TOM BRANDS interview

[Todd Conner]

https://iowawrestlingblog.com/2017/10/tom-brands-interview-12/



I am now up on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/IowaWrestlingFan/
and on Twiiter at https://twitter.com/iawrestlingfan


It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling Fan.

 

[andegre]

Could someone decode his last answer on the recruiting?

We have some commitments out there on our end that have not been taken and we are not waiting anxiously but we are curious how they are going to work out. We are looking forward to getting word on those

Is he basically saying we have some commitments (I'm assuming for the 2018 class) that just aren't public yet? Or they've offered them, and the recruit hasn't responded?

We have full partners and we love it. We have full partners with the Hawkeye Wrestling Club guys. We have full partners with our fans. We have full partnership with our athletes. And we have full partnership with the parents of those athletes.

What does all that mean?

 

[jmadden1998]

Then there is a group of freshmen that are training and progressing and we may use one of those freshman

Spencer Lee?

Also, like the fact he says Stoll should go right away.

I think you will see him right away. The question that he is getting a lot is how is your rehab? And his rehab is going just fine. So we’re there we just have to really make sure that he stays in good positions. And not just because he is not healed, because he is. We need to make sure that we keep him healthy.

 

[AFHawk86]

Tom says, "We have done a lot of research." This was in reference to growing the HWC and exploiting the budget for the greatest impact.

 

[AFHawk86]

Could someone decode his last answer on the recruiting?



Is he basically saying we have some commitments (I'm assuming for the 2018 class) that just aren't public yet? Or they've offered them, and the recruit hasn't responded?



What does all that mean?

I took his answers to mean: 1) he is waiting on responses from wrestlers that Iowa has recruited and offered scholarships, and 2) that it's a team effort between the coaches, the team, the HWC, and the fans.

 

[MVPFAN]

This says a lot.....

Brands: Recruiting is going fine. We don’t have a lot of money. We are strapped for money. There are 9.9 scholarships. We do it legal. We do it by the book. We are working hard to make sure we get the best guys in our program. We have two very good commitments right now. We are very happy with that. You just cannot throw money, it’s not unlimited. People have to understand that. I know that Ryan Morningstar does a great job with that. I have complete faith in him. Last year we spent three and a half scholarships. When you have three and a half scholarships available, you know what it is pretty dang easy to bring in eight or ten top flight recruits and you are going to get five or six of them. Plus a transfer with Lugo. You are going to be able to do that. We don’t have money. And because we don’t have money we have to be kind of careful exactly how we recruit.

 

[LaxHawk174]

Great interview @Todd Conner . This may be your best Tom Brands interview yet.

I loved the info he gave on recruiting, and especially scholarships. He said we spent 3.5 scholarships in the last class + Lugo? That seems somewhat high. Must be full rides for Lee + Warner and a significant amount for Murin and Lugo.

He also made it sound like there is potential to add more than 1 guy for this 2018 class. There are offers on the table and waiting to see what happens.

 

[Knight563]

This says a lot.....

Brands: Recruiting is going fine. We don’t have a lot of money. We are strapped for money. There are 9.9 scholarships. We do it legal. We do it by the book. We are working hard to make sure we get the best guys in our program. We have two very good commitments right now. We are very happy with that. You just cannot throw money, it’s not unlimited. People have to understand that. I know that Ryan Morningstar does a great job with that. I have complete faith in him. Last year we spent three and a half scholarships. When you have three and a half scholarships available, you know what it is pretty dang easy to bring in eight or ten top flight recruits and you are going to get five or six of them. Plus a transfer with Lugo. You are going to be able to do that. We don’t have money. And because we don’t have money we have to be kind of careful exactly how we recruit.

Two items.

1. This goes to the point Willie said on FRL two weeks ago - if someone is cheating then prove it. “We do it legal.” Well who isn’t and is Coach referring to another program?

2. CP on the same show said “many wrestling programs cheat.” I’d love for him to “journalist up” and write or comment further to what he was referring to.

 

[Knight563]

Also great article Todd! Love to hear from Terry too.

 

[pablow]

Two items.

1. This goes to the point Willie said on FRL two weeks ago - if someone is cheating then prove it. “We do it legal.” Well who isn’t and is Coach referring to another program?

2. CP on the same show said “many wrestling programs cheat.” I’d love for him to “journalist up” and write or comment further to what he was referring to.

 

[Rustys Dad]

Good stuff. Always like to hear what's floating around in coach's head.

 

[TarpHawk]

Excellent interview.

Solid info on the state of the HWC and new facility.

Solid info on recruiting (limited money, waiting to hear back on offers, 3.5 gets you 5-6 top guys).

Interesting info on possibly starting a true freshman (likely Lee, but perhaps Stickley or Murin at 133).

Intriguing hint about a parent getting upset if his son doesn't start, which is probably purely hypothetical, but could be a hint about the state of competition at 141, 165, or 174, with Gunther possibly in contention for the latter two. The need for wrestle-offs also alluded to stiff competition at several weights.

Subtle dig at programs that might not be doing 9.9 "by the book." (Why else would he say it?)

All good. Glad to see Tom providing good info.

 

[LaxHawk174]

Excellent interview.

Solid info on the state of the HWC and new facility.

Solid info on recruiting (limited money, waiting to hear back on offers, 3.5 gets you 5-6 top guys).

Interesting info on possibly starting a true freshman (likely Lee, but perhaps Stickley or Murin at 133).

Intriguing hint about a parent getting upset if his son doesn't start, which is probably purely hypothetical, but could be a hint about the state of competition at 141, 165, or 174, with Gunther possibly in contention for the latter two. The need for wrestle-offs also alluded to stiff competition at several weights.

Subtle dig at programs that might not be doing 9.9 "by the book." (Why else would he say it?)

All good. Glad to see Tom providing good info.

That parent comment could be the hint you were looking for about guys transferring out of the program.

 

[SPOONER]

Anyone who posted about how Gary Barta is hurting the wrestling program, is an idiot, doesn't have his stuff together, is never going to support a new facility, treats the program like crap, and on and on needs to read Tom's comments and get a clue.

 

[acuhawk]

Anyone who posted about how Gary Barta is hurting the wrestling program, is an idiot, doesn't have his stuff together, is never going to support a new facility, treats the program like crap, and on and on needs to read Tom's comments and get a clue.

Gary has been great.

 

[bbwretler]

This says a lot.....

Brands: Recruiting is going fine. We don’t have a lot of money. We are strapped for money. There are 9.9 scholarships. We do it legal. We do it by the book. We are working hard to make sure we get the best guys in our program. We have two very good commitments right now. We are very happy with that. You just cannot throw money, it’s not unlimited. People have to understand that. I know that Ryan Morningstar does a great job with that. I have complete faith in him. Last year we spent three and a half scholarships. When you have three and a half scholarships available, you know what it is pretty dang easy to bring in eight or ten top flight recruits and you are going to get five or six of them. Plus a transfer with Lugo. You are going to be able to do that. We don’t have money. And because we don’t have money we have to be kind of careful exactly how we recruit.

This for everyone on here who expects us to be in on every top recruit and to even take multiple recruits at the same weight. Maybe some on here should speak with our compliance department and convince them to delve more deeply into the dark gray area’s if not further or we need to recruit more athletes with rich uncles or parents who don’t mind paying an extra $150,000. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!

 

[grapplefann]

Excellent interview.

Solid info on the state of the HWC and new facility.

Solid info on recruiting (limited money, waiting to hear back on offers, 3.5 gets you 5-6 top guys).

Interesting info on possibly starting a true freshman (likely Lee, but perhaps Stickley or Murin at 133).

Intriguing hint about a parent getting upset if his son doesn't start, which is probably purely hypothetical, but could be a hint about the state of competition at 141, 165, or 174, with Gunther possibly in contention for the latter two. The need for wrestle-offs also alluded to stiff competition at several weights.

Subtle dig at programs that might not be doing 9.9 "by the book." (Why else would he say it?)

All good. Glad to see Tom providing good info.

And an excellent summary, Tarp. I was also surprised to hear that 3.5 gets 5-6 top guys. It ain't like football is it.
Gee, I wonder what programs are not going by the book. Any guesses? :O

This could be a very, very fun year if the guys have 3rd period gas tanks and show some real fight.
Go Hawks!