The limitations, are called laziness. He made the hires, severely limiting what that program could be. Do you think Bob Stoops would have been this bad in Iowa City (almost happened, but OU got him first)? Hell to the no. Ferentz doesn’t think out of the box to improve. It’s his fault that program has been flatlined for all his time there. They put up with it. They are cool with 8 wins a year. IMO, they are complete frauds, and have been. Selling 8 wins to its fans, while generally beating no one, is pathetic. Moving forward, without change, Iowa will be lucky to win 6 games a year, as the schedule will be increasingly more difficult. .
I find myself almost chuckling that I'm defending Ferentz (a guy I personally can't stand), but here we are.
The limitations in Iowa City are real. Recruiting to Iowa City is not the same as Ann Arbor, Columbus, Madison or even Lincoln. They're not a traditional power and to this day don't have the sway that even Nebraska, eight years in the wasteland, still holds in the area. Now I can agree that he made the hires and his recent OC choices have not been good or should I say have not resulted in a good offense. His son is awful and that's 100% his fault. He can chase all the Florida or Texas speed he wants, most of them aren't going to come to Iowa City. That's not laziness, that's a limitation. He figures out how to work with what's in the cupboard and he wins football games. He's still sitting on 81 wins since we hired Mike Riley, or an average of 9 wins a season, and owns three division titles. The record is admirable, no matter how pretty the games were. If the only good wins are the when you blow someone's doors off, sure. I get it. I disagree, but I know where you stand.
On Stoops, Bob being an Iowa alum and an assistant under Hayden Frye for five years, knew exactly what the limitations and likely ceiling in Iowa City were. He took a better job and won a lot of games. He takes the Iowa job instead and likely has a similar record as Ferentz did. OU is a much easier school to recruit to than Iowa. He's a car ride away from Texas talent and Oklahoma generally produces more D1 talent in state. I'd have made the same choice.
As far as him thinking outside the box, again I think you have to go back to a coach looking at what he
can do. His job as head coach is to win football games and the smartest question he can ask himself is 'How can I do that this year?' If their defense is nails and special teams is as well, you play 'small ball'. Work for your breaks in those two phases of the game and don't let your weakness hurt you, which has almost always been their offense.
As to the fans accepting 8 wins a year, I can't really speak for Iowa's fan base. I know a few that love Ferentz and a few that can't stand their style of football. One thing they've universally said is that our recent struggles have made them a little gun shy about running of their 8 win guy. Who follows and what are the results?
On them slipping, I've been saying that for a decade. 'This is the year'. They lose a handful to the NFL every year. Guys that beat us most of the time and I'm thinking 'No better than 3rd in the West' yet they win. They develop what they have, work within their capabilities and win football games. That's really what our next step has to be. Yes, the conference has just gotten much tougher to play in and he'll likely have to rethink some of what he does on offense to compete, but I've discounted Ferentz for too many years to my own dismay to do it again.
