I don’t see it differently - if you’re gonna do some nepotism, it better work! Jay is Michigan’s special teams coordinator, a couple rungs down from an OC role, so the risk isn’t as great as the Ferentz situation. But if/when the time comes for Jay to graduate to an OC role it would be best for all involved if he did it somewhere other than Michigan.
I thought it was odd at the end of the game against Western Michigan, when Iowa punched in a final TD with 0:30 remaining in the 4th quarter. They went down the field aggressively, throwing a handful of times in the last minute or so, when they were already up 34-10. At the time, I couldn't reconcile Kirk Ferentz and the apparent lack of sportsmanship to run up a score on a visiting G5 school. Now I get it. This is yet another downside of this situation: what degradation of values does the need for Iowa to score 325 create? I was with the visiting team, and the Iowa fans and overall experience was terrific - but that rush to tack on an extra 7 left a bad taste.
Yeah the 25 point rule certainly has some unintended consequences, and you pointed out a disturbing one. But my favorite unintended consequence is that lots of people are talking about the unintended consequences on a weekly basis.
I'm gonna hijack this a little and make it about me b/c that's what the internet is for.
I recently wrestled with a similar issue w/ Auburn Equestrian's head coaching change, and it gave me some perspective on this sort of thing.
For the few of you who DON'T keep up w/ major college equestrian, Auburn's longtime HC retired and his top assistant was made the new HC. After the new HC was named, a grad student rider was named to the vacant major assistant coach position. Also, the previous year, the other major assistant retired and Auburn hired a grad student rider to replace that position. So in the last 16 months, Auburn EQ's entire top coaching staff has changed, with all of them being essentially internal hires.
What are the odds the three best equestrian coaches were right here all along?
In my podcast (yes, I have a college equestrian podcast) I explained that Auburn EQ was basically operating w/ a family business mindset, and I went through the optimistic and pessimistic views of these hires. I think you can all imagine the pessimistic view, so let me summarize the optimistic one: Auburn EQ did this because the program values everyone being on the same page higher than it values bringing in outside talent that might be technically better at this or that aspect of coaching. Pretty much all equestrian outside college is an individual sport where when you win, everyone else must lose. In college EQ, you only ever win or lose with your team. Most riders who ride in college specifically choose to do so b/c they want to be part of that team culture; not an individual. And in that team culture, everyone being on the same page is critical to success.
Family businesses are tailor made for this type of culture. Family businesses promote from within and are willing to eschew talented outsiders with their new-fangled ideas, because they really, really want everyone on the same page. So that's why Auburn EQ hired they way they did, and I expect that's probably why Iowa has done something similar.
Will it work? In college equestrian, it might. In college football, it might not. We'll just have to wait and see.
It may shock you to learn that I was not aware of Auburn EQ’s recent hiring moves, so thanks for sharing. For sure there is value in hiring from within, for all the reasons you outlined,especially culture, alignment, loyalty, etc. A healthy mix of inside and outside candidates probably is a good formula most places. However, I think that hiring offspring is a step too far – far too “internal” - unless it works, then nobody cares!
I would say that it doesn’t matter because they’re winning but I personally think, even as a Hawkeye hater, he’s been the only thing preventing them from multiple conference titles/playoff appearances in the past decade.
Enjoyable read, but wide left on laying it in Brian’s lap. When Kirk hired Brian away from the Patriots to be the OL coach, there was zero backlash. The anti-nepotism army (not all of Hawkeye Nation, btw) didn’t get fired up til 2021 when injuries and attrition depleted the offensive line. Unless or until that rebuild is successful, Iowa’s offense wont be so long as Kirk’s the coach.
Good perspective, thanks. I agree that the nepotism issue didn’t become a thing until the offense hit hard times - but isn’t that how it always works? As I mentioned in the column, it only gets awkward when things go bad and people start asking questions. If you’re going to hire your kid, it better work out - and you’re almost always better off avoiding that situation in the first place.
And fair or not, the OC is going to be judged on the numbers in general and will be accountable for the offensive line’s failures in particular, no matter the reason, just like he’ll get the credit if a QB is unexpectedly excellent. I didn’t address it in the column because I wanted to be fair, but I wonder if the allegations of player mistreatment (which Brian apologized for btw) had any impact on recruiting or attrition.
Fair, and KF has certainly spent his good-guy chips in support of this. I don’t think anything Brian did represents player mistreatment, unless insensitive comments now rise to that level. Did the Doyle situation hurt recruiting? Probably, but I don’t think it’s the driving factor. The offensive performance may be. They certainly need to get it fixed quickly.
Yeah I don’t really have an opinion about the allegations against Brian, but the Doyle thing had to have some kind of an impact (it’s prob in the rear view mirror now though). But yep, scoring a lot of points would solve all this.
Great article Faux. Here is another tracker created by the Sicko's Committee on Reddit that uses a meme from "The Price Is Right". I hope you enjoy it. There are versions of this for every Iowa game this season. https://www.tiktok.com/@sports_coolstuff/video/7279786852301720874?lang=en
Oh God
As usual, you are 100% correct (including the neighborhood girlfriend analogy). Do you see the Jim and Jay Harbaugh situation any differently?
Jay Harbaugh isn't failing in any aspect of the word, so why would they be the same situation? He's been doing very well as an assistant coach.
Agreed - as long as he is successful, nobody will ask questions…
I don’t see it differently - if you’re gonna do some nepotism, it better work! Jay is Michigan’s special teams coordinator, a couple rungs down from an OC role, so the risk isn’t as great as the Ferentz situation. But if/when the time comes for Jay to graduate to an OC role it would be best for all involved if he did it somewhere other than Michigan.
I thought it was odd at the end of the game against Western Michigan, when Iowa punched in a final TD with 0:30 remaining in the 4th quarter. They went down the field aggressively, throwing a handful of times in the last minute or so, when they were already up 34-10. At the time, I couldn't reconcile Kirk Ferentz and the apparent lack of sportsmanship to run up a score on a visiting G5 school. Now I get it. This is yet another downside of this situation: what degradation of values does the need for Iowa to score 325 create? I was with the visiting team, and the Iowa fans and overall experience was terrific - but that rush to tack on an extra 7 left a bad taste.
Yeah the 25 point rule certainly has some unintended consequences, and you pointed out a disturbing one. But my favorite unintended consequence is that lots of people are talking about the unintended consequences on a weekly basis.
I'm gonna hijack this a little and make it about me b/c that's what the internet is for.
I recently wrestled with a similar issue w/ Auburn Equestrian's head coaching change, and it gave me some perspective on this sort of thing.
For the few of you who DON'T keep up w/ major college equestrian, Auburn's longtime HC retired and his top assistant was made the new HC. After the new HC was named, a grad student rider was named to the vacant major assistant coach position. Also, the previous year, the other major assistant retired and Auburn hired a grad student rider to replace that position. So in the last 16 months, Auburn EQ's entire top coaching staff has changed, with all of them being essentially internal hires.
What are the odds the three best equestrian coaches were right here all along?
In my podcast (yes, I have a college equestrian podcast) I explained that Auburn EQ was basically operating w/ a family business mindset, and I went through the optimistic and pessimistic views of these hires. I think you can all imagine the pessimistic view, so let me summarize the optimistic one: Auburn EQ did this because the program values everyone being on the same page higher than it values bringing in outside talent that might be technically better at this or that aspect of coaching. Pretty much all equestrian outside college is an individual sport where when you win, everyone else must lose. In college EQ, you only ever win or lose with your team. Most riders who ride in college specifically choose to do so b/c they want to be part of that team culture; not an individual. And in that team culture, everyone being on the same page is critical to success.
Family businesses are tailor made for this type of culture. Family businesses promote from within and are willing to eschew talented outsiders with their new-fangled ideas, because they really, really want everyone on the same page. So that's why Auburn EQ hired they way they did, and I expect that's probably why Iowa has done something similar.
Will it work? In college equestrian, it might. In college football, it might not. We'll just have to wait and see.
It may shock you to learn that I was not aware of Auburn EQ’s recent hiring moves, so thanks for sharing. For sure there is value in hiring from within, for all the reasons you outlined,especially culture, alignment, loyalty, etc. A healthy mix of inside and outside candidates probably is a good formula most places. However, I think that hiring offspring is a step too far – far too “internal” - unless it works, then nobody cares!
I would say that it doesn’t matter because they’re winning but I personally think, even as a Hawkeye hater, he’s been the only thing preventing them from multiple conference titles/playoff appearances in the past decade.
They are certainly wasting some elite defenses.
Enjoyable read, but wide left on laying it in Brian’s lap. When Kirk hired Brian away from the Patriots to be the OL coach, there was zero backlash. The anti-nepotism army (not all of Hawkeye Nation, btw) didn’t get fired up til 2021 when injuries and attrition depleted the offensive line. Unless or until that rebuild is successful, Iowa’s offense wont be so long as Kirk’s the coach.
Good perspective, thanks. I agree that the nepotism issue didn’t become a thing until the offense hit hard times - but isn’t that how it always works? As I mentioned in the column, it only gets awkward when things go bad and people start asking questions. If you’re going to hire your kid, it better work out - and you’re almost always better off avoiding that situation in the first place.
And fair or not, the OC is going to be judged on the numbers in general and will be accountable for the offensive line’s failures in particular, no matter the reason, just like he’ll get the credit if a QB is unexpectedly excellent. I didn’t address it in the column because I wanted to be fair, but I wonder if the allegations of player mistreatment (which Brian apologized for btw) had any impact on recruiting or attrition.
Fair, and KF has certainly spent his good-guy chips in support of this. I don’t think anything Brian did represents player mistreatment, unless insensitive comments now rise to that level. Did the Doyle situation hurt recruiting? Probably, but I don’t think it’s the driving factor. The offensive performance may be. They certainly need to get it fixed quickly.
Yeah I don’t really have an opinion about the allegations against Brian, but the Doyle thing had to have some kind of an impact (it’s prob in the rear view mirror now though). But yep, scoring a lot of points would solve all this.