meanwhile when Cael want you he is at your doorstep at midnight. One coach totally gets sales and the other has no f'ing clue. Do you see the problem.

If this was car sales Cael would drive the car to you at your convienance at work, home whatever and sit in the seat and test drive with you and tell you how good it looks in your driveway. Brands would tell the customrer that he has an hour open in the afternoon if you can make it to the dealership, then you can take it out by yourself and if you like Morningstar can fill out the paperwork.

The solution. Brands needs some selling classes/seminars/books(something) on working with humans because you dont back off 17 year old kids so they feel neglected, and also needs to log more flyer miles than he could ever imagine. Morningstar cant be the first guy to visit an elite. Can you imagine how it looks to parents or the kids. Are you to too busy for Nicakl because Alex Meyer is the easier recruit and you think you can out X&O a less talented guy time and time again. That's stubbornness has caught up to him.

2. MAT WRESTLING. If we aren't making tilts a top priority then we are losing. And that's the problem. Period, end of discussion. Do we have any coaches in the room that can teach this because it appears to me that Clark and Brooks, Meyer are the only ones who can do this and that was taught to them way before D1. This is where PSU and Ohio/PA high schools kids are kicking our butts.

I believe half the reason guys are afraid to shoot are they fear losing a scramble because they don't sepend enough time rolling around and being comfortable in uncomfortable situations. So instead of fun wrestling like Nolf, Nickal, David Taylor we get guys who are content to drop to a knee and half lunge way too much.

Solution. Hire Jaybo and let Morningstar go. M* was only brough on to do what Tom Terry or Zaddickdidn't want to bother with. Traveling for recruits. Tom getting on the road frees up Jaybo to teach tilts and riding to turn. Jaybo needs to be in the practice room. Honestly the middle weights haven't been as good since Frayer left but that never gets talked about.

3. VISION. I honestly don't think Tom sees far enough ahead to see his starting roster 2 years out. Brands is a great coach but he needs a lot of work on managing kids and being a CEO. It seeclarkms most the time he leaves weight decision up for the kids to decide and its put them behind in strength. Cael seems to recruit chess pieces for weight 2-3 years out and sees the bigger picture and sales it to a Cortez or Suriano one here tey can start and redshirt. I fully believe Tom has no clue who 157 will be between Kem or Brandon at this point. But he should. Vision leads into......

4. STRENGTH. Kids need to be looking to gain strength and move up and carry quickness up in weight classes. Quickness travels up, not down as evident by Grothus. The quicker guy typicaly wins as we saw with Snyder vs Gwiz or Gwiz vs a 280 pounder. I also didn't like Brands comments on him telling Rutt what needs done. Let the strength coaches do their jobs. Doyle tells Ferentz.not the other way around. Only thing Brands should tell Rutt to follow Doyle around with a notebook and let them come up with their ideas.


To sum it up. Brands needs to be a road warrior (which he is still slowly getting through his head) to get elite kids that we can teach to be less plodding and more a mat wrestler which the modern champion has in his arsenal. Then we need to get them in the right weights and be the quicker guy at an above weight, not the slower sucked down plodder getting beat to the punch, who half attempts knee lunges to look active because hes afraid to get beat in a scramble and titled.

Great job. I'd just add get some tough guys, physically as well as mentally. We've got Gillman and sometimes Brooks.. If you're pushing the action and taking shots, they aren't. Clark,Sorenson and Burak are great wrestlers but not always scrappy.

 

[goethe14]

PSU fan and would like to add some to the conversation as I think there are many great points.

1. If some of the recruiting stories are even 1/2 true in this thread about Brands not meeting recruits it needs to be changed immediately. Regardless of how nice a guy Mstar is; if the head guy isn't there you're already behind before you start IMO.

2. Perception is reality. Regardless of how great Tom and Terry are in person, if they aren't meeting people they will be portrayed as the guys running around and screaming at matches. The perception of the Iowa style of wrestling is also taking a hit. Just look at your own board... Heavy hands, push and wear you down to win 4-3 is not what the elite wrestlers are hoping for. I know it's not totally true but it's out there. These are all things that I'm sure is said everyday about your program from other coaches.

3. History. You have a great one. However you haven't won a title in six years. Most of the wrestlers you are recruiting weren't in their teens yet. This is an information society now and people want things instantly. To them 6 years is a lifetime. They have grown up seeing mostly PSU on top and that to a young wrestler is a big deal.

4. Quality over quantity. The elite guys win you the championship plain and simple. Spreading the money over 15 plus guys just isn't going to work moving forward. Zain outscored Minnesota by himself(I'm looking at you Jammenz) Nolf and Zain combined would have finished 9th. It's the way to build teams going forward.

Just my opinions. This is an interesting board to read. I enjoy the converations on here. Good luck next year

 

[Ihawkd9times]

What does this mean about their recruiting? I guess it means that some of you probably don't know what you're talking about.

The Brands are misunderstood as people. Great guys. First class. However they don't understand sales or recruiting like a face of the program should.

A lot of this is from different sources at who say the biggest issue is Cael is in the home in front of the parents asking for the business. Iowa sends in Morningstar. Tell me who you are awestruck of?

Im not guessing. Re-Read the Gilam/Clark article from last week for the facts. Brands said he backed off Gilman to give him space and let him train for freestyle. Gilman then said he felt like Iowa didn't want him anymore and was down to Neb/Ok St. Gilmans freaking coach had to call Tom to get Tom back on top of his recruiting.

How do you not see the huge red flags in that article? You keep following up with the kid for the love of god. We are lucky his coach called otherwise Gilman would be in a different singlet. Brands really thought he was doing the best thing by backing off to get him to the point of no contact. My goodness people. They have no idea how to ask for someones business.

I'm going to use car sales again. Brands is the salesman who doesn't even write down your number and lets you walk off the lot without talking to the manager first and no way to follow up because he thinks they will come because of the name of the dealership.. The customer wont be back because Cael is hungry manager at the next car lot they visit who follows up with the same customer a few times, walks them around the dealership, introduces them to the service manager and makes them feel at home. Cael sales the car the next week and sales the service dept and asks for referrals.

I think Cael gets a rush recruiting these kids and gets them excited. I think Brands views recruiting as a necessary evil he could do without and would rather be in the practice room training.

 

[Stanley75]

I like the OPs post and agree with it. Some think it takes huge changes but it takes more tweaks than big adjustments. We are close and are on the right path. Things are different now than when TnT were wrestling. There are more really good wrestlers available and the big schools are getting their share of those good wrestlers. PSU has made the biggest strides make no mistake about it.
The biggest thing I see changed, is the speed and athleticism aspect of wrestling. Look at the heavyweights for instance compared to 25 years ago. Some of our wrestlers are plodders no foot seed. If you think I'm wrong why did our wrestlers get taken down and we had no take downs in the finals? We are wrestling like it is 1990.

Brooks is the prime example, any foot work at all and he is in the finals. He has the motor and strength but lacks athleticism. Nickel lost to an athlete. Nolf lost to an athlete Gwiz lost to an athlete, BS lost to an athlete, Clark lost to an athlete, McIntosh lost to an athlete. Gilman is the only guy that lost to an equal in athletic ability. Would have been nice to see a NC at this weight for recruiting purposes and for Gilmans sake. It certainly didn't help our chances of landing Lee.

I hope we can at least have a wrestler at 141 next year this was a huge debacle the entire year. Now we haven't developed anyone for next year. Double mistake on this one. You can only point to poor coaching on this one. We have Happel coming in but I'm not sure we should have made a play for Zachary, faster and more athleticism. Much less refined but a much bigger up side.

 

[Ihawkd9times]

9xs that was pretty good. A couple of things to add.

You dont see recruits tweeting or facebooking pics of Cody or Casey but you do Cael. Why? Because your right he is on the road making things happen. Hes 36 yo and full of energy. 47 isnt old but ask a 47 yo if they have the same drive as they did at 36. Then magnify that with the Super type A personality that Cael has.

Cael can do this because he is the unquestioned CEO which allows him to delegate out duties. Duties that he knows are being taken care of and he doesnt have to micromanage. The saying that behind all good men is a good woman...well in this case Cael isnt Cael if his support staff wasnt as great as they are at home and in the office. Im sure TnT have very supportive people, but M* and others are not Cody and Casey on several levels. Tom is the boss and lightning rod but is he truely unquestioned in the program? Probably not with Gable and Terry out there. I dont know this just surmising.

I think this support network is what is different between our programs right now. His Exec VP is cody and I would say without equivocation that if PSU lost Cody, we would be operating at 50%, he is that important to the machine from a logistics, philosophy, energy perspective. the VP of product development is Casey and the wrestlers love him once they are on campus and this comes through to the recruits when they get on campus. If PSU were to loose either of them it would be a huge gut punch to the program and I think it would quickly show on the mat.

If the field wants to hurt PSU, poach one of those two guys.

Further drill down....
Cornell has Dake/Hahn, Nebby has Burroughs/Snyder, Rutgers has pritzlaff, Dresser has Zadick, Heffernan has Perry/Hunter, NC State will soon have Gwiz, tO$U has jaggers/steribler/etc
vs
Iowa has M*, Wisky has Ruschell, Minny has Eggum

the arms race isnt just on the mat but the front and back offices too.

Exactly Dunke, PSU has the perfect mix of the staff right now. Cael can do his thing and leave the room in Casey and Cody's hands. I also think Cody has a CEO mind about the business side of coaching. And Casey is the BEST middleweight coach in the land.

Iowa counters with keeping TnT in the room and sending Morningstar out. If we are really being honest Molinari is just as a big a name to a 17 year old as Morningstar. I wonder if a parent has ever asked Morningstar. So what did you win? Sorry I was getting you confused with that Derek St John guy. whats he doing nowadays?

Minny has Eggum. Lol. Its no secret why Minny is in decline either. Yep you get it!!

 

[HawkTalk3]

I was sitting in a bar with a few hawk fans the other day and one of them brought up the fact that we tend to recruit plodders as projects rather than athletes. The athletic kids would appear to have much more upside than the plodders. For instance, I'd love to see what the staff could do with that kid from Dowling. (Michael Zachery?)

Was there no interest from the Hawks or what happened there?

He wanted to play football too, Grand View allowed him to do both.

 

[pablow]

. .

The biggest thing I see changed, is the speed and athleticism aspect of wrestling. Look at the heavyweights for instance compared to 25 years ago. Some of our wrestlers are plodders no foot seed. If you think I'm wrong why did our wrestlers get taken down and we had no take downs in the finals? We are wrestling like it is 1990.

. . .

I'm going to have to stick up for the old-timers - in the 1990 NCAAs there were FIVE world champs: Zeke Jones, Kendall Cross, Terry Brands, Tom Brands, and Kurt Angle.

 

[HawkFT]

OP is dead on along with many of the other posts. I agree SALES 101 is a MUST. Cael and Tom Ryan completely get it. Spoke to TR as he was looking to land Snyder and he discussed social media and LOVING up the kids, mom's, families better than anyone else. Not something TnT really do btw, not in their DNA ala Ferentz.

Cael and TR excel here and get the elite recruits as a result. As those that know Tom Brands, the perception is NOT the reality. That is really hard to overcome especially until you get to know him because he is still intense, intense, intense. But when you peel back about a 100 layers you get the funny, great person out. Tough to do in a few instances and over the phone, along with ALL the times you see their intensity.

It also appears TnT need to do a better job at chess with the scholarships and where to place kids with respective to weight. Cael is doing this better than anyone except maybe Smith.

I think TnT are the BEST for Iowa and love them as our coaches. I do think as the program develops in the next 4-6 years they need to be proactive NOW about the future and consider who will carry the torch and putting the next young gun in position soon. This person needs to be all the things we have discussed in this thread from sales, to visionary, to chess player, to CEO (Taylor, Burroughs, Dake, Snyder, Ramos). Almost all the guys know wrestling and can coach it at this point. Again prefer NO one other than TnT, just hope they can adapt/get elite recruits and right the ship to contend and win a few more titles.

 

[championhawk]

It that really true about Tom not visiting enough recruits homes?
If so, that would explain the lack of elite recruits.
Kids want to feel important and wanted. What's the message we're sending to recruits if we're sending out the assistant coach to build these relationships. And, I hate to say it, but an assistant coach who's best credentials is a 3rd place finish at NCAAs isn't going to compare to a NCAA champion or Olympic Champion when it comes to winning these kids over.
Stuff like that is in the kid's back head. Credentials matter. Brands has them, but he needs to be in front of their faces himself not an assistant.

Please realize that Ihawks sources are Iowa State fans so lets not take his posts as factual. None of us know how many hours Tom logs recruiting, but I bet the numbers increase if that is an area that can grow. Didn't Tom or Terry show technique at Young Guns recently? I think our coaches will continue to adapt to get the results we all want. They are too competitive not to.

 

[OneRoughneck]

What TnT are doing is part of the plan IMO. They prefer kids who are not needing to be begged to come to Iowa, that want to be recruited but don't need to be the center of the wrestling world. All those kids will not be treated that way when they get to college anyway....not that they will be mistreated just saying it will not be the same. I think TnT have a no nonsense approach and they want kids who are similar.

I think some are saying they should change. Maybe, just maybe. I can see them moving in that direction a little but no way will they ever be 100% that way.

 

[GetNAfterIt]

I'm telling you right now, the Brands' are very misunderstood. Everyone thinks they are just a bunch a hand fighting, grind you into the ground, un-adaptable goons. Do yourself a favor and and go to a father/son camp, or sit in on a Eastern Iowa Wrestling Club meeting.

They preach playing other sports and being an athlete. They preach that if your kid is not feeling like going to wrestling practice, don't force him. Tom and Terry very much know that kids are not wired like they are. Why do you think Nelson didn't start until what, 8th grade?

What does this mean about their recruiting? I guess it means that some of you probably don't know what you're talking about.

Tom n Terry both have boys and it's pretty evident that they're utilizing the 'no pressure' approach. My son is 6 and all I want as his father is for him to have fun. I see fathers all the time at tourneys just verbally beating down their kid when they lose or a make a mistake. Pressuring a kid to wrestle and forcing him into action is a critical mistake.

 

[el dub]

He wanted to play football too, Grand View allowed him to do both.

Do you really believe the kid turned down an offer to wrestle for Iowa in order to play football and wrestle at Grandview?

 

[pumpdog20]

Do you really believe the kid turned down an offer to wrestle for Iowa in order to play football and wrestle at Grandview?

If going to school for free was involved, I can definitely believe it.

 

[Pennstate1985]

What TnT are doing is part of the plan IMO. They prefer kids who are not needing to be begged to come to Iowa, that want to be recruited but don't need to be the center of the wrestling world. All those kids will not be treated that way when they get to college anyway....not that they will be mistreated just saying it will not be the same. I think TnT have a no nonsense approach and they want kids who are similar.

I think some are saying they should change. Maybe, just maybe. I can see them moving in that direction a little but no way will they ever be 100% that way.

Nowhere in your thought process have you taken the parents into account. They want their elite son's ego stroked a little, so it would behoove the recruiter to do so. As we all know, parents have tremendous influence in the process.

 

[HawkTalk3]

Do you really believe the kid turned down an offer to wrestle for Iowa in order to play football and wrestle at Grandview?

Its part of it, yes. I am not trying to take a shot at the ISU football program, but I am pretty sure he told ISU he thought he could do both there.

 

[pablow]

. . .

3. VISION. I honestly don't think Tom sees far enough ahead to see his starting roster 2 years out. Brands is a great coach but he needs a lot of work on managing kids and being a CEO. It seems most the time he leaves weight decision up for the kids to decide and its put them behind in strength. Cael seems to recruit chess pieces for weight 2-3 years out and sees the bigger picture and sales it to a Cortez or Suriano one here tey can start and redshirt. I fully believe Tom has no clue who 157 will be between Kem or Brandon at this point. But he should. Vision leads into......
.

This is a great point/observation. Our staff simply has to make the decision before summer. It can't wait for wrestler-offs. Actually, IMO you could just flip a coin - Sorensen and Kemmer just need to know so they can get their bodies ready. No excuse to drag this out. None.

 

[Ihawkd9times]

Please realize that Ihawks sources are Iowa State fans so lets not take his posts as factual. None of us know how many hours Tom logs recruiting, but I bet the numbers increase if that is an area that can grow. Didn't Tom or Terry show technique at Young Guns recently? I think our coaches will continue to adapt to get the results we all want. They are too competitive not to.

It isn't ISU folks lol. They got their own issues. IMO and this is just me but ISU should pony up a good package deal for Varner and Cunningham in some sort of Co-head coach role. But Pollard wont. He has his basketball team and the stadium was just bowled in and that's all that matters to him. Why do you think Cael left? PSU being a hotbed was one but he got no support from Pollard to beat Iowa. In fact he was told his funds were being reduced.

Showing up at YG was a good thing but that's not enough. They need to be in their homes and on their phones, staying with them.

I would love to see log of Cael's texts and travels compared to Tom's so I could hammer it home to you.

I just gave you an example of Cael going after a 125 pounder by being at his home at midnight. Brands 125 pounder had to have his HS coach call and tell him, hey you might want to talk to him, hes about to go to Neb/Ok St. But whatever I guess??

 

[championhawk]

It isn't ISU folks lol. They got their own issues. IMO and this is just me but ISU should pony up a good package deal for Varner and Cunningham in some sort of Co-head coach role. But Pollard wont. He has his basketball team and the stadium was just bowled in and that's all that matters to him. Why do you think Cael left? PSU being a hotbed was one but he got no support from Pollard to beat Iowa. In fact he was told his funds were being reduced.

Showing up at YG was a good thing but that's not enough. They need to be in their homes and on their phones, staying with them.

I would love to see log of Cael's texts and travels compared to Tom's so I could hammer it home to you.

I just gave you an example of Cael going after a 125 pounder by being at his home at midnight. Brands 125 pounder had to have his HS coach call and tell him, hey you might want to talk to him, hes about to go to Neb/Ok St. But whatever I guess??

So your source is now Iowa State fans and one newspaper article. Preach on with all your great insight. The one thing you are correct on is that Cael has forced Tom to up his game. We will know in the next few years how that worked out.

 

[Ihawkd9times]

So your source is now Iowa State fans and one newspaper article. Preach on with all your great insight. The one thing you are correct on is that Cael has forced Tom to up his game. We will know in the next few years how that worked out.

I said my source isn't Iowa state fans.

Bottom line is there is a trend going on with spacing off on recruiting. You also realize Brands got lucky sweeping in on McDonough last minute after he was set to go to NW. That's a trend of spacing off.

I don't know the answer but Brands apparently needs a notebook, Calender, phone and some zig zigler classes because our last two 125 pound stars were both basically afterthoughts and about on other teams due to lack of follow up, effort. whatever.

Neither of McD or Gilmans recruiting should have come down to last minute saves.

Brands seems to recruit like I view my Thursday trash days. I forget its trash day until I hear the truck coming down the neighborhood that morning.

How do you not stay on top or in contact with a McD or Gilman? And they both live in Iowa, a car ride away. Think about that for a sec and tell me how it could be better with Spencer Lee in PA.

Do you think Cael is just putting him on the back burner or is he in constant contact with him?

Do you think Mark hall not having Iowa in his top 5 was an accident?

 

[pablow]

I said my source isn't Iowa state fans.

Bottom line is there is a trend going on with spacing off on recruiting. You also realize Brands got lucky sweeping in on McDonough last minute after he was set to go to NW. That's a trend of spacing off.

I don't know the answer but Brands apparently needs a notebook, Calender, phone and some zig zigler classes because our last two 125 pound stars were both basically afterthoughts and about on other teams due to lack of follow up, effort. whatever.

Neither of McD or Gilmans recruiting should have come down to last minute saves.

Brands seems to recruit like I view my Thursday trash days. I forget its trash day until I hear the truck coming down the neighborhood that morning.

How do you not stay on top or in contact with a McD or Gilman? And they both live in Iowa, a car ride away. Think about that for a sec and tell me how it could be better with Spencer Lee in PA.

Do you think Cael is just putting him on the back burner or is he in constant contact with him?

Do you think Mark hall not having Iowa in his top 5 was an accident?

You do realize Tom's office is just a couple miles from I-80? He can catch recruits well before they arrive in Lincoln or Evanston, or certainly hours before Columbus. No sweat.

 

[dunkej01]

Nowhere in your thought process have you taken the parents into account. They want their elite son's ego stroked a little, so it would behoove the recruiter to do so. As we all know, parents have tremendous influence in the process.

Dont forget in todays wrestling world many of the parents have big dollars. No other way to have kids get to fargo and go on the national youth/HS circuit than to have the bucks.

My point....even the parents need stroked a little in many of these cases because money begets that itch to scratch. Some parents are willing to pay a little at the upper echelon colleges (cause they can in many cases) at say 10-20% vs 100% ride at ABC next tier college just to be part of a winner.

Why? Todays Parents like to be part of winner as much as their kid. They want to be shown on ESPN giving a fist pump and then posting a selfie on their facebook for their buddies/girlfriends to give them 100 "likes".

Kids are trophies too in this day and age of social media. Shame but it is what is.

Recruiting 101: Adapt or die

 

[Sandor45]

recruiting is gamesmanship. It's mailing a picture of a stud recruit and photoshopping your schools singlet on it and writing 4x national champ on it.
It takes salesmanship and spin doctors to do it well. Brands is neither of those.
If there was a pro wrestling league, Brands would greatly excel over Cael. But in college, were recruiting is so crucial, Cael wins.
In pro, Brands would be Belechick and Cael would be Chip Kelly

 

[millhawk]

If all of this is true then we need to get a new head coach. No excuse for being outworked. I say again if this is true.

 

[minnhawkeye]

Lets hope Metcalf and Ramos or Dennis can make the olympic team and then win at least a medal in Rio.
Then offer one of them Terrys position which I understand is a good pay . Kill some of the problem with one stone like they say. Also then Tom, Metcalf ,Ramos or Dennis can go on the recuiriting trail together that maybe would open up some of the kids and parents eyes just another thought.Terry could go and take the free style job and maybe send someone like a Marion or Burak who go there for a year before college.

 

[fourbyfour69]

I think there are some major changes that are needing to be made. If you listened to the wrestlers being interviewed all talked about going out and having fun and the fun they have during practice. Now don't get me wrong I like the hard work of IOWA wrestling but times have changed. When was the last time you heard our guys really talk about having fun? Or talk about having handball, dodge ball or whiffle ball competitions during the season to mix things up. I have heard and read this about 2-3 other programs having success right now. Or our coaches and athletes need to talk more about the fun they have as a team to show they are having fun. Recruits want to see this type of "family" and fun for where they are going to be working their asses off for the next 5 years. I think our offense has to change. Our guys need more offensive attacks not just one or 2 shots. I love our ability to hand fight but I think we get caught up in the brawling too much anymore. It needs to be a brawling with constant attack very similar to Retheford. I also think some of our tie ups and shots seem to be long and drawn out. I saw a lot of quick set ups and finishes during the tournament. We had that going back to the day of Zaputil, Brands, Ironside, Metcalf, etc. I also think we need to get back to utilizing tilts and legs for riding. Can go back to guys like the Steiners and look at what other team are doing today. With the new back point scoring we could really be taking advantage of that. How many times do our guys get out in front of the head trying to pull the arm out, to either not get them turned or stopped for potentially dangerous. Again, look at the tilt that Retheford was using that I think he learned from Steiber for back points and ultimately several pins. Another thing I think that could help with creating that fun and family feel is for the Brands or an Iowa Team wrestling social media page, maybe run by Eustice or an assistant coach, Facebook, Twitter, etc accounts. All kids are using them today and I think it shows the close relationship the coach has with athletes, his family, fans, especially photos with kids from camps or competitions, and financial supporters. I know the Brands probably hate social media but we do have to look at all things that can affect potential recruits, fans, and financial supporters. Things have to change. Want a good example, look at Tom Ryan's facebook page. He shows all the things I have listed above. I don't want to get away from everything that made Iowa Wrestling what it is BUT, we have to improve in what we are doing, look at how wrestling is changing, and look at how the athletes are changing for what they are looking for in a program. We can't stay status quo

 

[fourbyfour69]

First off, I will say I don't want the Brands replaced because the are 2 of the best practice room coaches in the world. But they need to be open for change because I want them to lead us back to the top. Starting with....


1. RECRUITING. Problem isn't just Cael is in PA. True its an issue but Cael is outworking Tom all over the country in recruiting. Quit using just PA kids as a crutch when he is getting elites from other states. Why didn't we get Bo Nickal but settled for Alex Meyer. Its because Cael is in way more homes, logs way more miles and also is the first person an elite recruit meets. Cael is like Gable, if he shows up first in your home, your knees are week and you are ready to commit and excited about what he says. Likewise Morningstar is the first person that elite sees and maybe if your lucky Tom flies in to try and close you. Do you see the problem?

The Gilman article said it all. Brands about lost Gilman because he backed off to give Gilman space and Gilman thought Iowa just didn't want him. Meanwhile when Cael want you he is at your doorstep at midnight. One coach totally gets sales and the other has no f'ing clue. Do you see the problem.

If this was car sales Cael would drive the car to you at your convienance at work, home whatever and sit in the seat and test drive with you and tell you how good it looks in your driveway. Brands would tell the customrer that he has an hour open in the afternoon if you can make it to the dealership, then you can take it out by yourself and if you like Morningstar can fill out the paperwork.

The solution. Brands needs some selling classes/seminars/books(something) on working with humans because you dont back off 17 year old kids so they feel neglected, and also needs to log more flyer miles than he could ever imagine. Morningstar cant be the first guy to visit an elite. Can you imagine how it looks to parents or the kids. Are you to too busy for Nicakl because Alex Meyer is the easier recruit and you think you can out X&O a less talented guy time and time again. That's stubbornness has caught up to him.

2. MAT WRESTLING. If we aren't making tilts a top priority then we are losing. And that's the problem. Period, end of discussion. Do we have any coaches in the room that can teach this because it appears to me that Clark and Brooks, Meyer are the only ones who can do this and that was taught to them way before D1. This is where PSU and Ohio/PA high schools kids are kicking our butts.

I believe half the reason guys are afraid to shoot are they fear losing a scramble because they don't sepend enough time rolling around and being comfortable in uncomfortable situations. So instead of fun wrestling like Nolf, Nickal, David Taylor we get guys who are content to drop to a knee and half lunge way too much.

Solution. Hire Jaybo and let Morningstar go. M* was only brough on to do what Tom Terry or Zaddickdidn't want to bother with. Traveling for recruits. Tom getting on the road frees up Jaybo to teach tilts and riding to turn. Jaybo needs to be in the practice room. Honestly the middle weights haven't been as good since Frayer left but that never gets talked about.

3. VISION. I honestly don't think Tom sees far enough ahead to see his starting roster 2 years out. Brands is a great coach but he needs a lot of work on managing kids and being a CEO. It seems most the time he leaves weight decision up for the kids to decide and its put them behind in strength. Cael seems to recruit chess pieces for weight 2-3 years out and sees the bigger picture and sales it to a Cortez or Suriano one here tey can start and redshirt. I fully believe Tom has no clue who 157 will be between Kem or Brandon at this point. But he should. Vision leads into......

4. STRENGTH. Kids need to be looking to gain strength and move up and carry quickness up in weight classes. Quickness travels up, not down as evident by Grothus. The quicker guy typicaly wins as we saw with Snyder vs Gwiz or Gwiz vs a 280 pounder. I also didn't like Brands comments on him telling Rutt what needs done. Let the strength coaches do their jobs. Doyle tells Ferentz.not the other way around. Only thing Brands should tell Rutt to follow Doyle around with a notebook and let them come up with their ideas.


To sum it up. Brands needs to be a road warrior (which he is still slowly getting through his head) to get elite kids that we can teach to be less plodding and more a mat wrestler which the modern champion has in his arsenal. Then we need to get them in the right weights and be the quicker guy at an above weight, not the slower sucked down plodder getting beat to the punch, who half attempts knee lunges to look active because hes afraid to get beat in a scramble and titled.

First off, I will say I don't want the Brands replaced because the are 2 of the best practice room coaches in the world. But they need to be open for change because I want them to lead us back to the top. Starting with....


1. RECRUITING. Problem isn't just Cael is in PA. True its an issue but Cael is outworking Tom all over the country in recruiting. Quit using just PA kids as a crutch when he is getting elites from other states. Why didn't we get Bo Nickal but settled for Alex Meyer. Its because Cael is in way more homes, logs way more miles and also is the first person an elite recruit meets. Cael is like Gable, if he shows up first in your home, your knees are week and you are ready to commit and excited about what he says. Likewise Morningstar is the first person that elite sees and maybe if your lucky Tom flies in to try and close you. Do you see the problem?

The Gilman article said it all. Brands about lost Gilman because he backed off to give Gilman space and Gilman thought Iowa just didn't want him. Meanwhile when Cael want you he is at your doorstep at midnight. One coach totally gets sales and the other has no f'ing clue. Do you see the problem.

If this was car sales Cael would drive the car to you at your convienance at work, home whatever and sit in the seat and test drive with you and tell you how good it looks in your driveway. Brands would tell the customrer that he has an hour open in the afternoon if you can make it to the dealership, then you can take it out by yourself and if you like Morningstar can fill out the paperwork.

The solution. Brands needs some selling classes/seminars/books(something) on working with humans because you dont back off 17 year old kids so they feel neglected, and also needs to log more flyer miles than he could ever imagine. Morningstar cant be the first guy to visit an elite. Can you imagine how it looks to parents or the kids. Are you to too busy for Nicakl because Alex Meyer is the easier recruit and you think you can out X&O a less talented guy time and time again. That's stubbornness has caught up to him.

2. MAT WRESTLING. If we aren't making tilts a top priority then we are losing. And that's the problem. Period, end of discussion. Do we have any coaches in the room that can teach this because it appears to me that Clark and Brooks, Meyer are the only ones who can do this and that was taught to them way before D1. This is where PSU and Ohio/PA high schools kids are kicking our butts.

I believe half the reason guys are afraid to shoot are they fear losing a scramble because they don't sepend enough time rolling around and being comfortable in uncomfortable situations. So instead of fun wrestling like Nolf, Nickal, David Taylor we get guys who are content to drop to a knee and half lunge way too much.

Solution. Hire Jaybo and let Morningstar go. M* was only brough on to do what Tom Terry or Zaddickdidn't want to bother with. Traveling for recruits. Tom getting on the road frees up Jaybo to teach tilts and riding to turn. Jaybo needs to be in the practice room. Honestly the middle weights haven't been as good since Frayer left but that never gets talked about.

3. VISION. I honestly don't think Tom sees far enough ahead to see his starting roster 2 years out. Brands is a great coach but he needs a lot of work on managing kids and being a CEO. It seems most the time he leaves weight decision up for the kids to decide and its put them behind in strength. Cael seems to recruit chess pieces for weight 2-3 years out and sees the bigger picture and sales it to a Cortez or Suriano one here tey can start and redshirt. I fully believe Tom has no clue who 157 will be between Kem or Brandon at this point. But he should. Vision leads into......

4. STRENGTH. Kids need to be looking to gain strength and move up and carry quickness up in weight classes. Quickness travels up, not down as evident by Grothus. The quicker guy typicaly wins as we saw with Snyder vs Gwiz or Gwiz vs a 280 pounder. I also didn't like Brands comments on him telling Rutt what needs done. Let the strength coaches do their jobs. Doyle tells Ferentz.not the other way around. Only thing Brands should tell Rutt to follow Doyle around with a notebook and let them come up with their ideas.


To sum it up. Brands needs to be a road warrior (which he is still slowly getting through his head) to get elite kids that we can teach to be less plodding and more a mat wrestler which the modern champion has in his arsenal. Then we need to get them in the right weights and be the quicker guy at an above weight, not the slower sucked down plodder getting beat to the punch, who half attempts knee lunges to look active because hes afraid to get beat in a scramble and titled.

 

[fourbyfour69]

I heard this year from a coach that runs a wrestling school out east. There was one of his athletes that was all set to come to Iowa until he came for his visit. It was reported to me that during that visit Tom talked very little to him and questioned why he would even look at another school. Well this athlete left with a bad taste in his mouth. He signed with another big ten school and was an all American for that team this year at a weight we needed. So yes Tom needs to come off more approachable, show more interest in these kids, and he be the one to be on each door step or do something that is over the top but within the rules to show these ultra blue chip recruits we want them. The kids of today want to be "shown the love" for sacrifices they have made to get to where they are in their career. You can't make it seem like "there is always someone else". I also agree that either find a way to keep Morningstar and add a rider like jaybo or make a total change. We need help in mat wrestling

 

[Ihawkd9times]

We need serious help with mat wrestling