Top Ten Recommended Kirk Ferentz's New Year Resolutions
Kirk, in a business where your success is determined by your team's offensive entertainment value more than it should perhaps, and attracting younger people to your team as players, to your stadium, and as supporters of your program, it's way past time to revise your communication strategy. Send the message that you are listening, hearing what people think and you are trying to give them more of what they want. Inside the program, internal to the team, your team approach doesn't have to change much at all, except for (see resolution #3 above 😁)
- Get into the 2024 College Football Playoffs by hook or by crook.
- Eliminate the use of the following phrases:
- "25, 20 or 15 years ago..." (instantly closing off the ears, minds, and hearts of anyone under 40 years old - including HS recruits, parents, portal transfers, and younger program supporters). My point is, that if you are trying to communicate and connect with these people, to be heard and trusted, you have to sound like you are intimately connected and are aware of today's world.
- Find a younger OC (less than 50) that has a current yet conservative offense philosophy, 55- 45 % run-pass mix, hire him, and leave him alone. Limit your offensive influence to Clock management/Timeouts, 4th down "go for it" plays (Yes/No), trick plays (Yes/No), punts or FA attempts. Consider hiring an assistant HC with OC responsibility who can bring on a QB coach and, together, can recruit skill positions, perhaps bringing players with them from their current programs. (see resolution 1 above)
- Instead of offering your Standard MO explanations/justifications, just answer questions with yes or no, and patiently elaborate on the why, just short of sounding defensiveness/justifying. People who don't understand the value of "being consistent" or "not throwing out the baby with the dirty bath water" will never accept the "because we have always done things that way for 20 years" responses (see Resolution #2 above.)
Kirk, in a business where your success is determined by your team's offensive entertainment value more than it should perhaps, and attracting younger people to your team as players, to your stadium, and as supporters of your program, it's way past time to revise your communication strategy. Send the message that you are listening, hearing what people think and you are trying to give them more of what they want. Inside the program, internal to the team, your team approach doesn't have to change much at all, except for (see resolution #3 above 😁)
