OWH Barfknecht: Shouldn't Iowa get more from Ferentz?

[DarkStar]

Saw this in the Omaha World Herald today. Sports - Omaha.com

"Yet rarely do I hear a discouraging word about Ferentz, in his 13th year. So being new to this Big Ten business, Hawkeye fans, I need a little help.

I get that Ferentz is an eminently likable guy. I get that he has turned down other jobs to stay loyal to the school that has employed him for 22 years overall.
But he's the fifth-highest paid college coach in the country, and his career winning percentage is .599. His Big Ten record is 55-45. Does anybody hold his feet to the fire seeking more?


Are there questions about why Iowa pays national-championship money — only Nick Saban, Les Miles, Bob Stoops and Mack Brown make more — for a coach who in his first 12 years has two shared league titles and has reached two Bowl Championship Series games?"

Looks like some of the NU people are a little confused about their new rival....
:jiggy:


Note: Please delete if this has already been posted. Did a search but did not find it.

 

[IOWASTATE]

:twitcy: Read the comments...Some guys response says "Over here in IA Football isn't the most important thing. We have excellent basketball..." Oh I'm still laughing my sides hurt :jiggy:

 

[hawkeyescott]

Can't say I see anything wrong with the article. But then again I think I'm one of the few that thinks if Iowa wants to charge elite program prices for season tickets and pay a coach an elite program salary then we should be getting better then average or slightly above average results.

 

[DarkStar]

:twitcy: Read the comments...Some guys response says "Over here in IA Football isn't the most important thing. We have excellent basketball..." Oh I'm still laughing my sides hurt :jiggy:

Those were some pretty funny comments by the hawkeye fans trying to defend themselves.

My summary:
Hawkeyes: Even though we pay our coach the 5th highest salary in the nation we don't consider football to be the most important thing like they do in Nebraska. And those loses were against teams who consider us their Superbowl.

Husker fans: We have never paid a coach that kind of money and would have fired him years ago if he had that record... Who cares if it is their Superbowl. Everyone plays an elite team like it is their Superbowl. Just beat em.


I hope they keep kirk because it gives us a good chance of beating them.

 

[BigM]

ohh some of those comments were pure comedy

 

[DarkStar]

Can't say I see anything wrong with the article. But then again I think I'm one of the few that thinks if Iowa wants to charge elite program prices for season tickets and pay a coach an elite program salary then we should be getting better then average or slightly above average results.

I think that is what confuses the Huskers. Iowa has the financial, facilities, conference, TV, and fan support to make them a good coaching destination. Why aren't the fans demanding more. They would be in Nebraska....

 

[hawkeyescott]

I think that is what confuses the Huskers. Iowa has the financial, facilities, conference, TV, and fan support to make them a good coaching destination. Why aren't the fans demanding more. They would be in Nebraska....

I think Ferentz is the right coach, he just needs to make some changes on his staff. Right now Norm does 0 recruiting and having a coach on the staff that doesn't do any recruiting puts you at a disadvantage IMO.

So Norm needs to be kindly shoved out the door and replaced with someone that can recruit. I honestly don't care if they make someone internal the D coordinator or bring someone in from the outside like Mike Stoops because whoever it would be will run what KF wants anyway. But they need to replace Norm with someone that will recruit and has some good connections.

 

[Naughtius]

As an ISU fan, I say keep KF. He and his misguided loyalty to his staff will keep Iowa middle-of-the-pack, while CPR will keep improving ISU football. Eventually, the balance of power will swing to the 'Clones, even if it means that some of the Tavern Hawks will come over. <Shudder>

 

[Clark]

I think that is what confuses the Huskers. Iowa has the financial, facilities, conference, TV, and fan support to make them a good coaching destination. Why aren't the fans demanding more. They would be in Nebraska....

These are the same people who ran Solich out of town after a 9 win season...

 

[Hawkeye11en1]

As an ISU fan, I say keep KF. He and his misguided loyalty to his staff will keep Iowa middle-of-the-pack, while CPR will keep improving ISU football. Eventually, the balance of power will swing to the 'Clones, even if it means that some of the Tavern Hawks will come over. <Shudder>

As hard as it is to win at Iowa, it's even harder at ISU. Winning against Iowa is different that swinging the balance of power. We have a good rivalry and an in-state rivalry. That game will almost always be close. But the money is where the power comes from. We'll see how ISU does when they get more money.

 

[Naughtius]

As hard as it is to win at Iowa, it's even harder at ISU. Winning against Iowa is different that swinging the balance of power. We have a good rivalry and an in-state rivalry. That game will almost always be close. But the money is where the power comes from. We'll see how ISU does when they get more money.

I don't agree with that. Iowa has certainly been the better program from Hayden to today. But remember, pre-Fry Iowa was one of (if not the) worst college football program. Hayden certainly made a difference, and the Big 10 network has been an advantage. However, that's all relatively recent history.

But if/when the Big 12 stabilizes and evens the field? Who knows? Think about the things that have been in Iowa's favor that are or might be changing: Bowl tie-ins, money, facilities, TV exposure, east-coast conference presence.

What advantages does Iowa currently have that they'll still have in 5 years? I understand that everything is in flux, but I can't come up with 1 built-in, guaranteed advantage that they will continue to hold over ISU.

KF is not a bad coach, but to my eyes he's doing just enough to not get fired. Does that benefit ISU? Maybe not. Another posted pointed out that there just isn't that much D1 talent in the state. But it sure doesn't hurt ISU for Iowa to be seen as stuck on average.

 

[Clark]

I don't agree with that. Iowa has certainly been the better program from Hayden to today. But remember, pre-Fry Iowa was one of (if not the) worst college football program. Hayden certainly made a difference, and the Big 10 network has been an advantage. However, that's all relatively recent history.

But if/when the Big 12 stabilizes and evens the field? Who knows? Think about the things that have been in Iowa's favor that are or might be changing: Bowl tie-ins, money, facilities, TV exposure, east-coast conference presence.

What advantages does Iowa currently have that they'll still have in 5 years? I understand that everything is in flux, but I can't come up with 1 built-in, guaranteed advantage that they will continue to hold over ISU.

KF is not a bad coach, but to my eyes he's doing just enough to not get fired. Does that benefit ISU? Maybe not. Another posted pointed out that there just isn't that much D1 talent in the state. But it sure doesn't hurt ISU for Iowa to be seen as stuck on average.

For reals?

Let's start with the obvious: Iowa has a 70,000 seat stadium that generates far more revenue than ISU's 55,000 seat stadium.

Even after both conferences re-up their tv deal, the Big 10's will still generate more revenue.

Iowa is still going to have the better bowl tie-ins and better tv deal.

Not to mention more success in the last 6-7 years that people are hammering Ferentz for than in the entire history of ISU football.

 

[Hawkeye11en1]

I don't agree with that. Iowa has certainly been the better program from Hayden to today. But remember, pre-Fry Iowa was one of (if not the) worst college football program. Hayden certainly made a difference, and the Big 10 network has been an advantage. However, that's all relatively recent history.

But if/when the Big 12 stabilizes and evens the field? Who knows? Think about the things that have been in Iowa's favor that are or might be changing: Bowl tie-ins, money, facilities, TV exposure, east-coast conference presence.

What advantages does Iowa currently have that they'll still have in 5 years? I understand that everything is in flux, but I can't come up with 1 built-in, guaranteed advantage that they will continue to hold over ISU.

KF is not a bad coach, but to my eyes he's doing just enough to not get fired. Does that benefit ISU? Maybe not. Another posted pointed out that there just isn't that much D1 talent in the state. But it sure doesn't hurt ISU for Iowa to be seen as stuck on average.

Look, I get that the B12 looks to be stabilizing and is going to be bringing in more money. But its kinda like the outside look of Nebraska to Iowa. Iowa is not in the same light nationally as Nebraska, and its not close. But I can guarantee you the perception of Iowa is greater than ISU at this point (whether it is warranted or not). That is a leg up in recruiting kids into this state. It is going to take multiple seasons for that to change. Not saying it can't, but you get the point.

 

[IOWASTATE]

Iowa has big (ger) $$$ alumni. Thats not a knock on ISU, but when one school is graduating doctors and lawyers they have an advantage. I would argue OSU wouldn't be where they are at without T. Boone. And that is a sustainable advantage for the foreseeable future.

 

[Al_4_State]

Iowa has big (ger) $$$ alumni. Thats not a knock on ISU, but when one school is graduating doctors and lawyers they have an advantage. I would argue OSU wouldn't be where they are at without T. Boone. And that is a sustainable advantage for the foreseeable future.

This is really overstated.

For one, the amount of lawyers and doctors coming out of U of I simply isn't that high. They might graduate 150 of each every year. Secondly, many of those doctors and lawyers are loyal to their undergrad rather than Iowa, if they went to a BCS level school. You'd be surprised by how many of those Iowa doctors or lawyers were ISU undergrads and big Cyclone fans.

Iowa has money. in part because they are the more popular team in this state. They are the popular team because they have a much more consistent tradition of winning. Back when there was less correlation between a big revenue stream and winning football, U of I invested in quality coaches/facilities, realizing how much $ successful athletics could bring to the university. It wasn't until the past 10 or so years that ISU's administration fully grasped this concept.

 

[Hawkeye11en1]

This is really overstated.

For one, the amount of lawyers and doctors coming out of U of I simply isn't that high. They might graduate 150 of each every year. Secondly, many of those doctors and lawyers are loyal to their undergrad rather than Iowa, if they went to a BCS level school. You'd be surprised by how many of those Iowa doctors or lawyers were ISU undergrads and big Cyclone fans.

Iowa has money. in part because they are the more popular team in this state. They are the popular team because they have a much more consistent tradition of winning. Back when there was less correlation between a big revenue stream and winning football, U of I invested in quality coaches/facilities, realizing how much $ successful athletics could bring to the university. It wasn't until the past 10 or so years that ISU's administration fully grasped this concept.

Agreed.

 

[agcy68]

Iowa has big (ger) $$$ alumni. Thats not a knock on ISU, but when one school is graduating doctors and lawyers they have an advantage. I would argue OSU wouldn't be where they are at without T. Boone. And that is a sustainable advantage for the foreseeable future.

This is really overstated.

For one, the amount of lawyers and doctors coming out of U of I simply isn't that high. They might graduate 150 of each every year. Secondly, many of those doctors and lawyers are loyal to their undergrad rather than Iowa, if they went to a BCS level school. You'd be surprised by how many of those Iowa doctors or lawyers were ISU undergrads and big Cyclone fans.

Iowa has money. in part because they are the more popular team in this state. They are the popular team because they have a much more consistent tradition of winning. Back when there was less correlation between a big revenue stream and winning football, U of I invested in quality coaches/facilities, realizing how much $ successful athletics could bring to the university. It wasn't until the past 10 or so years that ISU's administration fully grasped this concept.

You think so? Go back and see how many FB and MBB Nat. Championships are won by schools with Medical and Legal colleges...

 

[CY ST8T]

I will agree that it is easier for Iowa to win, but that is because they play in the Big 10. Year after year it seems the Big XII is getting to be much higher in power rankings so yes it would be easier to play in the Big 10.

 

[weR138]

You think so? Go back and see how many FB and MBB Nat. Championships are won by schools with Medical and Legal colleges...

I dunno. I think FB NC's are a lot more about geography and conference these days (i.e. warm climate / SEC).