This is exactly why rules and regulations exist.
What would Kirk do If Barta fired Brian.
- Thread starter paednoch23
- Start date
Very good. As to my question, just WHAT are these rules? As I pointed out there are are very large number of schools across both football and basketball who coaches hired their sons , brothers, or son in laws. If there are in fact "rules" then obviously NO one pays any attention to them......
I truly believe Kirk thinks he can fix the offense and honestly what is Brian supposed to call that will work if the line can’t block?
I know everyone will say that’s the coaches fault….. should went to the portal blah blah
the reality is they had a couple years of oline recruits that left for various reasons and the cupboards bare….. we have a 4* and a 5* oline recruits coming in next year
How about we see how the rest of the season goes before we fire people…… We got beat by a better more talented team in Michigan…… they’re going to beat a lot of people
I know everyone will say that’s the coaches fault….. should went to the portal blah blah
the reality is they had a couple years of oline recruits that left for various reasons and the cupboards bare….. we have a 4* and a 5* oline recruits coming in next year
How about we see how the rest of the season goes before we fire people…… We got beat by a better more talented team in Michigan…… they’re going to beat a lot of people
Probably say something to the effect of that is why the reporting structure was set up the way it was....it was Gary's cal....blah, blah. He would not rant and rave about it but the halls would be awfully cold after that. I guess then move on and hire a new OC at that point. Really not much else he COULD do besides bitch and moan which I don't see. He is sitting on a $45 million buyout so he can hang out for quite awhile and kind of do what he wants and make many people uncomfortable.
I'd be okay with this,.. Woods is a valuable piece and if we don't do something with him pretty soon, somebody else is going to swoop in.
Kirk would walk in a heartbeat but again, this is a scenario that would never happen.
Speaking of Woods, frankly, if he ever wants to be a HC, he does need to leave Iowa City and gain more experience under someone else for a bit. This is the only place he’s ever been and KF the only guy he’s ever learned from.
it would be preferred too he goes to a place where he can be a DC or OC to broaden his scope.
We all assume he aspires to be a HC, and maybe that’s not true. But if he does, gain experience with another HC.
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I'd hate to lose him, but I think you are correct,... A few years in a different program, as an offensive or defensive coordinator would really round out his resume and likely make him a prime candidate for a head coaching position,.. Perhaps even in Iowa City.
I'd be far more open to him being a future HC at Iowa if he had learned from more than just one HC for sure. Almost as essential in my mind as the OC or DC experience I'd like to see him have.
Overseeing a program of 105 players and ALL staffers along with it (50 or more) is a massive task and one needs a broad scope of experience and mentors to be effective doing this. A short term loss for Iowa (if Woods left) could result in a much bigger long term gain potentially.
Barta wouldn't, plain and simple. He might ask Kirk if a change was needed but he wouldn't micromanage. That's not Gary Barta. If the team dropped to a losing record in a full season, then he might get involved. But not while they are in the season.
Again, I have no idea what Woods' long term intentions in coaching are. He may be like a Bud Foster or a Phil Parker where he's very happy serving in a role that's not being the pressure of a HC.
He may feel he can just bide his time at Iowa and ultimately hope Iowa chooses to stay inside when KF retires and he'll be the guy.
I have heard he has at least one child who is now in high school so that's very possibly a key factor too. Maybe family stability in one community means more to him than anything. Afterall, KF has been fortunate enough to stay in one place for nearly 25 years now-- as has Phil Parker.
In season or out of season Barta will NOT be involved with staff decisions or recommendations. Ed. Over. Out. Nor should an AD be.
All joking aside, we may find out, depending on how Brian's case vs. the ex-players comes out. Barta may have no choice, the University President may insist. Although Barta has the authority, he would fire Kirk before firing Brian and I don't see that happening. He may ask Kirk to consider making a change, at most, but otherwise, Kirk owns all decisions about who is on his staff. It all comes down to a conversation at the end of the year between Kirk and Brian. I think these two men will figure out what's right for them individually, what's right for the Team and the University of Iowa.
But that is not how this happened. Kirk was only allowed to hire Brian if Barta was his supervisor. That is how they attempted to get around the nepotism issues.
Do all universities have the nepotism policy in place? We know that Iowa has that policy.
The pending lawsuit trial for next spring will be one to watch. While I think the player's case is very flimsy, IF, and as remote as it is, IF, Iowa loses that trial and people like BF are found at fault, then clearly his career at Iowa would be done. That decision would come from even above Barta most likely. Anyone found at fault in such a way that's still in your program would be a travesty to the program.
Kirk has not been named so he' be in the clear and wouldn't be asked to step aside.
Again, I do not expect the player's case to win though.
Yes, they all do but as Iowa has proven , there are ways of stepping around it.
And as far as son's being on the coaching staff of their Dad, it's not exactly an uncommon thing.
Hell, Jim Harbaugh has his son on staff at Michigan currently.
The reality is this-if Iowa had a Top 50-60 Offense, then nepotism would not be an issue and overlooked. However, we were 123 last year and 130 this year so nepotism is an issue and I guess rightfully so. Kirk needs to do what is best for the program and it’s players, not for what his best for his son who has been given five years to prove himself and has failed miserably.
So you believe that nepotism is involved here,.. but you could be okay with that, under the right conditions,.. Interesting.
I've said this over and again.
Right or wrong, winning covers all blemishes. Losing some games, the feeling of underachievement, suddenly those blemishes are out in the open.
By nature, people despise what's nepotism. When it's out in the open it becomes a lightning rod.
Kirk could realistically catch Bo in two more seasons, Woody - maybe in three. But would need at least 5-6 more average to good seasons to catch Stagg.
In totally losses, Kirk is already the all-time losingest coach in Big Ten history with 112. Stagg is second with 95 losses in 37 years. Fitz has 94 losses and could catch Ferentz if he coaches long enough. Woody is 18th with 61 losses over 28 years. That kind of puts things into perspective.
Kirk's overall winning percentage is 59.2%. If stats matter to him, I think he would want to get that to 60% for hall of fame consideration.
Belichek also. His kid is on staff.
I think Andy Reid's was until he killed someone.
Evidently MOST do, "wink, wink". So here's what I found out from an article published just 6 weeks ago. Of the 65 power 5 schools, 25 have instances of family hired under the head coach. So that means 40% of all P5 coaches have sons or brothers working for them, that they hired, Almost ALL have nepotism policies, (which should tell you what those are worth). Add to my earlier list Jim Harbough and son, Bobby Petrino and TWO sons, Bob Stoops and brothers, Chris Klienman and son, (which followed Snyder and son, and yes KSU has a policy), Hal Mumme and son. In the BIG besides KF, and Harbough, we have Greg Schiano and his son, Tom Allen and son, and everybodies favorite Jeff Brohm who has TWO brothers on his staff. This is just P5 football mind you, not including the other 100 or so college football teams or over 300 D1 basketball programs.
The AD at Louisville vowed to clean all this up at his school with Pitino in basketball and Petrino in football both having sons on the staff. BUT here's the kicker. AD Tom Jurich hired HIS son to be the associate AD! I mean you can't make this shit up.
Basically, NO ONE in college sports in power has any interest in changing this. Its basically the same as last year highlighting enforcement of the player safety rule about knee pads and pants must be pulled down past the knee. Thats a "rule" also, As If.......
I think what he's saying, and I agree, is almost no one here would give a rats ass if not for the current state of the offense. This is rampant across college sports and NO One in power is really addressing it so......
Have to separate having sons play for coaches and sons/family members serving as coaches on staffs. Sons playing for coaches, the team will react negatively if the son is getting favorable treatment. So that kind of fixes itself.
To the coach question, it really shouldn't happen. Although as you pointed out, it does. Worked at publicly traded companies for years and no way, no how anyone would be able to hire a son, daughter or family member into their own reporting structure. There's a reason the rules are set up that way. Even if the family member is really good at their job, what guarantee do other team members have that they are being judged on equal footing as the family member? If layoffs have to happen, or promotions, etc. Just the existence of a conflict of interest makes it a difficult situation.
That is stunning and just terrible. Absolutely terrible. I highly doubt academic staff are allowed to hire family members in their own reporting structures, although perhaps I'm wrong about that too.
The fact that coaches are allowed to run a football program like a family business is insane.
I’m probably in the minority here, but I believe Brian has the acumen to actually revamp the offense and run a completely different style. But I don’t think Kirk allows it. Which pains me to say, as I live Kirk and all he’s done. Our offense forces kids into a square peg/round hole situation. Play entire high school careers in shotgun, rpo style offensives and come here? No wonder it’s so ‘complicated’ to learn.
The funny thing is in the article even the opponents to this practice said they understand how it happens. Long hours away from family, and wanting to have familiarity, and establishing a culture with people you know are like minded. Mike Locksley is outspoken about this but more because many belief that nepotism is keeping black coaches out of possible hires, because 70% of D1 coaches are white. Of course Locksley tried to talk his own son into coaching, and he declined. I don't think nepotism is really what he has an issue with....
His personality and past performance. He doesn't get "into the weeds" unless it's a potential program killer. He did that once that I know of.
Honestly, Barta is steading next to retirement. Worse case is that KF finds a way to push Barta out 1 year or so early but that would essentially look just as bad for KF as we would all know what happened.
Why would KF want to try to catch Stagg in B1G wins? Does having the most wins in history by 1-2 games really matter when it takes you an unbreakable record in number of losses to get there? In a nutshell, all that means is that you coached for a really, really long time.
I don't think KF can win enough to reach a winning % of .600. If he managed a 7-6 record this year, which would be utterly amazing, that would put him at 197-137, which is .590. This is how the rest of his career would have to go for him to finish >.600:
- 1 more season - 12-1 would be 209-138 (.602) (if played in BTT, then would have to finish 13-1) (KF has won 12 games once)
- 2 more seasons - 19-6 (216-144, exactly .600) (KF has won 19 games over 2 seasons 6 times)
- 3 more seasons - 27-12 (224-149, .601) (KF has won 27 games over 3 seasons 4 times)
None of those really seem plausible, as it would mean KF suddenly matching the best 1-3 year run(s) of his career, with the offense currently on life support.
So, it stands to reason that he should just hang it up ASAP and hope that Fitz coaches long enough to relieve him of the dubious distinction of losingest coach in B1G history.
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