I’m curious where most people are on this spectrum. Feel free to share why you voted as you did if you want.
Conducting Research
- Thread starter UndercoverHawk
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I voted for the last one. I do not think or want KF to be fired. And I fully realize that when he leaves it could get worse. I am just ready for a change. Two coaches for Iowa FB in most of my lifetime, and I'm just ready to see what someone else can do.
Teams need to be competitive. Teams need to generate enthusiasm from fans. Coaches need to reflect the university well.
Kirk is doing all three. Fran was not.
That said, I join others is wishing the football team had won more games this year, and that we can beat a ranked opponent at some point.
Also, you never want a coach coaching to the end of his contract. By the time there’s 2 or 3 years left, you either extend or cut bait. That’s where we were with Fran. We will be there in a couple years with Kirk (he’s under contract through 2029, I believe.)
Kirk is doing all three. Fran was not.
That said, I join others is wishing the football team had won more games this year, and that we can beat a ranked opponent at some point.
Also, you never want a coach coaching to the end of his contract. By the time there’s 2 or 3 years left, you either extend or cut bait. That’s where we were with Fran. We will be there in a couple years with Kirk (he’s under contract through 2029, I believe.)
I find this pretty interesting. Everybody except 1 person thinks Fran was rightfully let go, but more than half think Kirk should stay. They are more similar than most might think. They both had/have slightly better than average programs and can’t win the big games. Both were around .600 win% at Iowa. Kirk has 2 conference championships (both ties and last one was 2004), Fran had 1 BTT title. Both had nepotism issues which affected both the product and added to the fatigue. Both caused the program to become stale (imo). Fran actually had more individual success with NPOY. Why are people so close minded to change on the football side when they were so open to it on the basketball side? It’s undeniable the product on the court is much more entertaining to watch this year.
I, like others, think Kirk needs to retire but not fired. I just think it is time for a change, it is time for new blood although a new head coach would be stupid to get rid of Phil Parker if Phil still wants to coach. And if other coaches wanted to stay they are very good also.
But it seems a new type of coach could pull in better QBs and WRs to make the offense 100% better and gaining 350-450 yards per game and scoring 28 points against tough teams. This is the weak part of this team that needs to be fixed. The hawks are scoring more last year and this year but it is still like pulling teeth to watch this passing game many times
But it seems a new type of coach could pull in better QBs and WRs to make the offense 100% better and gaining 350-450 yards per game and scoring 28 points against tough teams. This is the weak part of this team that needs to be fixed. The hawks are scoring more last year and this year but it is still like pulling teeth to watch this passing game many times
Fran alienated some fans with his fire sideline antics.
KF is iowa- nice.
Football at Iowa is a day- long tradition for many fans. KF has ensured that most of those Saturdays end happy. I suspect his winning percentage in kinnick is very good .That matters
KF dominating traditional rivals does not hurt either.
Fran struggled to beat ISU and illini.
KF is iowa- nice.
Football at Iowa is a day- long tradition for many fans. KF has ensured that most of those Saturdays end happy. I suspect his winning percentage in kinnick is very good .That matters
KF dominating traditional rivals does not hurt either.
Fran struggled to beat ISU and illini.
Several reasons:
1. Fran was an ***. Kirk is not.
2. Football drives the entire athletic dept. Failure in football means failure for the entire dept. Therefore, you can afford to take more chances in basketball coaching decisions. You get football wrong and it can decimate the entire dept.
3. The football program, while not reaching the high highs, has managed to win at a consistent level of success the last 10 years matched only by 7 or 8 other schools. Basketball had become a model of wild inconsistency.
4. You can’t go multiple consecutive years missing the NCAA tourney in basketball and expect to keep your job.
You're right. It is interesting and they have some similarities.
It's probably as simple as -
1. Fran was not as well-liked as KF
2. Kinnick is usually sold out. Carver almost never was.
I think #2 is a little unfair. Football as a whole is more popular in Iowa and the US. Also it being a Saturday, usually nice weather, and is a whole day experience helps. Nobody wants to go to a Tuesday night game in a blizzard in Dec-Feb especially when the product wasn’t very good. If Iowa football was playing on a Tuesday or Thursday night like some lesser conference teams do the attendance wouldn’t be as good.
Kinnick gets sold out because it's a party for everyone more than supporting the coaches. If it was during the winter the stadium would not be sold out any longer with the current coach.
These are absolutely fair points.
Maybe I should have said that football is still very, very popular, while basketball was getting less and less popular every year.