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Why not fire Kirk and hire someone else?

joelbc1

joelbc1

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Maybe Iowa can hire Luke Fickle would exhibit A as to why you don’t fire a successful coach to hire another to lead you to the promise land.
Wisky treated Paul Chryst poorly in the end…and the new AD and some boosters “knew” how to remedy the problem. Sometimes thing just don’t work out. Be careful what you ask for…you just might get it.
Maryland is kicking some Badger-butt in Madtown! Wow!
 
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The_Joker13_rivals

The_Joker13_rivals

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joelbc1 said:
Maybe Iowa can hire Luke Fickle would exhibit A as to why you don’t fire a successful coach to hire another to lead you to the promise land.
Wisky treated Paul Chryst poorly in the end…and the new AD and some boosters “knew” how to remedy the problem. Sometimes thing just don’t work out. Be careful what you ask for…you just might get it.
Maryland is kicking some Badger-butt in Madtown! Wow!
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lol, we beat Rutgers, a joke of a football program, and all is well? GTFO old man.
 
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Bierhalter

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joelbc1 said:
Maybe Iowa can hire Luke Fickle would exhibit A as to why you don’t fire a successful coach to hire another to lead you to the promise land.
Wisky treated Paul Chryst poorly in the end…and the new AD and some boosters “knew” how to remedy the problem. Sometimes thing just don’t work out. Be careful what you ask for…you just might get it.
Maryland is kicking some Badger-butt in Madtown! Wow!
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Kirk is immortal, hooray!
 
nu2u

nu2u

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joelbc1 said:
Maybe Iowa can hire Luke Fickle would exhibit A as to why you don’t fire a successful coach to hire another to lead you to the promise land.
Wisky treated Paul Chryst poorly in the end…and the new AD and some boosters “knew” how to remedy the problem. Sometimes thing just don’t work out. Be careful what you ask for…you just might get it.
Maryland is kicking some Badger-butt in Madtown! Wow!
Click to expand...
Every single coach available to replace Kirk Ferentz is exactly the same as Luke Fickle. The result would be very similar - it is practically inevitable - think about that!
 
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yrunvs

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Feb 18, 2012
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MeetTheFerentzes said:
I am genuinely shocked at what’s happened at Wisconsin since the Fickle hire.

I’m not a “Fire KF” guy, but I am ready for the program to move on, and there was a time when I thought Fickle might be a good candidate. Ouch.
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Be careful what you wish for a lot of LK's out there.
 
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HMB Trumpet

HMB Trumpet

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I didn't think firing Chryst was warranted based on performance, but after that decision Fickle seemed like a good hire. I never expected him to flop.
 
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AFM22

AFM22

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joelbc1 said:
Maybe Iowa can hire Luke Fickle would exhibit A as to why you don’t fire a successful coach to hire another to lead you to the promise land.
Wisky treated Paul Chryst poorly in the end…and the new AD and some boosters “knew” how to remedy the problem. Sometimes thing just don’t work out. Be careful what you ask for…you just might get it.
Maryland is kicking some Badger-butt in Madtown! Wow!
Click to expand...
I used to be in this camp when Iowa was going 10-2 and getting blown out in the BTCCG. Going from a top 25 team to a perrenial top 15 team is so hard. Going from a top 15 team to a perennial top 5 team is exponentially more difficult than that.

It's real easy to whiff on a hire and fall, it's also easy to hang onto a coach that has had the game pass them by.

Nebraska wanted to go higher and end ed up paying the price back to back piss poor hires.

Kirk is obviously in the twilight of his career, and 10-2 in the new big ten does not feel possible with Kirk in the lead. That's why I've switched my opinion to Iowa moving on and seeing what else is out there. There's got to be more than an 8-4 ceiling.
 
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NWHawk33

NWHawk33

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I don't disagree but Kirk is getting old if you haven't noticed. My favorite thing about this Kirk Ferentz point of view from the old heads is they act like if we let him retire on his own then magically the next hire will be a flawless and seamless transition.
 
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joelbc1

joelbc1

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HMB Trumpet said:
I didn't think firing Chryst was warranted based on performance, but after that decision Fickle seemed like a good hire. I never expected him to flop.
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There are no certainties in any thing. Looking at it, Fickle seemed like a good hire for Bucky but it sure hasn’t worked out though. Wisky football is a mere shadow of what it was 5-6 years ago. How long does Fickle or the AD stay? There were empty seats today.
 
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joelbc1

joelbc1

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83Hawk said:
One of the dumbest arguments for retaining a coach. And no, I am not saying Kirk should be fired. Not at all. I am speaking generally.
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It might be…but it is a legit concern in many aspects of life. Doesn’t make the question “dumb”…
 
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somewhereiniowa

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Fickle's buyout is 80% of his remaining four year salary, so around $25 million, they will give him one more year to just save money on the buyout. The key to any of these is not waiting around to long and allowing the coach to bury the program. So next year will be the make or break it year for him.
 
MeetTheFerentzes

MeetTheFerentzes

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nu2u said:
Every single coach available to replace Kirk Ferentz is exactly the same as Luke Fickle. The result would be very similar - it is practically inevitable - think about that!
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This is total bullsh*t and a defeatist attitude. Thank goodness you’re not Iowa’s AD.
 
joelbc1

joelbc1

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somewhereiniowa said:
Fickle's buyout is 80% of his remaining four year salary, so around $25 million, they will give him one more year to just save money on the buyout. The key to any of these is not waiting around to long and allowing the coach to bury the program. So next year will be the make or break it year for him.
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If it doesn’t get better soon, he won’t be there next year. (The Iowa game will be very critical for him.) There are plenty of Big $$ boosters in Wisconsin and that buyout won’t be an issue if it is decided to move on. They really moved quickly on Chryst (rightly or wrongly). I am assuming they will do so again. They really looked poorly prepared today cs. Maryland.
 
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Garzatough85

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The_Joker13_rivals said:
lol, we beat Rutgers, a joke of a football program, and all is well? GTFO old man.
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My hat off to Parker D adjustments last night! We looked overmatched in the first half and regrouped for an impressive 2nd half!
O is getting f better!
gotta eliminate the drops and the missed passes and we can compete offensively.
 
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somewhereiniowa

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joelbc1 said:
If it doesn’t get better soon, he won’t be there next year. (The Iowa game will be very critical for him.) There are plenty of Big $$ boosters in Wisconsin and that buyout won’t be an issue if it is decided to move on. They really moved quickly on Chryst (rightly or wrongly). I am assuming they will do so again. They really looked poorly prepared today cs. Maryland.
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It all comes down to money, if they have boosters willing to pony up the money for the buyout it would be time to move on, Its not going to get better. But that is a big IF. He seemed like a great hire when they made it, but it just did not work out, which happens. The key is not to let him hang around and buy the program even more unless you believe he can turn it around.
 
paednoch23

paednoch23

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somewhereiniowa said:
It all comes down to money, if they have boosters willing to pony up the money for the buyout it would be time to move on, Its not going to get better. But that is a big IF. He seemed like a great hire when they made it, but it just did not work out, which happens. The key is not to let him hang around and buy the program even more unless you believe he can turn it around.
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Rumors are they want Matt Campbell
 
joelbc1

joelbc1

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83Hawk said:
You can’t be afraid to make a coaching change because the next person *might* be worse. It’s the same in just about everything in life….sometimes you have to take risks.
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And one must carefully weigh the reason a coaching change “must” occur. And be realistic regarding expectations. Great Danes are not sired from Pekingese. How much “emphasis” ($$$) are you willing to invest in thus conversion? You may be all for it… but perhaps the University has different priorities?
Again, I use Wisconsin as an example that a step up isn’t as easy as folks think. 5 years ago, it was a perennial Top 15 program. It gad a lot of $$ and a long run if outstanding “talent” all it needed was the coach. Fickle looked good on paper. Obviously there are other things needed.
 
83Hawk

83Hawk

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joelbc1 said:
And one must carefully weigh the reason a coaching change “must” occur. And be realistic regarding expectations. Great Danes are not sired from Pekingese. How much “emphasis” ($$$) are you willing to invest in thus conversion? You may be all for it… but perhaps the University has different priorities?
Again, I use Wisconsin as an example that a step up isn’t as easy as folks think. 5 years ago, it was a perennial Top 15 program. It gad a lot of $$ and a long run if outstanding “talent” all it needed was the coach. Fickle looked good on paper. Obviously there are other things needed.
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Never said otherwise.
 
OnlyTheObscure

OnlyTheObscure

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only one former big ten west team is ranked.
The next Iowa coach will need to be a hell of a lot better than Kirk to even come close to his win average.

you added a couple heavy hitters and nil drives the bus now.
 
joelbc1

joelbc1

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Sep 5, 2007
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joelbc1 said:
And one must carefully weigh the reason a coaching change “
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somewhereiniowa said:
Could be, he would be a great hire for a school like Wisconsin, can you imagine how well he would do with their resources. The squaws are struggling with his teams now, put him in a situation like Wisconsin, may end up a lot like Sanderson leaving ISU for Penn State.
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You think Campbell is a better coach than Barry? Honestly?
Barry was winning conference titles after 5 years as a HC.
 
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Tsawvell55

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Jul 2, 2025
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For all the dumb asses that say be careful what you wish for. We just recently fired McCaffery and we got Ben. Thanks to a great AD that didn’t worry about that theory. Now those same morons are carping the same ****. 27 years is enough for this guy. Go outside of the family for the soon to be next coach. In Beth we trust. We beat Rutgers Wow!!
 
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2D

2D

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As usual, the Kirk worshippers argue in bad faith. I don't hate Kirk, in fact, I love the guy. The day he retires I'll probably cry. He's really the only coach I've ever known. However, as time has gone on, I believe the game is passing him by. He's a tremendous person, representative of the program, and leader of men, but I think he's only a decent football coach, at least compared to what he used to be. He can't build a team like how Cignetti has, not in this day and age of college football. Kirk isn't immortal, and eventually, another man will be the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes, whether you like it or not.
 
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