Iowa Football: Hawkeyes Offense Is Mostly Offensive

On Saturday I watched what was the most disappointing game in my life as a Hawkeye fan. I felt helpless, and that’s how the Iowa offense looked, helpless.

I’ve been an Iowa fan for a long time. I went to my first game with my dad in 1997, had season tickets for the better part of the early 00s, and haven’t missed watching a single game since. What I saw on Saturday could only be described as pathetic.

Just a week prior we saw Iowa dismantle Ohio State. The offense played with reckless abandon, they used the pass to set up the run, hell, at one point they came out in a 5-wide shotgun set from their own 10 on first and 10. This week it all came back to reality and the Hawkeyes not just stumbled, but seemingly fell off a cliff against Wisconsin.

I’m not going to dwell on that game though. No, I’m instead going to focus my attention on why Iowa can’t seemingly compete every single year for a Big Ten West title. Why nearly every year we drop games we should win, and seemingly always end up 7-5, or 8-4, and on exceptionally good years 9-3 with the occasional 10+ win season sprinkled in.

For me, the issue lies with coaching, and more specifically the man at the helm. Yes, Kirk Ferentz is a great guy. I worked for the program at one point during college and he was just as genuine as his public persona suggests that he is. Yes, he has done a lot for the Iowa City community. What I’m saying is, it’s ok to love Kirk Ferentz the man, and be disappointed with Kirk Ferentz the coach

In the past 19 seasons we have had three offensive coordinators. Here is where Iowa has ranked statistically each of those seasons in offense (from NCAA.org)

2017: 116 (Brian Ferentz first year)

2016: 121

2015: 72

2014: 63

2013: 84

2012: 114 (Greg Davis first year)

2011: 76

2010: 57

2009: 89

2008: 53

2007: 109

2006: 58

2005: 36

2004: 101

2003: 92

2002: 13

2001: 45

2000: 102

1999: 97

As you can see, there are some outliers. Some of those outliers were seasons where Iowa didn’t finish well, 2006 is a prime example of this. However, despite three different offensive coordinators over this time period the results haven’t fluctuated all that much.

In 2012 when Iowa fans finally seemed to have run Ken O’Keefe out of town Greg Davis was brought in to run the offense. What we saw was a bit of an uptick from the mean in terms of offensive ranking but still there were issues.

Of course, we can talk about the lack of skill that we’ve seen at positions like wide receiver, and that’s certainly a viable excuse. However the one constant we can point to over the course of the last 19 years is the head coach.

Before I continue I want to make one thing absolutely clear. My criticism of Kirk has nothing to do with the amount of money he is paid each year. I would be angry, frustrated, and just as critical if he was making $500K per year, this has nothing to do with what he makes.

For years Iowa has run the zone stretch play to the short side of the field. For years the mantra has been “we do what we do.” Time and time again it comes down to “execution,” and “cleaning things up.” It’s frustrating, and at times it’s infuriating. How many years have we seen an all-conference defense squandered by a below average offense? Far, far too many.

One recent post that piqued my interest was the piece from Chad Leistikow at HawkCentral where he breaks down the fact that Iowa has been running the same offense since 2009.

That is mind blowing, yet at the same time it’s not that shocking. There are times where Iowa’s offense is on the field and I will say to whoever I’m watching with “here’s what’s coming” and frequently that’s the case. This is not to say that I’m some sort of football guru, it’s just that I’ve seen the same things for 19 years, and have no reason to expect it to change.

To put this in even more perspective here’s a quote from Kirk’s Tuesday presser:

"I think as a team we certainly showed really good potential in all three phases a couple weeks ago in Kinnick, and then it wasn’t quite the same this past Saturday, up in a tough environment against a really good football team that was playing at a high level, and we certainly came up short. The big thing we need to do is get over the tape, look through that, see what adjustments we can make, what kind of improvement we can make this week, and then push forward, and that’s really like every week. It’s a 12-week season, and that’s the routine week in and week out. What’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? Yeah, that’s pretty much life as an Iowa fan. Knowing what you’re going to get every single year, and nearly every single game."

I will still support the team, and the athletic program. I will still be glued to the TV every time Iowa plays on Saturdays. I’ll cheer for the wins, and get upset during the losses, but I think I have finally accepted that I just need to temper my expectations.

Iowa is a “developmental program” after all (whatever the hell that means), and we should celebrate that we are nationally relevant every three years or so. Because frankly, it’s not going to change anytime soon. Kirk will coach in Iowa City until he decides he’s done and that will be that. 7-5 forever.