Who is the best coach in wrestling right night now...

[woodsiding]

other than Cael. I'm just curious if there is someone out there other than Cael that is showing they are clearly doing a great job.

Pat Pop: NC State has developed nicely, but generally under-perform at NCAA's. Interesting approach with the 'dry team' thing, no way he'd bring in a Ferrari.
Manning: Nebraska's program has come a long way. But Manning is long in the tooth and his wrestlers peak their second/third year then regress to the end.
Koll: Does an amazing job. He'll have North Carolina rolling soon.
Hahn: Doing a great job at South Dakota.
Bormet: Gets a lot of work done in the portal. Has a lineup that wrestles the most boring brand of wrestling in the country.
Ryan: Gets great recruiting classes, but they mostly under achieve.
Smith: okie st isn't keeping up.

 

[MAGAman]

other than Cael. I'm just curious if there is someone out there other than Cael that is showing they are clearly doing a great job.

Pat Pop: NC State has developed nicely, but generally under-perform at NCAA's. Interesting approach with the 'dry team' thing, no way he'd bring in a Ferrari.
Manning: Nebraska's program has come a long way. But Manning is long in the tooth and his wrestlers peak their second/third year then regress to the end.
Koll: Does an amazing job. He'll have North Carolina rolling soon.
Hahn: Doing a great job at South Dakota.
Bormet: Gets a lot of work done in the portal. Has a lineup that wrestles the most boring brand of wrestling in the country.
Ryan: Gets great recruiting classes, but they mostly under achieve.
Smith: okie st isn't keeping up.

Given the right program support and resources (like iowa has) id add coleman scott, doug schwab, any assist from PSU, mike grey….etc

 

[mcpat]

Amazing to me how often people leave out Mike Grey. IMO he’s doing it better than anyone not named Cael.

 

[Pennstate1985]

Amazing to me how often people leave out Mike Grey. IMO he’s doing it better than anyone not named Cael.

I was thinking the same thing. Mike Grey is hitting a lot of doubles and triples.

 

[woodsiding]

Amazing to me how often people leave out Mike Grey. IMO he’s doing it better than anyone not named Cael.

Absolutely!

 

[Hawkeye in DFW]

Nobody mentioned Dresser yet?

 

[Inthecircle]

Nobody mentioned Dresser yet?

Nope. I have to think it’s Metcalf’s job when his contract is up.
2nd, should have been a lock, If Bastadia hadn’t massively underperformed.
We’ll see what happens with Carr gone. I am thinking they’ll be reduced to the mean?

 

[Sullivan]

I was thinking the same thing. Mike Grey is hitting a lot of doubles and triples.

And he’s doing it at a school with fairly tough admissions.

 

[Pennstate1985]

Nope. I have to think it’s Metcalf’s job when his contract is up.
2nd, should have been a lock, If Bastadia hadn’t massively underperformed.
We’ll see what happens with Carr gone. I am thinking they’ll be reduced to the mean?

DIDN'T Bastida break his finger less than a week before nationals.

 

[Inthecircle]

Iowa has become what Oklahoma State has been to us since the 1980s. A bunch of people living on the memories of what we were 30 years ago. And we're quickly becoming the 2004-2006 Hawkeye teams that were in a rapid downhill slide because our coach wouldn't listen, and wanted to do it his way. I love Tom Brands, and I still don't think we're going to find a better coach from the group that's currently available, who is willing to come here. An assistant who could bring a fresh way of seeing things is not an option if Tom won't listen to them. I want to see us improve, but I don't know how that is going to happen. Bringing in a kid's club coach with no Div 1 experience is a gamble. Especially one that many people here loved to hate when he was in college, competing for a rival. The rival that is now crushing us and everyone else. I don't have answers, but I wish someone did. I hate seeing us look as pitiful to PSU fans as the old-time Okie State fans did to us for so long. At least we haven't fallen as far under Brands as they have under Smith (yet). Look how much they've given up. In the 1980s they fired a really good coach for getting 2nd multiple times. Now they have a guy that has finished out of the Top 10 multiple times and he's still hanging around. I hope that is never us.

DIDN'T Bastida break his finger less than a week before nationals.

I am not sure…excuses are for wussies. 😂

 

[tiltman]

I’m not sure what a lot of Nebraskas kids are ranked coming out of high school but it doesn’t seem like Manning gets a lot of highly touted recruits (I could be wrong) but to me it seems like his kids make some pretty big gains there. I can’t stand to watch him in the corner, but watching him at nationals and the interactions he was having with his team looked like the kids really like the guy. Could be his assistants getting the most out of these kids but I feel like the Nebraska coaching staff gets a lot out of their kids.

 

[Hawkgma]

DIDN'T Bastida break his finger less than a week before nationals.

yeah and Cstar blew out his knee... winners win

 

[ping72]

Clarissa Chun just won a NC.

 

[tack8]

other than Cael. I'm just curious if there is someone out there other than Cael that is showing they are clearly doing a great job.

Pat Pop: NC State has developed nicely, but generally under-perform at NCAA's. Interesting approach with the 'dry team' thing, no way he'd bring in a Ferrari.
Manning: Nebraska's program has come a long way. But Manning is long in the tooth and his wrestlers peak their second/third year then regress to the end.
Koll: Does an amazing job. He'll have North Carolina rolling soon.
Hahn: Doing a great job at South Dakota.
Bormet: Gets a lot of work done in the portal. Has a lineup that wrestles the most boring brand of wrestling in the country.
Ryan: Gets great recruiting classes, but they mostly under achieve.
Smith: okie st isn't keeping up.

Bryan Snyder is what keeps Nebraska respectable and has been doing for a long time.

 

[el dub]

I am not sure…excuses are for wussies. 😂

Unless they’re excuses coming from IC.

 

[Redm18]

to me its probably Mike Grey - So many headwinds doing it at an ivy league school

 

[Spoons]

Unpopular but my choice is still Tom and our staff. Remember with Big Cass, Nelson and Assad we easily are finishing in 2nd. Don’t know if Carl and his kronies are really that much better coaches than the names mentioned. He has top 10’s at almost every weight. Pretty easy to win with that. Not saying he can’t or does not coach just remember back to his isu days and he where he was finishing. If you think we have it bad think Minnesota or Nebraska Both are average at best! Manning is to concerned with beating Iowa and not enough with the actually developing kids. Minnesota what a nightmare almost feel sorry for them LOL…

 

[el dub]

Unpopular but my choice is still Tom and our staff. Remember with Big Cass, Nelson and Assad we easily are finishing in 2nd. Don’t know if Carl and his kronies are really that much better coaches than the names mentioned. He has top 10’s at almost every weight. Pretty easy to win with that. Not saying he can’t or does not coach just remember back to his isu days and he where he was finishing. If you think we have it bad think Minnesota or Nebraska Both are average at best! Manning is to concerned with beating Iowa and not enough with the actually developing kids. Minnesota what a nightmare almost feel sorry for them LOL…

There’s delusion in that post. You’re comparing us to Nebraska and Minnesota. That’s the new bar? I feel sorry for Iowa fans contorting reality to fit their new found appreciation of mediocraty.

 

[woodsiding]

Unpopular but my choice is still Tom and our staff. Remember with Big Cass, Nelson and Assad we easily are finishing in 2nd. Don’t know if Carl and his kronies are really that much better coaches than the names mentioned. He has top 10’s at almost every weight. Pretty easy to win with that. Not saying he can’t or does not coach just remember back to his isu days and he where he was finishing. If you think we have it bad think Minnesota or Nebraska Both are average at best! Manning is to concerned with beating Iowa and not enough with the actually developing kids. Minnesota what a nightmare almost feel sorry for them LOL…

Give credit where credit is due, Cael is the best coach. And it's not particularly close.
Unfortunately, we are much closer to being Minnesota than we are to being PSU.

 

[el dub]

Give credit where credit is due, Cael is the best coach. And it's not particularly close.
Unfortunately, we are much closer to being Minnesota than we are to being PSU.

At this rate of separation, PSU will be gunning for 10 national champs in a tourney while we’re struggling to get two champs in same year.

 

[Hawkgma]

There’s delusion in that post. You’re comparing us to Nebraska and Minnesota. That’s the new bar? I feel sorry for Iowa fans contorting reality to fit their new found appreciation of mediocraty.

it's only going to get worse. If people think we can wait until 2029 for Brands to call it quits they are nuts... Mizzu, Wisc, Okie state, are all making moves to change how they train and recruit Iowa still think its 1983

 

[anon_0pi0cv8t1ggvb]

to me its probably Mike Grey - So many headwinds doing it at an ivy league school

Ivy's have some headwinds, but they also distinguish themselves due to the academic quality they can provide their athletes. The other top wrestling schools can't compete with Stanford in regards to academics.

 

[MSU158]

I am not sure about Grey outside of Cornell. Koll set him up very well before leaving. Having to come into Iowa and deal with so many more in your face moving parts while trying to rework and rebrand the program is a daunting task and not something he has any experience doing…

Make no mistake, Iowa is NOT the easy job many of you claim it to be. Its history doesn’t mean the coach would automatically be gifted with a bunch of built in benefits. It would be incredibly more demanding than anything he has ever seen.

 

[Inthecircle]

Unless they’re excuses coming from IC.

 

[el dub]

 

[Grip220]

I think we have the best head coach we could have.
The other parts need improvement.
A few big names to our RTC would definitely help

 

[Hawkgma]

I think we have the best head coach we could have.
The other parts need improvement.
A few big names to our RTC would definitely help

I disagree with the first part but I do think the second part would be a huge help

 

[Hawkgma]

I think we have the best head coach we could have.
The other parts need improvement.
A few big names to our RTC would definitely help

and the only reason I dont agree with the first part is because I think he has burned so many bridges that recruiting is an uphill battle. Recruiting for the College team and new members to HWC

 

[wrestlecrazy]

What bridges?

 

[TarpHawk]

At this rate of separation, PSU will be gunning for 10 national champs in a tourney while we’re struggling to get two champs in same year.

Two champs in the same year? Or decade?

 

[globalhawk]

Two champs in the same year? Or decade?

Potato potatoe

 

[PAfanski]

Two champs in the same year? Or decade?

Same year! Start with 10 AA’s..

 

[PAfanski]

If you are a HS stud, who makes you feel more welcome? That they will help you max your potential? That you’d be part of something special? Who is more “likable”? 😳

 

[el dub]

Two champs in the same year? Or decade?

I was being positive trying to think big!

 

[el dub]

I think we have the best head coach we could have.
The other parts need improvement.
A few big names to our RTC would definitely help

How many points at nattys would that contribute?

 

[el dub]

What bridges?

Seriously?

 

[Spoons]

Look I am not happy at all with 5th and more frustrated that isu finished higher than we did. But that does not mean all the coaches of the teams that finished 1-4 are better than ours. Yea let’s fire everyone and bring in a group of guys with zero coaching experience at this level and see how that works. Remember with Cass alone we finish in 2nd. It’s amazing how fast our fans turn on somebody if you think it’s coaches that turn kids away take a look at our fan base. As a whole it turns on wrestlers/coaches on a dime. I for one appreciate the kids and coaches. You think they don’t want to win and do the best they can. They tried a bunch of new things scouting reports, hired a shrink for the boys. Different practice tactics the Ferrari experiment . I can guarantee you won’t find a set of coaches that cares more about life after wrestling than ours as well as success on the mat. Right now there is nobody better out there to guide these young men. You could say psu because they are winning but if you guys knew the things I knew about Carl you might change your toon about him. Bottom line I want better results as well but as long as Carl and his kronies stick together with the slush fund culture he has built it will be virtually impossible to beat them. Maybe once every 3 or 4 years it might be possible. Next year might be one of those years. They lose a lot of points.

 

[el dub]

Look I am not happy at all with 5th and more frustrated that isu finished higher than we did. But that does not mean all the coaches of the teams that finished 1-4 are better than ours. Yea let’s fire everyone and bring in a group of guys with zero coaching experience at this level and see how that works. Remember with Cass alone we finish in 2nd. It’s amazing how fast our fans turn on somebody if you think it’s coaches that turn kids away take a look at our fan base. As a whole it turns on wrestlers/coaches on a dime. I for one appreciate the kids and coaches. You think they don’t want to win and do the best they can. They tried a bunch of new things scouting reports, hired a shrink for the boys. Different practice tactics the Ferrari experiment . I can guarantee you won’t find a set of coaches that cares more about life after wrestling than ours as well as success on the mat. Right now there is nobody better out there to guide these young men. You could say psu because they are winning but if you guys knew the things I knew about Carl you might change your toon about him. Bottom line I want better results as well but as long as Carl and his kronies stick together with the slush fund culture he has built it will be virtually impossible to beat them. Maybe once every 3 or 4 years it might be possible. Next year might be one of those years. They lose a lot of points.

So, it’s the fan base’s fault? Noice….

 

[Inthecircle]

Some of your opinions I struggle with.
However, you are one helluva a good sport. Kudos to you Dub!

 

[Nashville_Hawkeye]

Unpopular but my choice is still Tom and our staff. Remember with Big Cass, Nelson and Assad we easily are finishing in 2nd. Don’t know if Carl and his kronies are really that much better coaches than the names mentioned. He has top 10’s at almost every weight. Pretty easy to win with that. Not saying he can’t or does not coach just remember back to his isu days and he where he was finishing. If you think we have it bad think Minnesota or Nebraska Both are average at best! Manning is to concerned with beating Iowa and not enough with the actually developing kids. Minnesota what a nightmare almost feel sorry for them LOL…

I concur in that I don't think any current coaches are better than Tom Brands (Cael excluded); however, Tom has to be open to change, fix what's broken and bring new assistants in to make it happen. I agree with others in that with Nelson and Cass we clearly would have gotten a bump at NCAAs and from my vantage point there's no way we wouldn't have finished second. Assad has never performed well at NCAAs (1-2 and 2-2), so I'm not going to pretend we would have gotten more than a few points there. Back to my point, I think Tom can do just as well as anyone currently coaching (Cael excluded), if he would significant changes, part of which would be new assistants across the board. For f**ks sake, we need offense and we're getting worse at it each year. Drake and Real are great examples...look at their offense then and now. And nothing against Morningstar, Telford, Alex, etc., but I don't see our current staff improving our offense, nor do I see them bringing in the needed talent going forward. If I was a top tier recruit I'd salivate at the opportunity of wrestling at CHA in front of 15,000 of the best fans in the country, but I would probably just as quickly tell myself that my chances of winning an individual title let alone a team title will be no better at Iowa than anywhere else (PSU excluded). We've had far fewer champs in the past 10-15 years than many non-PSU teams, which is not acceptable. We need new talent to help Tom out, who Tom will listen to and who can draw top talent and help us do the things we suck at (offense) and get where we need to be (somewhat remotely competitive with PSU). We've got to make changes and there's no reason not to do it ASAP. Oh, and I think Terry would make a fine head coach somewhere else in the very near future...I think he, with the help of a couple top tier asssitanats would do great things at the helm of a solid program and would like to see that before he retires. Or he can move over to the HWC, bring in a couple high end assistants and take the HWC to the next level. Apologies for being long winded, but just so frustrated with where we're at...