Mike Farrell: The Coach Debate: Kirk Ferentz vs. PJ Fleck (hard to deny that Fleck is the better coach at this moment in time)

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per Mike Farrell:

The Coach Debate: Kirk Ferentz vs. PJ Fleck​

— And we continue the ever-popular coaching debate, this time heading to the Big Ten West with Kirk Ferentz of Iowa vs. PJ Fleck of Minnesota.

The case for Ferentz:​

The dean of Big Ten coaches has been inordinately consistent during his tenure in Iowa City, with two losing seasons in the Hawkeyes' past 22. His defenses have also been consistently excellent, especially under coordinator Phil Parker, and the program continues to produce outstanding defenders and offensive linemen on a yearly basis.

The case against Ferentz:​

The last few seasons off the field have been pretty disastrous, between the Chris Doyle scandal and the creation and subsequent dissolution of a panel of Hawkeyes to look at issues of racism and abuse that keep creeping up around the program. But the biggest issue is the complete inadequacy of the offense under his own son. The nepotism is startling, and that side of the ball has been so bad that they have squandered some historically great defenses. As long as Brian Ferentz is coaching the offense, they won't be a true factor even in the Big Ten, especially as USC and UCLA join the conference in 2024.

The case for Fleck:​

The former Western Michigan coach has done an excellent job rebuilding a Minnesota program that had fallen on some serious hard times. He not only broke the Gophers' nearly two-decade-long losing streak to Wisconsin but has since taken the upper hand, winning three of the last four against their historic rivals. And while some may smirk at some of his gimmicks, they're clearly working as they continue to move up the recruiting rankings.

The case against Fleck:​

Accusations of Fleck being all sizzle and no steak are somewhat misguided but not entirely untrue either. Additionally, his teams have become more and more one-dimensional as they have struggled to find a passing game since the departure of Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman.

The verdict:​

The nepotism of Ferentz is what will ultimately bring him down, as the cries for his job get louder and louder with every three and out. So despite his antics, it's hard to deny that Fleck is the better coach at this moment in time, despite Ferentz's long track record of success.

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Go Gophers!!
 

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This is really poorly written. Very much a high-level analysis. Could have been done by a 7th grader.

When P.J. beats Iowa this year, then we'll talk! At that time, we'll be able to be arguing from a position of strength.
 


hahahahahaha, not even close. Better recruiter, game coach and we cannot beat his teams even when it appears we are better on paper.
 


Does this Farrell guy know what the Ferentz teams have done to Gophers the last 8 years—how about over the last 12-13 years. All that counts is wins/losses and by that metric Ferentz is light years better than Fleck
 


I'd rather have Fleck, but I cant rank him above when hes never beaten him, sorry.
 

Writing this article and not mentioning that the Gophers are 0-6 against Iowa during Fleck's tenure is journalistic malpractice.

ChatGPT, is that you?
 



Ferentz won a share of a B1G title twice before the divisional format, and won the division and played in the B1G title game twice after. I want to give Fleck the nod (because I don't like Ferentz), but he's got to hang some banners first.
 

Capt Kirk and it's not really close. Compare their BIG records since PJ came on the scene. PJ 26-26 at 50% and Ferentz 33-23 at 59%. Plus Ferentz has owned PJ 100%.
 

6 of our 8 straight losses to Iowa have been one score games. The Minnesota offense outgained Iowa by over 100 yards in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Iowa went to the 2021 Big Ten Championship game by beating a cross-division schedule that contained 3 of the 4 worst teams in the Big Ten East, and needing Minnesota to beat the Purdue and Wisconsin teams that they lost to. They were down double digits to Penn State until Sean Clifford got injured.

Ferentz has won 28 games over the last 3 full seasons. Fleck has won 29. Just a matter of time until Fleck gets the monkey off his back.
 

Cayman said:
6 of our 8 straight losses to Iowa have been one score games. The Minnesota offense outgained Iowa by over 100 yards in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Iowa went to the 2021 Big Ten Championship game by beating a cross-division schedule that contained 3 of the 4 worst teams in the Big Ten East, and needing Minnesota to beat the Purdue and Wisconsin teams that they lost to. They were down double digits to Penn State until Sean Clifford got injured.

Ferentz has won 28 games over the last 3 full seasons. Fleck has won 29. Just a matter of time until Fleck gets the monkey off his back.
Click to expand...
Seriously. Wins are wins and losses are losses. Fleck is winless against him. I’d rather have fleck but to rank him above is crazy IMO
 







Cayman said:
6 of our 8 straight losses to Iowa have been one score games. The Minnesota offense outgained Iowa by over 100 yards in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Iowa went to the 2021 Big Ten Championship game by beating a cross-division schedule that contained 3 of the 4 worst teams in the Big Ten East, and needing Minnesota to beat the Purdue and Wisconsin teams that they lost to. They were down double digits to Penn State until Sean Clifford got injured.

Ferentz has won 28 games over the last 3 full seasons. Fleck has won 29. Just a matter of time until Fleck gets the monkey off his back.
Click to expand...
If they gave points for impressive statistical performances in close losses, then Scott Frost would still be coaching at Nebraska and probably have won at least one B1G Coach of the Year.
 

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