It is never easy to take over for a legend, let alone two, but that is what Tom Brands had to do.
After winning a mind-blowing 15 NCAA Division I Championships and 21 Big Ten Championships, compiling an overall record of 355-21-5 from 1976 to 1997, Dan Gable retired as head coach at the University of Iowa.
Iowa native Jim Zalesky was hired to succeed him, and also had a tremendous amount of success.
From 1997 to 2006, Zalesky notched three NCAA Division I championships and two runner-up finishes, but was shockingly fired after the 2006 season.
Tom Brands returned to the program as head coach, and his career has been nothing short of legendary, but the program is in the midst of one of its worst seasons.
Iowa has not lost five-plus duals since Brands first season as head coach
Iowa's historic meltdown this season began with an upsetting 20-14 loss to Iowa State, snapping the Hawkeyes' 20-game streak in the rivalry.
It has been all downhill from there, with Iowa uncharacteristically racking up multiple dual losses.
After getting embarrassed 32-11 by No. 3 Oklahoma State in Stillwater over the weekend, the Hawkeyes have now lost six duals, something that has rarely happened in the program's storied history.
The Hawkeyes now sit at 12-6 heading into the Big Ten Championships, and the program has not lost five-plus duals since Brands' first season in 2006.
In 2006, the Hawkeyes finished with a 14-5 overall record, finishing third in the Big Ten and eighth nationally.
The Hawkeyes are in an epic tailspin, leaving multiple questions surrounding the future of Brands as head coach and the program overall.
Brands signed a massive contract extension in 2022 that keeps him in Iowa City through 2029, but there is rampant speculation that he will not see the end of that extension.