Well I've never heard the arguments you claim to have made. You've invited yourself to the smart kids' table. That's a good thing cuz we can argue without quarrelling. Indulge us by answering the following:
I
Where does Iowa sit in state population? That's pretty important. Assuming each state turns out the same ratio of 4 and five-star athletes to population, Iowa's in 13th place. Pennsylvania's population is more than three times larger than Iowa. Where do almost all of those Pennsylvania 4*/5* end up? Pedo St., of course. Ohio and Michigan are like 2/12 times as large as Iowa. Even Minnesota and Wisconsin are more populated, although Minnesota doesn't see a lot of good HS football. Wisconsin does, though. Those same ratios would apply the 3*s and the sleepers. Most schools, especially the blue bloods, lock down their states first. How do we overcome the simple raw disparity of numbers in recruiting?
II
Demographic trends. The national population has shifted south and west since Iowa's glory day under Evy and before. Recruiting southern boys is now imperative. So, the good HS kid from a warm weather state is going to look at which cold weather schools first? I'd say Brutus, the Whore Ann Arbor, Pedo St and Bucky-in that order-get a look before Iowa for most of those recruits. We're asking kids that have never even seen sleet in many cases to come up and play a team that is going to play a game where its nearly zero degrees. That is the accumulation of decades of prominence for at least the first four teams. We offer a safe college town, coaching stability (that comes up in almost every recruit's comment about Iowa) and a quality program, just not much media (the entire media spectrum like Twitter, cable sports, print, TV audiences, etc...). I haven't looked but I am very certain the roster compositions show those five schools are well ahead of Iowa in pillaging other states' good football players, continuing to develop more talented rosters that last for decades and decades.
III
Money. Iowa does have some money. Iowa's Athletic Department budget is $92.9M(5th) and Bucky's is 93.5 (4th). Brutus' budget is $131M, Ann Arbor's is $122M, and the Pedos have $116M. That is a $400M advantage over a mere decade. Better facilities, better dorms, better perks, more and better coaches, scouts, AAU type payoffs, analysts and consultants. The money means more and better of everything. They can always out bid Iowa in a coaching search, including assistants. Think about the monumental advantages created by the money differential. How does Iowa overcome that huge financial disparity. The Pedos had their top fund-raising year to that date the year their pedo scandal sanctions hit. How does Iowa overcome all that money?
IV
School size. Iowa's surely among the smallest schools. Assuming donor/institution ratio is the same everywhere that means, over a lifetime, the bigger schools obtain exponentially larger donor pools. How do you propose Iowa enlarge its donor pool, particularly in the large donor class that can be tapped for big spending projects. That's how the blue bloods have the advantage of tens of millions of more dollars a year.
V
Small college town. Not unique to Iowa, but Iowa is no Columbus, Madison or the Twin Cities. Iowa isn't even near an actual urbanized environment. There is just a lot more entertainment in and near everywhere but Pedo St., and let's be honest they make their own kind of fun. How does Iowa overcome its actual rural location?
VI
Academics and citizenship. I actually know this of my own personal knowledge. Most other schools in most other leagues are not nearly as rigid as Iowa in more marginal academic or citizenship situations. This has been an ongoing dispute for decades but the people that run the University.
VII
Perception is everything. The eyes of the sporting world are naturally drawn to the schools that are blue bloods. Look at Pedo States recruiting after the exposure of the scandal. It was down for a few years due to scholarship limitations. Now they are right back where they were, rocking great recruiting classes every year. That is how the blue bloods keep their blood blue. Everything above gives them advantages that are impossible to overcome because they create the perception that fuels everything else. How does Iowa break that cycle without a major corporate donor like Nike simply hiring the best "amateurs" he can find.
So, how does a new coach overcome all those impediments?
Then, identify the coaches that are guaranteed to improve on our top 30 kind of status. Because that status may not be great but its way better than the other 80% of college programs, including every school in our Division but Bucky. The population of very good coaches is smaller. The brilliant coaches-the kind of guys that could overcome some impediments-are few and far between. So, who is so likely to move Iowa from Top 30 to Top 20 that you're willing to gamble Top 30 against becoming Illinois? Eight coaches since KF was hired, and all 8 left with losing records. There are 5 schools like that for every program like Iowa's or better.
24 hours later...crickets. Another keyboard King Kong.