Everyone think Taylor is some god of a coach, but notice he kicked Williams *** to the curb immediately. He didn’t want the challenge of getting this kid to wrestle to his abilities. Everyone bitches about AJ Ferrari being a nightmare for a team, but I bet he would thrive under TnT much better than Williams did.
NEWS: Jordan Williams to enter transfer portal after one season at Iowa
- Thread starter Tanner Lafever
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Truth hurts sometimes, he was given the opportunity to show he was the guy. D1 wrestling is not a part time gig. Best of luck to JW, I enjoyed watching what he was capable of.
That was coachspeak for he was banged up and COULD have wrestled, but did NOT want to...hence, less fight....
I didn’t say anything regarding where Williams was likely to finish had he been given the postseason nod at 157.
I simply mentioned a few of the statistical nuggets from his lone season as a Hawkeye.
He wrestled most of the toughest matches at the weight for Iowa this season - several of them narrow decisions against the top guys in the country.
Would I have predicted him to reach the podium at NCAAs? No.
And to the obvious viewer - he quit at the end of at least two of them. Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. It is amazing that fans think they know more about what is going on than the coaches, who I can promise at the D-1 level know what their athlete is doing 90% of the time. On and off the mat.
He was supposed to go against the top guys. That was why he was brought in. He failed and now he's off to somewhere else.
You can look at it anyway you want.
I said after Williams had a huge lack of effort and mental focus giving up the major to Zeban, that I hoped we never saw him in a Hawkeye singlet again.
I should have said you implied/reasoned and I was not targeting you specifically one way or the other. I was simply putting it all together and from that IMO, it was not worth a few points at the tournament to reward someone who did not live up to the expected standards.
BK lost just as many tough close matches and he caught the same amount of crap. I just don't think anyone ever had reason to believe he ever quit at the end of any of them. I think that is the primary reason there isn't a lot of "oh my God the sky is falling" with JW leaving.
Oh I know what Tom said. I'm referring to those who defended the decision repeatedly by claiming the only reason VV got the nod is bc JW was too injured to go.
This has to be Tom being politically correct and not telling the real story…and I applaud that. We all know it was not even close to being “very close.”
That was also said by the same guy who said Yianni was coming to Iowa, so maybe not 100% factual.
Williams getting all the tough outs and VV getting the cupcakes what crappy. Didn't send a good message to JW. At any rate not giving him the post season nod is a clear message, it was recieved. Not really a big deal. There better be some portal options better than VV.
Last time AJ was around the Iowa program he was doing the splits while flipping everyone off for the nation to see lol. Now with that said I don’t know if TnT could get him through a season or not without another circus; maybe.
The person I was talking to, along with the other self proclaimed "insider" who shall not be named so his feelings don't get hurt
I would think he’d feel worse about it if they weren’t giving him the nod in the big matches. The message was we want u to be our guy. And the optics from him more than once was flat out quitting.
I've lost confidence in Brands and no longer give him the benefit of the doubt. I think it was a bone-headed decision not to put the best guy out there when you need every point you can get. JW had a high ceiling and a low floor, while VV had a low ceiling and low floor. To claim VV had the potential to score more points than the guy who took Antrell Taylor to SV, you gotta be smoking some good weed. Tom went with the guy who said "Yes, sir." Zero points at B1G, 0 points at NCAAs.
Hey, maybe not even Gable could've made JW into an AA. But he took a guy who gave up on making weight for Big Tens, found him at HyVee with a bag of donuts, and turned him into a 3X NCAA champ. Can TB do that? Or would Barry Davis have sat on the bench and hit the transfer portal the next year under Brands?
JW is not the hill I'm gonna die on. Just skeptical that it was anything more than 2 bulldogs facing off. Big dog stays, little dog goes.
He’s moving to his 4th school. Had off the mat issues before and at Iowa. Then appeared to quit in several matches this season. I don’t think JW is the one that should get the benefit of the doubt in this situation. Maybe sending a message that you have to compete to a certain standard is a good thing.
And I think JW is the only one that can turn him into an AA.
I don’t believe vhs ever said Yianni was coming to Iowa. He said they have a guy lineup up that checks all the boxes and everyone assumed it was Yianni because that is what Willie said the rumors were (which he also said didn’t have legs). Seems like a wrestling game of telephone. Might be wrong though.
Whose choice was it to bring him to Iowa? Who put him on the mat? Why was JW the best option to begin with?
All reasonable points. This may well be entirely on JW.
Likewise, the Endene situation may be entirely on Endene, and the Bassett situation entirely on the Bassetts. If it were 2009 I wouldn't question any of it. Now my mind immediately goes to, "Okay, what did Tom do this time?" Not entirely fair, but not entirely unearned.
Who’s questioning this. He was a kid in the portal at a need weight. Extremely talented fringe AA. They did their diligence to get him to school. If he doesn’t meet expectations there’s no requirement to put him on the mat.
I agree with this. JW was very athletic and the potential was there. Bring him in, kick the tires, and move on if they end up flat. He got a chance, couldn't make the best of it for whatever reason, so both parties moved on. Good luck at his next landing spot. Some transfers work, some don't. It is really that simple imo.
Thus the weight contributes 0 points at BIG and NCAAs and the team finishes a distant 4th. You yourself noted JW was a high risk option. Deep down everyone knew it was an extremely poor fit. Yet it was the best option they could come up with.
I don’t think anybody disputes the team results hang on the staff. HS recruiting needs to be better. They’re playing defense recruiting the portal every year. I don’t like it but it is what it is. They still filled the holes last year with virtually the best gets they could. I don’t see another multi year option at 157 last year that gets points either. If he wasn’t following expectations points or not he shouldn’t b in the lineup. Maybe the consequence improves him for the long run.
And his team points still likely don't get us to 3rd.
JW is a troubled kid. He could've and perhaps should've been like DeSanto coming in. Taken his lumps, but put his head down and go to f*cking work. He didn't. At all.
TNT have many faults and perhaps one of them is never spilling the beans about one of their wrestlers, past or present. Even when things don't work out they still protect the student athlete: Bo, Edene, and now JW.
All we'll ever hear is one side of the story and unfortunately that is the only side you'll ever believe.
Everyone knew the risk, but their was upside, if........
The upside didn't happen and both Iowa and JW move on. Dwelling on it is pointless. Learning from it does not take long.
Between him and Teemer contributing 0 points at nationals and not much at big meets, I think we are cursed at that weight in the portal. Maybe just move Block up there next year.
I don't disagree with much of this aside from the last part. I don't choose to believe whatever brings negative light on this staff nor just the jilted athlete's side. But the fact is the program needs to quit finding itself in these situations where we're relying on transfers to be competitive. These guys should be filling a spot or two, not 50% of the roster like this year. It's simply not a long term winning formula and a staff that's been in place for almost 20 years should know this.