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Who gets the “Transfer University” Trophy in the Big?

JerseyCityHawki

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Oct 28, 2019
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Interesting doing research that Nebraska seems to be the winner. I think the portal is useful however you can’t always count on doing this time and time again… I would rather have a QUARTER BACK or RUNNING BACK… aka at the skilled positions. Michigan State is also leaning on the portal way too much ..

Nebraska definitely takes the damn cake.

 
I think with the portal its kind of trying to find the right balance. You don't want the most but you don't want to be where Iowa is at with the fewest. I'm thinking 3-6 range is pretty solid number but most importantly filling those needed voids like QB or MSU last year did at RB. Because with some schools if you bring in a ton of players like Nebraska, Ole Miss, UCLA etc that can be used against them and kids will see that in recruiting out of HS and I do see the argument of messing with team chemistry when you bring in that many players. I get why UCLA and Nebraska did this year with both coaches in win at all cost mode but as we saw with them in Lincoln it still didn't matter.

Frustrating part for Iowa is lack of or willing to try last year. Which we've seen Iowa do getting guys like Heflin, Cronk, Van Valkenburg or the DB from UNI. Heflin one of the few who filled a weak spot. Not to beat a dead horse too much that's why it's so frustrating to see Iowa do nothing last year especially on offense. We tried on a few like OL who went to PSU but question is how much on how many others? You will never know if the pretty girls or interested in you don't ask and I get that feeling with KF with Iowa and the portal. I don't know if it's stubbornness with the portal or he's too loyal to a fault with some of his players to engage with some of these players in the portal. Only other coach who has been similar is Dabo at Clemson but he brings in 4/5* top 10 classes year after year where we are not. Sometimes I also think from some past successes KF is overly confident and shows that loyalty to walk ons such as wr this year and it blew up in our face big time. Long story short hopefully Iowa is up higher on the list next year with a handful more moves.
 
Historically, only the absolute blue bloods had the quality depth to field consistently good teams. College football teams, in general, had weak spots due to attrition, injury etc. With the portal, teams now have the option to try and fill those voids to field a team that's more solid overall. Teams that do this successfully will benefit.

That said, teams that overdo it, as noted above, may run into chemistry and/or recruiting issues. It's like taking Afrin....works great for a couple days, but if you overdo it, you become dependent upon it.

Iowa, it seems, has run into a figurative glass ceiling. Our recruiting is better than it has been in the past, but we've gotten to a point where we're consistently losing players early to the NFL. We don't have the depth to absorb those losses and it's hurting us. Throw in some unexpected injuries or departures and we can get into depth issues very quickly. This, I think, is what we're seeing with the offensive line.

The receivers is a similar confluence of events, but for different reasons. We lost two starters to transfer because, I think, our offense is not a viable showcase for receiver talent. Players of NFL caliber don't really get a chance to shine in our offense. I'd look elsewhere two in that situation. Then...holy crap the injuries. It's reminiscent of the RB issues back in the 00's. ISU should be grateful that we got wiped out at WR. As bad as SP is, I don't think we lose that game if we had the receiver crew it looked like we'd have back in May. I have to think losing two WR's to Purdon't has to be a wake up call for KF.
 
Do we really have any idea how hard KF tries to get guys from the portal?

If you use the portal a lot, you are probably going to have to be committed long term to using it a lot because you are also going to lose a lot of guys.

KF chooses to bring in promising freshman, teach them how to be a Hawkeye and develop them to be contributors. So, I'm guessing he uses the portal to fill holes. There are holes at QB and WR, right? Well, it's just as hard to convince portal transfers to come to Iowa as it is recruits.

Lak of success is not the same thing as not trying.
 
Do we really have any idea how hard KF tries to get guys from the portal?

If you use the portal a lot, you are probably going to have to be committed long term to using it a lot because you are also going to lose a lot of guys.

KF chooses to bring in promising freshman, teach them how to be a Hawkeye and develop them to be contributors. So, I'm guessing he uses the portal to fill holes. There are holes at QB and WR, right? Well, it's just as hard to convince portal transfers to come to Iowa as it is recruits.

Lak of success is not the same thing as not trying.
Seems pretty obvious based on those in the know KF does not actively search in the portal and never will. He will dip his toes in the water each year on a few but that’s the extent of it.

He’s an old school guy. He’s all about recruiting his own guys and developing them into the Iowa way for the 4 or 5 years he has them. I don’t see this changing.
 
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I think with the portal its kind of trying to find the right balance. You don't want the most but you don't want to be where Iowa is at with the fewest. I'm thinking 3-6 range is pretty solid number but most importantly filling those needed voids like QB or MSU last year did at RB. Because with some schools if you bring in a ton of players like Nebraska, Ole Miss, UCLA etc that can be used against them and kids will see that in recruiting out of HS and I do see the argument of messing with team chemistry when you bring in that many players. I get why UCLA and Nebraska did this year with both coaches in win at all cost mode but as we saw with them in Lincoln it still didn't matter.

Frustrating part for Iowa is lack of or willing to try last year. Which we've seen Iowa do getting guys like Heflin, Cronk, Van Valkenburg or the DB from UNI. Heflin one of the few who filled a weak spot. Not to beat a dead horse too much that's why it's so frustrating to see Iowa do nothing last year especially on offense. We tried on a few like OL who went to PSU but question is how much on how many others? You will never know if the pretty girls or interested in you don't ask and I get that feeling with KF with Iowa and the portal. I don't know if it's stubbornness with the portal or he's too loyal to a fault with some of his players to engage with some of these players in the portal. Only other coach who has been similar is Dabo at Clemson but he brings in 4/5* top 10 classes year after year where we are not. Sometimes I also think from some past successes KF is overly confident and shows that loyalty to walk ons such as wr this year and it blew up in our face big time. Long story short hopefully Iowa is up higher on the list next year with a handful more moves.
TK stated in one of his pods, that Iowa did go after quite a few transfers, they just didn’t land them. I know that doesn’t fit this boards narrative, but they did try. They also aren’t going to take just anyone, not all transfers are equal.
 
The Portal is just a way to partially fill in a few areas of need. If you look at all of the top teams every year - Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, OSU - the strength of their teams is their high-end HS recruiting.

Keep in mind, most of the Portal players (95%) are kids that didn't see the field at their previous schools and basically weren't good enough. The other side to look at is where the players are transferring from. Obviously, an ex 4 or 5 star player from OSU, Alabama or Georgia might be a far bigger catch than a player from a school with less overall talent
 
The Portal is just a way to partially fill in a few areas of need. If you look at all of the top teams every year - Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, OSU - the strength of their teams is their high-end HS recruiting.

Keep in mind, most of the Portal players (95%) are kids that didn't see the field at their previous schools and basically weren't good enough. The other side to look at is where the players are transferring from. Obviously, an ex 4 or 5 star player from OSU, Alabama or Georgia might be a far bigger catch than a player from a school with less overall talent
Yeah, I wouldn't suggest picking up a receiver from Iowa, for example.!;)
 
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Historically, only the absolute blue bloods had the quality depth to field consistently good teams. College football teams, in general, had weak spots due to attrition, injury etc. With the portal, teams now have the option to try and fill those voids to field a team that's more solid overall. Teams that do this successfully will benefit.

That said, teams that overdo it, as noted above, may run into chemistry and/or recruiting issues. It's like taking Afrin....works great for a couple days, but if you overdo it, you become dependent upon it.

Iowa, it seems, has run into a figurative glass ceiling. Our recruiting is better than it has been in the past, but we've gotten to a point where we're consistently losing players early to the NFL. We don't have the depth to absorb those losses and it's hurting us. Throw in some unexpected injuries or departures and we can get into depth issues very quickly. This, I think, is what we're seeing with the offensive line.

The receivers is a similar confluence of events, but for different reasons. We lost two starters to transfer because, I think, our offense is not a viable showcase for receiver talent. Players of NFL caliber don't really get a chance to shine in our offense. I'd look elsewhere two in that situation. Then...holy crap the injuries. It's reminiscent of the RB issues back in the 00's. ISU should be grateful that we got wiped out at WR. As bad as SP is, I don't think we lose that game if we had the receiver crew it looked like we'd have back in May. I have to think losing two WR's to Purdon't has to be a wake up call for KF.
I don't think there is a such thing as a wake up call when it comes to Kirk. He seems perpetually stuck in a coma of his own arrogance and stubbornness. Woulda thought last year's pathetic offense would have done it. Nope
 
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