Why Great Leaders Make Big Mistakes: A Study of Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz

[cmhawks99]

Petras was 4* recruit out of California who broke all of a QB NFL passing records that was set by the former recruit set in his HS,

he was drafted by the Rams and now plays for the Detroit Lions KOK the former IA QB coach who was the OC/QB coach for KF till 2012.then Davis took over for KOK. GD became the IA OC/QB COACH after he retired as the Texas OC/QB coach.

Brian was hired as the OL coach for IA. who produced 1 Outland Trophy Winner and then in 2015 his OL was awarded the Joe Moore Award for the Best OL in FBS after going 8-0 BT West Championship and going 12-0 them ended up 12-2 with a final ranking of #9.

then Brian was given the job of OL/RG Coordinator and produced 2 RB's that went over 1000 yards in the same season which had never been done before in the 2016 season.

in the 2017 season Brian became IA OC/TE Coach. in his 1st season Wadley became just the 2nd RB to have back to back 1000 yard rushing seasons ever in IA's history,

then in 2018 he produced these
1st team AA TE Mackey Award winner Hockenson
3rd Team AA Fant
both were 1st Rnd NFL Draft picks which is the 1st time in the NFL history that only 1 team had 2 TE's taken from the same team in the 1st rnd as AA. with Brian as the OC/TE Coach. this was Brian's 1st year as the OC/QB Coach, gee kinda throwing Brian under the bus after just 1 season aren't you.

this season the OL was riddled with injuries and had had very few experienced backups ready to play,
in the 21 season they had 3 FR starters with one JR starter but still went 10-4 winning the BT West Championship for the 2nd time in the last 7 seasons. plus it was Brians 1st, in the 2022 season Brian was one win away from winning back to back BTWest Championship. nor bad for a lousy QB and OC/QB Coach now isn't it. just think of what he can do going forward. with better recruits and having the swarm helping in getting better recruits the results will be better in the long run

Look, I’m your friend, I’m not against you and share “some” of your thoughts, but honestly you need to slow down….we do indeed have plenty of failings on offense. Yes there are legitimate truths you share that explains our failures.

With that said, we have failures!

 

[HogLovinHawkeye]

I live in Chiraq I have no perspective on life or football! We Iowa fans are mostly ignorant triggered losers especially if Nebraska football is the topic.

 

[Iron Doc]

San Mateo Hawk told the unvarnished truth.
It's safe to say it wasn't written in crayon.

I (you may have noticed) advise a modernized offensive scheme to help remedy our profound offensive issues. If nothing else, to take some pressure off our substandard OLine.

 

[icwesthawk]

Petras was our best quarterback.

Who's fault is that?

 

[karnack1955]

San Mateo Hawk told the unvarnished truth.
It's safe to say it wasn't written in crayon.

I (you may have noticed) advise a modernized offensive scheme to help remedy our profound offensive issues. If nothing else, to take some pressure off our substandard OLine.

that of UNVARNISHED absolute truth that the coaches went and got help for that OL. why don't you want to really acknowledge this absolute truth that the coaches reached into the portal for help and supposedly got that help in Feth and Palmer.

Feth can supposedly play the C and both GUARD spot Palmer can supposedly play either Tackle spots..

ok now lets break it down
Ferh only competition is Colby who will be a RSJR and has started 3 years two of them at LG and one at RG. after playing at those position I will guess that Colby has earned the LG starting spot,

as for RG Stephens and Dunker started as RSFR and really lock down the RG spot and never started at LG, that means neither one has not locked down the starting RG position. so by saying that the RG position is wide open. that in my opinion meant that nobody was set in stone as to who was the starting RG. now am I right or wrong for that opinion? that a 5th year SR DIDN'T REALLY have any competition for the starting RG position.

now for the RT position the only returning player that had any starting time at RT is former walk on was DeJong and all I have read is posters bitching about him. so again 5th year SR appeared to be the choice at RT, YES or NO?

 

[Iron Doc]

that of UNVARNISHED absolute truth that the coaches went and got help for that OL. why don't you want to really acknowledge this absolute truth that the coaches reached into the portal for help and supposedly got that help in Feth and Palmer.

Feth can supposedly play the C and both GUARD spot Palmer can supposedly play either Tackle spots..

ok now lets break it down
Ferh only competition is Colby who will be a RSJR and has started 3 years two of them at LG and one at RG. after playing at those position I will guess that Colby has earned the LG starting spot,

as for RG Stephens and Dunker started as RSFR and really lock down the RG spot and never started at LG, that means neither one has not locked down the starting RG position. so by saying that the RG position is wide open. that in my opinion meant that nobody was set in stone as to who was the starting RG. now am I right or wrong for that opinion? that a 5th year SR DIDN'T REALLY have any competition for the starting RG position.

now for the RT position the only returning player that had any starting time at RT is former walk on was DeJong and all I have read is posters bitching about him. so again 5th year SR appeared to be the choice at RT, YES or NO?

Not at all optimistic about the OL transfers being of significant help.
Time will tell.
Hopefully the OL recruits will eventually help.

 

[uihawk82]

Didn’t know that, but it was obvious for sure. You can heckle him for poor QB, recruiting, poor QB development, poor offensive line, recruiting & poor offensive line development and refusing to use the portal when it was obvious, we needed to…

But past that, my guess is under the circumstances he probably did a pretty good job of bailing out the season… Yes, it’s maddening as hell that we lost to Illinois, Iowa State and Nebraska but it is what it is!

KF has a better winning percentage at Iowa than Iowa had historically before he became head coach. And Iowa's overall winning percentage pre-Fry was not that great. So KF has done a very good job at Iowa and some of his seasons and "victory runs" are great.

I was always hoping though that he would change a few things with his in game decisions because he probably had 30 to 35 mores wins in his Iowa career. Then we could be talking about a great head coach, one who hardly ever stumbled against lesser teams.

 

[jonesy5960]

This is exactly the kind of "leadership" bullshit I would expect to find on LinkedIn.

Petras was our best quarterback. Every fact points to that being the absolute truth. Yet so many fans like the OP can't or won't accept it. Now who is stubborn?

The OP writes this long treatise of bullshit hoping for LinkedIn likes..... yet doesn't even mention the offensive line, which was the BIGGEST problem of the last two seasons. The line stunk. That was the problem.

I'll point this out again: in 2020, Brian Ferentz was the OC, Spencer Petras was the QB, and Iowa was second in the B1G in scoring. Playing solely B1G teams. Because the line was decent. It fell apart in 2021 and 2022, and the offense went with it.

Of course the line was bad. It was likely the worst line in the B1G. It's an oversimplification to say that it was the problem as if there weren't other problems like bad QB play and perhaps the weakest WR room in the B1G. You have to be bad at a lot of positions to place 130 out of 131. Spencer was dealt a shitty hand with the cluster around him, but he was not a good quarterback. In that great season of 2020 that you're holding up as his stellar year he had a 117 passer rating which is less than 3 points higher than his career average at Iowa. He will end his career with the lowest passer rating in KF's career at Iowa. Worse than Jake Christensen. Worse than James Vandenberg. To suggest otherwise is just wrong. To suggest that McNamara isn't a significant upgrade would also be wrong.

 

[karnack1955]

Of course the line was bad. It was likely the worst line in the B1G. It's an oversimplification to say that it was the problem as if there weren't other problems like bad QB play and perhaps the weakest WR room in the B1G. You have to be bad at a lot of positions to place 130 out of 131. Spencer was dealt a shitty hand with the cluster around him, but he was not a good quarterback. In that great season of 2020 that you're holding up as his stellar year he had a 117 passer rating which is less than 3 points higher than his career average at Iowa. He will end his career with the lowest passer rating in KF's career at Iowa. Worse than Jeff Christensen. Worse than Matt Vandenberg. To suggest otherwise is just wrong. To suggest that McNamara isn't a significant upgrade would also be wrong.

Vandeberg threw for 3022 yards, 25 TD's, 7 INT's for a 138.4 rating as a JR while McNutt had a career season catching 82 passes for 1315 yards while RB Coker had 281 carries for 1384 yards with 15 TD's rushing and 21 catches for 157 yards.

2012 was the year where these were knocked out of the season on back to back plays by PSU, 4* RSSO Donall tore his ACL. RSSO sorry his name escapes me but some help would be appreciated as he ended up the Outland Trophy winner and a NFL 1st RND Pick.
IA ended up losing 6 OL to injuries and both top RB's Wiesman hurt got a high ankle sprain in the MSU game the week before then they lost 2* RB Bullock, that didn't leave IA coaches with much to work with what was left
WR KMM had 52 catches for 571 yards, and 4* WR Keenen Davis had 47 catches for 571 yards the year after McNutt and Coker had the seasons the had. basically the staff had to rebuild the offense.

from the OL out to the TE, RB position. hmmm sound familiar now doesn't it.

having to rebuild the OL, RB and WR room. 3 key positions on the Offense.

to bad the coaches couldn't get a large group of 5* recruits to sign in that 21 recruiting class or in that 2019 class to win like you figured that you think you are entitled too. wouldn't it be nice if IA were to start getting top 5 recruiting classes like OSU, Alabama and even like Geogia are getting even Michigan had a top 5 class in 2022. in fact it ended up #9 with 1 5* and 9 4*'s hmm looks like the star ratings mean something.

IA ended up with 1 5*, 4 4* and 11 3* for a total of 18 commits and ended up #30 in the rankings. since they only count the top 20 in their rankings, who knows where they would have ended up. get 2 5.5 3* which is worth 60 points each and IA finishes at # 23 for the 2nd year in a row, making that 2 top 25 finishes since that 05 class that was rated #11 in the Rivals rankings.

the 23 class ended up #32 with 22 recruits that committed that had 2 4*'s and 19 3* commits. the 24 class is rated #35 with 16 commits.
this class by Rivals shows just 1 4*s 15 3* recruits. with 5 5.5 3* recruits. Rivals is really screwing the IA commits over especially the IA kids with 3 of those low 3*'s being instate kids, just like these in the past
2* lb Josey Jewell
2* TE Hockenson later getting bumped up to 5'5 3* for a kid who as a RSSO ended up a 1st Team AA, NFL 1st RND Draft pick plus the Mackey Award winner. This after breaking the All Time receiving record in IA. gotta just know that IA kids can't play FB

even Jack Campbell was just a 5.6 3* by Rivals
Lukas Van Ness was just a 5.6 3* by Rivals
as a RSSO Van Ness was just drafted into the NFL in the 1st rnd by the Packers


there are others that were low ranked IA kids that got screwed by Rivals in theirrankings.

even IA recruits are getting royally screwed by Rivals. Koch has dropped from #71 all the way to #109 after he committed to IA.
Garza could only get rated #111 by Rivals
JBO IA's MR. BB and he ended up as a unranked 3* by Rivals,
Jok IA's MR. BB ended up a unranked 3*
Cook best ranking by Rivals was #74 despite being ranked #38 by ESPN.
all screwed by Rivals ratings

even Uthoff was rated just #147 by Rivals anothet IA MR. BB. but he was a ESPN Top 100 4* by ESPN. there are far more examples but I am not in the mood to list them.

 

[jonesy5960]

Vandeberg threw for 3022 yards, 25 TD's, 7 INT's for a 138.4 rating as a JR while McNutt had a career season catching 82 passes for 1315 yards while RB Coker had 281 carries for 1384 yards with 15 TD's rushing and 21 catches for 157 yards.

2012 was the year where these were knocked out of the season on back to back plays by PSU, 4* RSSO Donall tore his ACL. RSSO sorry his name escapes me but some help would be appreciated as he ended up the Outland Trophy winner and a NFL 1st RND Pick.
IA ended up losing 6 OL to injuries and both top RB's Wiesman hurt got a high ankle sprain in the MSU game the week before then they lost 2* RB Bullock, that didn't leave IA coaches with much to work with what was left
WR KMM had 52 catches for 571 yards, and 4* WR Keenen Davis had 47 catches for 571 yards the year after McNutt and Coker had the seasons the had. basically the staff had to rebuild the offense.

from the OL out to the TE, RB position. hmmm sound familiar now doesn't it.

having to rebuild the OL, RB and WR room. 3 key positions on the Offense.

to bad the coaches couldn't get a large group of 5* recruits to sign in that 21 recruiting class or in that 2019 class to win like you figured that you think you are entitled too. wouldn't it be nice if IA were to start getting top 5 recruiting classes like OSU, Alabama and even like Geogia are getting even Michigan had a top 5 class in 2022. in fact it ended up #9 with 1 5* and 9 4*'s hmm looks like the star ratings mean something.

IA ended up with 1 5*, 4 4* and 11 3* for a total of 18 commits and ended up #30 in the rankings. since they only count the top 20 in their rankings, who knows where they would have ended up. get 2 5.5 3* which is worth 60 points each and IA finishes at # 23 for the 2nd year in a row, making that 2 top 25 finishes since that 05 class that was rated #11 in the Rivals rankings.

the 23 class ended up #32 with 22 recruits that committed that had 2 4*'s and 19 3* commits. the 24 class is rated #35 with 16 commits.
this class by Rivals shows just 1 4*s 15 3* recruits. with 5 5.5 3* recruits. Rivals is really screwing the IA commits over especially the IA kids with 3 of those low 3*'s being instate kids, just like these in the past
2* lb Josey Jewell
2* TE Hockenson later getting bumped up to 5'5 3* for a kid who as a RSSO ended up a 1st Team AA, NFL 1st RND Draft pick plus the Mackey Award winner. This after breaking the All Time receiving record in IA. gotta just know that IA kids can't play FB

even Jack Campbell was just a 5.6 3* by Rivals
Lukas Van Ness was just a 5.6 3* by Rivals
as a RSSO Van Ness was just drafted into the NFL in the 1st rnd by the Packers


there are others that were low ranked IA kids that got screwed by Rivals in theirrankings.

even IA recruits are getting royally screwed by Rivals. Koch has dropped from #71 all the way to #109 after he committed to IA.
Garza could only get rated #111 by Rivals
JBO IA's MR. BB and he ended up as a unranked 3* by Rivals,
Jok IA's MR. BB ended up a unranked 3*
Cook best ranking by Rivals was #74 despite being ranked #38 by ESPN.
all screwed by Rivals ratings

even Uthoff was rated just #147 by Rivals anothet IA MR. BB. but he was a ESPN Top 100 4* by ESPN. there are far more examples but I am not in the mood to list them.

Seriously. Are you ok?

 

[SalAunese]

This thread is a perfect example of the average fan having zero clue as to what he/she is talking about.

 

[karnack1955]

Seriously. Are you ok?

NO but the question really applies to you as those stats are easy to verify just like the facts surrounding the 2012 season are easily confirmed,

 

[ichawk24]

Of course the line was bad. It was likely the worst line in the B1G. It's an oversimplification to say that it was the problem as if there weren't other problems like bad QB play and perhaps the weakest WR room in the B1G. You have to be bad at a lot of positions to place 130 out of 131. Spencer was dealt a shitty hand with the cluster around him, but he was not a good quarterback. In that great season of 2020 that you're holding up as his stellar year he had a 117 passer rating which is less than 3 points higher than his career average at Iowa. He will end his career with the lowest passer rating in KF's career at Iowa. Worse than Jake Christensen. Worse than James Vandenberg. To suggest otherwise is just wrong. To suggest that McNamara isn't a significant upgrade would also be wrong.

Of course Spencer was bad. But the original post was demanding that Petras be benched, when the only options on the roster were even worse players.

I never suggested otherwise, and I never suggested McNamara wasn't an upgrade. I said the line was the BIGGEST problem, which infers there are other problems. Stop attacking a straw man.

 

[pistachio1999]

Didn’t know that, but it was obvious for sure. You can heckle him for poor QB, recruiting, poor QB development, poor offensive line, recruiting & poor offensive line development and refusing to use the portal when it was obvious, we needed to…

But past that, my guess is under the circumstances he probably did a pretty good job of bailing out the season… Yes, it’s maddening as hell that we lost to Illinois, Iowa State and Nebraska but it is what it is!

Kirk had made the comment you could see minor improvements week to week on film, but things weren’t progressing rapidly and wasn’t expecting it to. I listed to the 4th quarter of that Michigan game and we had the ball and Eddie was like oh we just got burned on a simple swim move and Spencer was sacked.

 

[pistachio1999]

This is exactly the kind of "leadership" bullshit I would expect to find on LinkedIn.

Petras was our best quarterback. Every fact points to that being the absolute truth. Yet so many fans like the OP can't or won't accept it. Now who is stubborn?

The OP writes this long treatise of bullshit hoping for LinkedIn likes..... yet doesn't even mention the offensive line, which was the BIGGEST problem of the last two seasons. The line stunk. That was the problem.

I'll point this out again: in 2020, Brian Ferentz was the OC, Spencer Petras was the QB, and Iowa was second in the B1G in scoring. Playing solely B1G teams. Because the line was decent. It fell apart in 2021 and 2022, and the offense went with it.

If there was a stat by game that would show seconds until QB was under pressure and corresponding completion% I think you would see when we could block he was better.

 

[pistachio1999]

PS Steve McWhirter from Fairfield Iowa, where I grew up played linebacker at Nebraska. In fact, I was there in 1982 when we got destroyed… Nebraska fans wanted Osbourne fired in the early 90s because all they could never win the big one!

Just imagine if the dumbasses had fired him!

You couldn’t find your ass with two hands. If you told me, the sky was blue, I’d ask for a second opinion!

What are the highlights for Fairfield, Iowa? We are at Lake Darling for the holiday. Had never been before.

 

[ichawk24]

If there was a stat by game that would show seconds until QB was under pressure and corresponding completion% I think you would see when we could block he was better.

We had the unfortunate combination of a terrible line, and a QB who was one of the worst in the country at handing pressure.

 

[karnack1955]

We had the unfortunate combination of a terrible line, and a QB who was one of the worst in the country at handing pressure.

yeah Petras all that pressure won 12 games in a row. and the team as the teams starting QB led IA to a BT West Championship 2 top 25 rankings

 

[karnack1955]

Petras was handicapped by the level of play by the OL and nothing more. the quality of the RB's and WR's also affected the QB's ability to perform up to his qualification. to be the starting QB of a BT team.

that provided him with insuffenct talent around him.

 

[cidhawkeye]

Petras was handicapped by the level of play by the OL and nothing more. the quality of the RB's and WR's also affected the QB's ability to perform up to his qualification. to be the starting QB of a BT team.

that provided him with insuffenct talent around him.

If only there was someone in charge of getting and keeping talented players......someone to coordinate their efforts so the team doesn't end up with an inadequate qb, poorly performing OL and RB's and WR's who struggle because of the QB. They should create a position to oversee those things. That could help.

 

[jonesy5960]

Of course Spencer was bad. But the original post was demanding that Petras be benched, when the only options on the roster were even worse players.

I never suggested otherwise, and I never suggested McNamara wasn't an upgrade. I said the line was the BIGGEST problem, which infers there are other problems. Stop attacking a straw man.

I'm sorry. I missed the part of your comment that included Spencer's lackluster play as part of the problem the last few years.

 

[Iron Doc]

If only there was someone in charge of getting and keeping talented players......someone to coordinate their efforts so the team doesn't end up with an inadequate qb, poorly performing OL and RB's and WR's who struggle because of the QB. They should create a position to oversee those things. That could help.

you know, like maybe an Offensive Coordinator?
Just a thought.

 

[ichawk24]

cool, jonesy5960, we good.

 

[cmhawks99]

What are the highlights for Fairfield, Iowa? We are at Lake Darling for the holiday. Had never been before.

No real claim to fame for Fairfield although they do still have one of the coolest traditional squares in the middle of town

 

[pistachio1999]

No real claim to fame for Fairfield although they do still have one of the coolest traditional squares in the middle of town

The wife drove down today and she mentioned that.

 

[karnack1955]

you know, like maybe an Offensive Coordinator?
Just a thought.

that would not have the problem with the OL. as far as the portal goes they did not have the swarm up and running. where were you when money was needed?

besides IA has DT/QB in the 2024 class committed that was recruited by Brian also requited Kaleb Johnson out of Ohio and Betts also helped seal the deal.

with how the RB's did under Brian was a big reason why KJ committed.

KJ could become just Brian;s 2nd RB to have back to back seasons with 1000+ rushing yards as a SO and as a JR before he leaves for the NFL. who knows they might have 2 RB's go over 1000 yards rushing this fall in KJ and Leshonn Williams because have the ability to go over 1000 rushing himself.. I am looking forward to watching the 2 RB's and 2 TE attack this fall.

even FB Harding adds a element that IA has not had. in the past they ussually had one of the positions but this season IA will have all 3 at their disposal.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Of course Ferentz has made some mistakes. Who doesn't?

BF to OC was a mistake. His experience made him a plausible candidate, but it was a dangerous decision. Now with hindsight, there can be no argument saying it was a good decision.

Petras? Poor QB recruiting, combined with poor OL recruiting/development, combined with the aforementioned poor BF decision - left the coaching staff with NO good options. In season there wasn't much else the coaches could do - those mistakes had already been made.

The article goes on to describe Ego, Apathy, Confirmation Bias, Lack of Accountability, Gut vs. Data and something called the Johari Window 🤷‍♀️ as reasons why Petras kept playing and the offense continued to stink. As I have already said, the staff (including KF) made mistakes well before the 2022 season even started. During the 2023 season, there was nothing to do except pray for a defensive shutout.

If the 2023 season is a repeat, I will print this out and eat it.

 

[mikesright]

The real test for leadership most of the time is how you respond to adversity. I think that there was a certain complacency on the offensive side of the football for a number of years that started catching up to them, particularly the last 2 years. In college football most of the time in the past, you had very limited options if you found yourself without a viable QB, or got in a hole on the offensive line, particularly at tackle. We forget that transfers (pre-portal) were considered unreliable in the recent past.

2023 is a really big year for Kirk. To me, he basically took the fall for Brian, which is probably fair because I don't think he has put Brian in a position to succeed the last few years. The structure he has placed on him with this outdated offensive system, and also with how they have handled the QB position, has been pretty unfair to Brian frankly. There were a lot of grumblings and tension that you don't hear a lot of typically in this program that were LOUD last year.

If this offense doesn't succeed, there are a few scenarios that could happen, especially with a new AD that could end up in a leadership transition one way or another. Kirk may not be fireable, but his son is, and being head coach doesn't necessarily mean that he'll have control over the offense. I'm betting (and hoping) that we're going to have a much better season that takes us near the top of what we've seen with offensive output under Kirk this upcoming year.

 

[karnack1955]

Of course Ferentz has made some mistakes. Who doesn't?

BF to OC was a mistake. His experience made him a plausible candidate, but it was a dangerous decision. Now with hindsight, there can be no argument saying it was a good decision.

Petras? Poor QB recruiting, combined with poor OL recruiting/development, combined with the aforementioned poor BF decision - left the coaching staff with NO good options. In season there wasn't much else the coaches could do - those mistakes had already been made.

The article goes on to describe Ego, Apathy, Confirmation Bias, Lack of Accountability, Gut vs. Data and something called the Johari Window 🤷‍♀️ as reasons why Petras kept playing and the offense continued to stink. As I have already said, the staff (including KF) made mistakes well before the 2022 season even started. During the 2023 season, there was nothing to do except pray for a defensive shutout.

If the 2023 season is a repeat, I will print this out and eat it.

start printing and make multiple copies as their will not be enough crow to go around this season.

Brian know a hell of lot about running the offense than a bunch of nobodies on a msg board will ever know,

started on the offense OL under KF, then was a OL in the NFL. then he was a TE coach in the NFL, somewhere during all that coaching of offense he actually learned how to coach the offense.

Having 2 RB's go over 1000 yards rushing the same season. then having a RB have back to back 1000+ seasons for just the 2nd time in the KF era,

then he produced these when he was the OC/TE coach
RSSO Hockenson 1st team AA, Mackey Award winner and 1st rnd NFL pick
JR Fant 3rd team AA and 1st rnd NFL pick, making that the 1st time in the NFL history to have 2 TE's from the same team drafted in the 1st rnd.

then for the 1st time under KF Brian had a QB that improved in all 3 years.
Stanley as a SO did this, 196 pass completed on 351 attempts with a rating of 135.2 8-5 season 2437 yards
as a JR did this, 235 completions on 396 attempts with a rating of 136.5 9-4 season 2852 yards
as a SR did this 237 completions on 399 attempts with a rating of 131.2 10-3 season 2951 yards

all that with Brian as the OC

NOW what BS are you going to post about. also they had these on the OL
LT Jackson now in the NFL
RT Wirffs a 1st rnd NFL draft pick.

just don't see a Jackson or Wirffs on the last 2 seasons, maybe this season Richman takes that step to be this teams Jackson at LT and hopefully Palmer can be half as good as Wirffs.

 

[karnack1955]

The real test for leadership most of the time is how you respond to adversity. I think that there was a certain complacency on the offensive side of the football for a number of years that started catching up to them, particularly the last 2 years. In college football most of the time in the past, you had very limited options if you found yourself without a viable QB, or got in a hole on the offensive line, particularly at tackle. We forget that transfers (pre-portal) were considered unreliable in the recent past.

2023 is a really big year for Kirk. To me, he basically took the fall for Brian, which is probably fair because I don't think he has put Brian in a position to succeed the last few years. The structure he has placed on him with this outdated offensive system, and also with how they have handled the QB position, has been pretty unfair to Brian frankly. There were a lot of grumblings and tension that you don't hear a lot of typically in this program that were LOUD last year.

If this offense doesn't succeed, there are a few scenarios that could happen, especially with a new AD that could end up in a leadership transition one way or another. Kirk may not be fireable, but his son is, and being head coach doesn't necessarily mean that he'll have control over the offense. I'm betting (and hoping) that we're going to have a much better season that takes us near the top of what we've seen with offensive output under Kirk this upcoming year.

how about if the offense succeeds you leave to never return. how about that?

 

[Iron Doc]

The real test for leadership most of the time is how you respond to adversity. I think that there was a certain complacency on the offensive side of the football for a number of years that started catching up to them, particularly the last 2 years. In college football most of the time in the past, you had very limited options if you found yourself without a viable QB, or got in a hole on the offensive line, particularly at tackle. We forget that transfers (pre-portal) were considered unreliable in the recent past.

2023 is a really big year for Kirk. To me, he basically took the fall for Brian, which is probably fair because I don't think he has put Brian in a position to succeed the last few years. The structure he has placed on him with this outdated offensive system, and also with how they have handled the QB position, has been pretty unfair to Brian frankly. There were a lot of grumblings and tension that you don't hear a lot of typically in this program that were LOUD last year.

If this offense doesn't succeed, there are a few scenarios that could happen, especially with a new AD that could end up in a leadership transition one way or another. Kirk may not be fireable, but his son is, and being head coach doesn't necessarily mean that he'll have control over the offense. I'm betting (and hoping) that we're going to have a much better season that takes us near the top of what we've seen with offensive output under Kirk this upcoming year.

"...outdated offensive system..."
----can't argue with that.

 

[Iron Doc]

start printing and make multiple copies as their will not be enough crow to go around this season.

Brian know a hell of lot about running the offense than a bunch of nobodies on a msg board will ever know,

started on the offense OL under KF, then was a OL in the NFL. then he was a TE coach in the NFL, somewhere during all that coaching of offense he actually learned how to coach the offense.

Having 2 RB's go over 1000 yards rushing the same season. then having a RB have back to back 1000+ seasons for just the 2nd time in the KF era,

then he produced these when he was the OC/TE coach
RSSO Hockenson 1st team AA, Mackey Award winner and 1st rnd NFL pick
JR Fant 3rd team AA and 1st rnd NFL pick, making that the 1st time in the NFL history to have 2 TE's from the same team drafted in the 1st rnd.

then for the 1st time under KF Brian had a QB that improved in all 3 years.
Stanley as a SO did this, 196 pass completed on 351 attempts with a rating of 135.2 8-5 season 2437 yards
as a JR did this, 235 completions on 396 attempts with a rating of 136.5 9-4 season 2852 yards
as a SR did this 237 completions on 399 attempts with a rating of 131.2 10-3 season 2951 yards

all that with Brian as the OC

NOW what BS are you going to post about. also they had these on the OL
LT Jackson now in the NFL
RT Wirffs a 1st rnd NFL draft pick.

just don't see a Jackson or Wirffs on the last 2 seasons, maybe this season Richman takes that step to be this teams Jackson at LT and hopefully Palmer can be half as good as Wirffs.

130/131 - ol' Brian is quite the Offensive genius, ain't he?

 

[SalAunese]

 

[mikesright]

how about if the offense succeeds you leave to never return. how about that?

Try adding something to the conversation instead of trying to insult people. Oh wait you don't understand football. so you don't have an argument. Got it. For the rest of the crowd, the following is 6 reasons why the offense sucks.

1) can't cut block downfield
2) can't cut block outside of the tackle box
3) can't cut block a player that isn't facing you
4) roster turnover means that you can't count on players staying 4 to 5 years to build OL continuity
5) you can mess with a linebacker's reads on every play when officials give linemen the ability to be 5 yards downfield on every play
6) can't find a QB with any experience running an offense under center

Basically speaking, the first 3 things severely reduce the amount of explosive plays we can count on out of the zone concept under center, and the 4th takes away the consistency of gains we could once enjoy. Number 5 bullet is that we (and all teams on offense, hence the efficiency gains in college football the last decade) have money on free parking with the zone read and similar concepts, that we are leaving right there on the table.

Number 6 means we have to have long lead times generally to develop QB's in our system, and we're taking away potential efficiency from them when they have to turn their back to the line of scrimmage.

Bottom line - most offenses in college do it better than us. They're more efficient, more explosive, and score more points, even if they play with a comparable slower tempo like we do.

PS: By the way, generally speaking this offense is still a great NFL offense. The rules in college football are wildly different, as is the talent on the field, and where money and resources are spent. Ex: 1 yard downfield for linemen aggressively enforced, hashes are closer, you can be much more complex for what a defender has to account for under center, etc.

 

[cidhawkeye]

start printing and make multiple copies as their will not be enough crow to go around this season.

Brian know a hell of lot about running the offense than a bunch of nobodies on a msg board will ever know,

started on the offense OL under KF, then was a OL in the NFL. then he was a TE coach in the NFL, somewhere during all that coaching of offense he actually learned how to coach the offense.

Having 2 RB's go over 1000 yards rushing the same season. then having a RB have back to back 1000+ seasons for just the 2nd time in the KF era,

then he produced these when he was the OC/TE coach
RSSO Hockenson 1st team AA, Mackey Award winner and 1st rnd NFL pick
JR Fant 3rd team AA and 1st rnd NFL pick, making that the 1st time in the NFL history to have 2 TE's from the same team drafted in the 1st rnd.

then for the 1st time under KF Brian had a QB that improved in all 3 years.
Stanley as a SO did this, 196 pass completed on 351 attempts with a rating of 135.2 8-5 season 2437 yards
as a JR did this, 235 completions on 396 attempts with a rating of 136.5 9-4 season 2852 yards
as a SR did this 237 completions on 399 attempts with a rating of 131.2 10-3 season 2951 yards

all that with Brian as the OC

NOW what BS are you going to post about. also they had these on the OL
LT Jackson now in the NFL
RT Wirffs a 1st rnd NFL draft pick.

just don't see a Jackson or Wirffs on the last 2 seasons, maybe this season Richman takes that step to be this teams Jackson at LT and hopefully Palmer can be half as good as Wirffs.

Palmer and Harding?
Jesse and Tanya?

130th. That is the most recent edition under his watch.
Please regurgitate the history….. again.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

start printing and make multiple copies as their will not be enough crow to go around this season.

Brian know a hell of lot about running the offense than a bunch of nobodies on a msg board will ever know,

started on the offense OL under KF, then was a OL in the NFL. then he was a TE coach in the NFL, somewhere during all that coaching of offense he actually learned how to coach the offense.

Having 2 RB's go over 1000 yards rushing the same season. then having a RB have back to back 1000+ seasons for just the 2nd time in the KF era,

then he produced these when he was the OC/TE coach
RSSO Hockenson 1st team AA, Mackey Award winner and 1st rnd NFL pick
JR Fant 3rd team AA and 1st rnd NFL pick, making that the 1st time in the NFL history to have 2 TE's from the same team drafted in the 1st rnd.

then for the 1st time under KF Brian had a QB that improved in all 3 years.
Stanley as a SO did this, 196 pass completed on 351 attempts with a rating of 135.2 8-5 season 2437 yards
as a JR did this, 235 completions on 396 attempts with a rating of 136.5 9-4 season 2852 yards
as a SR did this 237 completions on 399 attempts with a rating of 131.2 10-3 season 2951 yards

all that with Brian as the OC

NOW what BS are you going to post about. also they had these on the OL
LT Jackson now in the NFL
RT Wirffs a 1st rnd NFL draft pick.

just don't see a Jackson or Wirffs on the last 2 seasons, maybe this season Richman takes that step to be this teams Jackson at LT and hopefully Palmer can be half as good as Wirffs.

My point was simply that hiring BF was a mistake because he is his son. Without offensive production on the field (not just individual stars) he was going to be a lightning rod for criticism, and that has occurred - and we get articles like the one posted by the OP.

 

[HogLovinHawkeye]

KF has sacrificed his character so much over the years, suborning racism in the Iowa football program, attempting to cover his players sexual assault(s) and keeping BF no matter the results.

 

[karnack1955]

130/131 - ol' Brian is quite the Offensive genius, ain't he?

8-5 1 win from back to back BT West championships, after 4 straight top 25 rankings.

 

[Iron Doc]

8-5 1 win from back to back BT West championships, after 4 straight top 25 rankings.

Despite the Offense.

 

[F5n5]

Brian Ferentz is one of the brightest minds in the game of football today.
he's been successful at every thing he has done.
which includes his time on the team as an Offensive Lineman from 2001-2005

he is 40 years old now and just hitting his prime.

the same people that hate the Ferentz' ... hate the McCaffery's

and they that hate them, hate the Iowa Hawkeyes.

the really strange thing about this hate is..
these haters have positioned themselves to now root against the team they pretend to support.