The Clash of Iowa Hawkeye Supporters: Should Kirk Stay or Should He Go Now?
By Josh Roth
So there is a heated debate after such a horrific loss versus Indiana and with a season that seems to be all but lost: Should Kirk stay or go? Before we answer that question we need to look at the facts and to think of things rationally, which means not basing it off emotions that are currently running high after three straight disappointing seasons.
There has been the good and bad of Kirk Ferentz.Like most people ask for, I will give you the bad news first. Clearly the bad news is the current status of the team. They are 4-5 and have losses versus Indiana and Central Michigan, which is two terrible losses. There is also currently no quality wins on hand with one of those wins being over UNI a non FBS school and their two Big Ten wins come against teams struggling just as bad as Iowa in Minnesota and Michigan State. There is also a refusal to go to the bench for a new quarterback, which James Vandenberg the current starter ranks fifteenth in passing touchdowns and is one of the worst in quarterback rating. However, it is not just quarterback play that is plaguing this season. The offense period is completely flat. The offensive line has been fairly inconsistent, the wide receivers probably have the same amount of drops as catches and the calls have been conservative and questionable at times.
Then there is also the question if Kirk is a good recruiter or not. Many believe that he does a poor job of bringing in top recruits, while others contest that it's tough to recruit period at Iowa. While I tend to agree with that notion of Iowa being a tough place to recruit in, the fact is that good coaches will find a way to recruit wherever they are at and you can't tell me, tradition aside, that Nebraska is far and away a better place to go than Iowa. Iowa can be sold as a place to go to especially with a new recreational center, new practice facilities and in the future there will be a new fancy dorm for athletes that should give him absolutely no excuses.
Finally there is the winning percentage that ranks 74th amongst current college coaches, but that is more likely in the top fifty if you take out the ones that haven't been head coaches for more than two seasons. Also if you take into consideration, which you clearly should, his sixth most compensation among those coaches at 3.8 million dollars annually. And then there is a major issue with his winning percentage. If you go to www.coacheshotseat.com you will see that he ranks sixth amongst coaches that should be on the hot seat, which the site uses salary and winning percentage to calculate where coaches rank on the hot seat.
However, there is also the good of his tenure here at Iowa. In his first two seasons it seemed very bleak and it wasn't just Kirk's two years, it was the prior seasons at the end of Hayden Frye's tenure. Then something marvelous happened after his third year when he got Iowa to the Alamo Bowl. Iowa came one early and rained filled day from being undefeated and possibly playing for the National Title game. It was one of the greatest regular seasons ever witnessed at the University of Iowa and if they could have finished it off in style and won in the Orange Bowl it likely would have been hands down the best season in Iowa history. That year also saw Brad Banks finish runner up in the Heisman and numerous awards for other players. It wasn't his only BCS bowl game appearance. He was able to make another appearance in the Orange Bowl which saw them knock off the option running attack of Georgia Tech. Iowa has also shared two Big Ten championships while Ohio State and Michigan were still prime teams in the Big Ten.
After the first Orange bowl appearance he won ten games each of the next two seasons making it three consecutive seasons with ten or more wins. However, he followed that up with three very poor years which saw a 7-6, 6-7 and 6-6 seasons. After those tough seasons Iowa turned it around and 9 and 11 games in the next two seasons that saw an Outback and Orange bowl wins. He has a solid bowl record as well with a 6-4 record since his first two seasons, he has only not made a bowl in one of those seasons. And there hasn't been a big discrepancy in winning percentage between himself and Hayden Fry, considered by many to be the best coach ever at Iowa (58% for Kirk and 60% for Hayden). Although it should be noted that Fry has a pretty solid advantage in Big Ten wins over Kirk. But winning hasn't been the only good that Kirk has done, he has sent quite a bit of talent into the NFL and has them well prepared when they get there with the style of play the use here.
With all the facts presented, I stand on the side of him staying. I firmly believe he at least deserves one more season as the Iowa football coach. Remember for most programs it is tough to learn and perfect an offense in just one season, so another year with the offense under their belt and a new quarterback should help the cause. The other issue is if you were to fire Kirk, who would you have replace him? Would there be enough money to cover his salary and hire a high level college coach? Also do you really think that it would turn around instantly? The answer for that would be very difficult for all of those questions. Iowa would basically have to go all in on a guy like Bob Stoops or shell out an outrageous amount of money to another elite coach and I'm sure the University, its faculty and alumni would not appreciate that. And as I stated earlier it would likely take a couple of years to see the results that Iowa fans would want to see.
Clearly though you cannot have a season like they are currently having right now. It is unacceptable as a coach who is in the top ten in salary to perform so poorly. Recruiting will likely be the key step. Quarterback play has been very vital (as is with most teams) in Iowa's success. Also Iowa lacks an elite play-maker and some more speed on offense. Currently the offense looks pretty slow compared to other teams. But the reason why it may look so slow is that the offense is way too conservative and Kirk will have to start adapting to the way the game is starting to transform. He can't afford to be stubborn anymore.
As bad as the offense has looked there is still hope for next year. The defense looks a lot better this year and the strength of the defense, the linebackers, all return for another season or at least should be back. In fact, most of the defense returns next year with the exception of Hyde, Bigach, Gaglione, and Castillo. The defense has good young talent replacing those guys that unlike a lot of teams in the past, have seen some key playing time this year. Those guys would be Sean Draper CB, Darian Cooper DT and Carl Davis DT. If the defense continues to improve and the offense could somehow find an identity, then I believe Iowa could be in store for a nice turn around season next year. However, that is a huge if, but an if that has to be solved or Kirk could find himself getting the ax. It would be really disappointing if that happened too, because I truly believe Brian Ferentz could be a terrific head coach someday in the near future.
It is perfectly fine to be furious now, in fact you should. This season has been beyond terrible and completely unacceptable, but realistically the options outside of Bob Stoops aren't great and likely aren't realistic. So support Kirk Ferentz for one more season and have some faith that the offense will flourish with Greg Davis. If after next season things aren't better then I am all for you unleashing your disappointment and fury on Kirk, but until then stand behind the head coach, Kirk Ferentz.
So there is a heated debate after such a horrific loss versus Indiana and with a season that seems to be all but lost: Should Kirk stay or go? Before we answer that question we need to look at the facts and to think of things rationally, which means not basing it off emotions that are currently running high after three straight disappointing seasons.
There has been the good and bad of Kirk Ferentz.Like most people ask for, I will give you the bad news first. Clearly the bad news is the current status of the team. They are 4-5 and have losses versus Indiana and Central Michigan, which is two terrible losses. There is also currently no quality wins on hand with one of those wins being over UNI a non FBS school and their two Big Ten wins come against teams struggling just as bad as Iowa in Minnesota and Michigan State. There is also a refusal to go to the bench for a new quarterback, which James Vandenberg the current starter ranks fifteenth in passing touchdowns and is one of the worst in quarterback rating. However, it is not just quarterback play that is plaguing this season. The offense period is completely flat. The offensive line has been fairly inconsistent, the wide receivers probably have the same amount of drops as catches and the calls have been conservative and questionable at times.
Then there is also the question if Kirk is a good recruiter or not. Many believe that he does a poor job of bringing in top recruits, while others contest that it's tough to recruit period at Iowa. While I tend to agree with that notion of Iowa being a tough place to recruit in, the fact is that good coaches will find a way to recruit wherever they are at and you can't tell me, tradition aside, that Nebraska is far and away a better place to go than Iowa. Iowa can be sold as a place to go to especially with a new recreational center, new practice facilities and in the future there will be a new fancy dorm for athletes that should give him absolutely no excuses.
Finally there is the winning percentage that ranks 74th amongst current college coaches, but that is more likely in the top fifty if you take out the ones that haven't been head coaches for more than two seasons. Also if you take into consideration, which you clearly should, his sixth most compensation among those coaches at 3.8 million dollars annually. And then there is a major issue with his winning percentage. If you go to www.coacheshotseat.com you will see that he ranks sixth amongst coaches that should be on the hot seat, which the site uses salary and winning percentage to calculate where coaches rank on the hot seat.
However, there is also the good of his tenure here at Iowa. In his first two seasons it seemed very bleak and it wasn't just Kirk's two years, it was the prior seasons at the end of Hayden Frye's tenure. Then something marvelous happened after his third year when he got Iowa to the Alamo Bowl. Iowa came one early and rained filled day from being undefeated and possibly playing for the National Title game. It was one of the greatest regular seasons ever witnessed at the University of Iowa and if they could have finished it off in style and won in the Orange Bowl it likely would have been hands down the best season in Iowa history. That year also saw Brad Banks finish runner up in the Heisman and numerous awards for other players. It wasn't his only BCS bowl game appearance. He was able to make another appearance in the Orange Bowl which saw them knock off the option running attack of Georgia Tech. Iowa has also shared two Big Ten championships while Ohio State and Michigan were still prime teams in the Big Ten.
After the first Orange bowl appearance he won ten games each of the next two seasons making it three consecutive seasons with ten or more wins. However, he followed that up with three very poor years which saw a 7-6, 6-7 and 6-6 seasons. After those tough seasons Iowa turned it around and 9 and 11 games in the next two seasons that saw an Outback and Orange bowl wins. He has a solid bowl record as well with a 6-4 record since his first two seasons, he has only not made a bowl in one of those seasons. And there hasn't been a big discrepancy in winning percentage between himself and Hayden Fry, considered by many to be the best coach ever at Iowa (58% for Kirk and 60% for Hayden). Although it should be noted that Fry has a pretty solid advantage in Big Ten wins over Kirk. But winning hasn't been the only good that Kirk has done, he has sent quite a bit of talent into the NFL and has them well prepared when they get there with the style of play the use here.
With all the facts presented, I stand on the side of him staying. I firmly believe he at least deserves one more season as the Iowa football coach. Remember for most programs it is tough to learn and perfect an offense in just one season, so another year with the offense under their belt and a new quarterback should help the cause. The other issue is if you were to fire Kirk, who would you have replace him? Would there be enough money to cover his salary and hire a high level college coach? Also do you really think that it would turn around instantly? The answer for that would be very difficult for all of those questions. Iowa would basically have to go all in on a guy like Bob Stoops or shell out an outrageous amount of money to another elite coach and I'm sure the University, its faculty and alumni would not appreciate that. And as I stated earlier it would likely take a couple of years to see the results that Iowa fans would want to see.
Clearly though you cannot have a season like they are currently having right now. It is unacceptable as a coach who is in the top ten in salary to perform so poorly. Recruiting will likely be the key step. Quarterback play has been very vital (as is with most teams) in Iowa's success. Also Iowa lacks an elite play-maker and some more speed on offense. Currently the offense looks pretty slow compared to other teams. But the reason why it may look so slow is that the offense is way too conservative and Kirk will have to start adapting to the way the game is starting to transform. He can't afford to be stubborn anymore.
As bad as the offense has looked there is still hope for next year. The defense looks a lot better this year and the strength of the defense, the linebackers, all return for another season or at least should be back. In fact, most of the defense returns next year with the exception of Hyde, Bigach, Gaglione, and Castillo. The defense has good young talent replacing those guys that unlike a lot of teams in the past, have seen some key playing time this year. Those guys would be Sean Draper CB, Darian Cooper DT and Carl Davis DT. If the defense continues to improve and the offense could somehow find an identity, then I believe Iowa could be in store for a nice turn around season next year. However, that is a huge if, but an if that has to be solved or Kirk could find himself getting the ax. It would be really disappointing if that happened too, because I truly believe Brian Ferentz could be a terrific head coach someday in the near future.
It is perfectly fine to be furious now, in fact you should. This season has been beyond terrible and completely unacceptable, but realistically the options outside of Bob Stoops aren't great and likely aren't realistic. So support Kirk Ferentz for one more season and have some faith that the offense will flourish with Greg Davis. If after next season things aren't better then I am all for you unleashing your disappointment and fury on Kirk, but until then stand behind the head coach, Kirk Ferentz.