More Issues at Iowa ? "playing for Iowa football was a living nightmare" - Former Iowa RB Akrum Wadley

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A_Slab_of_Bacon

A_Slab_of_Bacon

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There's some nasty stuff in those stories... including one about Brian telling one Iowa player to hurt another Iowa player coming off an injury ...
 

For the longest time I've felt that if Hollywood were looking for an a-hole, douchebag, dickhead, frat boy jock to play a part in another Revenge of the Nerds movie, they wouldn't need to look further than Brian Ferentz.
 


Ferentz and his boy had a nice run at Iowa. Think it’s time to move on and hire a new coach. Maybe a black candidate?
 

It will be interesting down there in Iowa. All of this just prior to opening of campus football hopefully shortly.
 





MplsGopher said:
"Best" is subjective.
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That’s true.
But it doesn’t change the fact that if you hire a coach you feel is inferior to another that was an option based on their race would be by definition racism.
 



Some guy said:
That’s true.
But it doesn’t change the fact that if you hire a coach you feel is inferior to another that was an option based on their race would be by definition racism.
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Right, as was done when blacks were passed up for whites, for many, many years, in many professions.

In this case, hiring a black coach for the ability to better empathize with and respect black players, alone could make that candidate superior. It’s not a science, it’s an art.
 

He thrashed them.....
I would bet Kirk's days are numbered.
 


Wally said:
He thrashed them.....
I would bet Kirk's days are numbered.
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Yes he did, and rightfully so! I'm sure there are hundreds of other stories that players have yet to tell. I don't think that Iowa can try and patch this up anymore.
Something I wonder about is what are some of the experiences that black coaches have had at Iowa.
 



Just unbelievable how little effort the Ferentz’s purportedly put into feeling any kind of empathy for their black players.

Fleck seems to be the antithesis of this. Thankful for a coach who cares about people!
 

MplsGopher said:
Just unbelievable how little effort the Ferentz’s purportedly put into feeling any kind of empathy for their black players.

Fleck seems to be the antithesis of this. Thankful for a coach who cares about people!
Click to expand...

PJ seems more in touch with players and things.

He probably wouldn't throw down a total twitter ban like Iowa ... rather maybe teach folks about the consequences and etc.
 

MplsGopher said:
Right, as was done when blacks were passed up for whites, for many, many years, in many professions.

In this case, hiring a black coach for the ability to better empathize with and respect black players, alone could make that candidate superior. It’s not a science, it’s an art.
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For sure. Which is exactly why it isn’t as simple as hiring more black coaches.

for instance everyone always says you could help fix problems in public education by hiring more teachers of color. Problem being districts are bending over backwards trying to find quality candidates of color already.

so while it may be best to hire a coach or color. It isn’t a simple as just doing it. You have to find someone who is going to be good.

right now in the big ten there are 4 coaches of color:
Maryland has the guy who in my opinion is the worst college football head coach at the power 5 level in the country
Penn state has one of the best in the country
Michigan State has a guy that I would say it’s too soon to make any judgement on
Illinois has a guy with a great resume who is likely a great guy I just am not sure he (or anyone) can get it done consistently at Illinois.

If Iowa hires a guy like Franklin...great hire great decision to hire a guy of color. If Iowa hires a guy like Locksley I would say it’s a terrible hire.

I am very biased against Locksley punching out his assistant coach while going 6-40 as a head coach in his career to date
 

Some guy said:
For sure. Which is exactly why it isn’t as simple as hiring more black coaches.

for instance everyone always says you could help fix problems in public education by hiring more teachers of color. Problem being districts are bending over backwards trying to find quality candidates of color already.

so while it may be best to hire a coach or color. It isn’t a simple as just doing it. You have to find someone who is going to be good.

right now in the big ten there are 4 coaches of color:
Maryland has the guy who in my opinion is the worst college football head coach at the power 5 level in the country
Penn state has one of the best in the country
Michigan State has a guy that I would say it’s too soon to make any judgement on
Illinois has a guy with a great resume who is likely a great guy I just am not sure he (or anyone) can get it done consistently at Illinois.

If Iowa hires a guy like Franklin...great hire great decision to hire a guy of color. If Iowa hires a guy like Locksley I would say it’s a terrible hire.

I am very biased against Locksley punching out his assistant coach while going 6-40 as a head coach in his career to date
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Of course, being of color doesn’t guarantee success or even competence. But tough to know for sure if you don’t try it.
 

MplsGopher said:
Of course, being of color doesn’t guarantee success or even competence. But tough to know for sure if you don’t try it.
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I could’ve told Maryland not to try it and I’d have been right

To me the bigger problem isn’t race (although no doubt the problem of racism caused the problem that I think is the real problem)...the problem is the good old boys network.

Some people get opportunities and some don’t.
there are a lot of quality candidates of all races who never really get a shot. There are plenty of coaches that get second, third, and fourth chances who don’t really deserve it.

I see this problem as an even bigger problem in the nfl than college. Some guys get to fail as a head coach at 3-4 stops before they are no longer serious candidates.
How Locksley could spin 3-31 as Maryland interim and as New Mexico’s coach into a big Ten job I’ll never know. Meanwhile there are probably a bunch of guys who never even got a look who would be way better. Some of those guys are probably black and some are white.

How did he get that job? Locksley is plugged in. When he failed miserably at New Mexico he ends up at Alabama, where, surprise surprise, he had success as an assistant under Saban. He ends up at Alabama because he is in the good old boys network...like all the other coaches that go make 6 figures at Alabama after getting fired

meanwhile
 

As is almost always the case with negative stories, the local media here in Iowa are so terrified of losing access to Ferentz and the football program that they will pretend it doesn't exist. The story is on the front page of ESPN, but the Murph & Andy show at 2:00 on KXNO (the highest-rated local show in Des Moines), spent the entire first part of the show talking about a host's recent fishing trip to the Boundary Waters.

As an aside, however, Akrum Wadley is not the most sympathetic witness. He allegedly sold signed merchandise to fans recently and never actually sent some of the merch. Perhaps that casts doubt on his credibility, I don't know.
 

Urbandale said:
As is almost always the case with negative stories, the local media here in Iowa are so terrified of losing access to Ferentz and the football program that they will pretend it doesn't exist. The story is on the front page of ESPN, but the Murph & Andy show at 2:00 on KXNO (the highest-rated local show in Des Moines), spent the entire first part of the show talking about a host's recent fishing trip to the Boundary Waters.

As an aside, however, Akrum Wadley is not the most sympathetic witness. He allegedly sold signed merchandise to fans recently and never actually sent some of the merch. Perhaps that casts doubt on his credibility, I don't know.
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Thanks Urb for the on-the-scene reporting (and I mean that, thanks). Are you sensing any movement of fans away from IWOA and towards Iowa State? I've always had the outsider's prespective that Iowa State is viewed as a step down from IWOA, and I'm hoping that'll get reversed. What's good for Iowa State is bad for IWOA, and therefore good for us.
 

Some guy said:
Illinois has a guy with a great resume who is likely a great guy I just am not sure he (or anyone) can get it done consistently at Illinois.
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Why are they so bad and why is Lovie doing such a bad job? Is he just mailing it in at this point in his career? He has been coaching for 40 years...maybe he's done grinding away. His best year was 2019 going 6-7 with a loss to Cal in the coveted Redbox Bowl

I don't know much about him, but he just looks like the kind of guy you'd want to play for. I don't really have a problem with Illinois being horrible, but part of me is rooting for him.
 

KoolAid said:
Why are they so bad and why is Lovie doing such a bad job? Is he just mailing it in at this point in his career? He has been coaching for 40 years...maybe he's done grinding away. His best year was 2019 going 6-7 with a loss to Cal in the coveted Redbox Bowl

I don't know much about him, but he just looks like the kind of guy you'd want to play for. I don't really have a problem with Illinois being horrible, but part of me is rooting for him.
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I think the Lovie collapse started here:

sports.theonion.com

Lovie Smith Becomes First African-American Coach To Lose Super Bowl

MIAMI—As devastating as their 29-17 Super Bowl XLI loss to the Colts was for the proud Chicago Bears, it was worse for their coach: Lovie Smith will forever be remembered as the first African-American coach to lose a Super Bowl.
sports.theonion.com sports.theonion.com
 

Livingat45north said:
Thanks Urb for the on-the-scene reporting (and I mean that, thanks). Are you sensing any movement of fans away from IWOA and towards Iowa State? I've always had the outsider's prespective that Iowa State is viewed as a step down from IWOA, and I'm hoping that'll get reversed. What's good for Iowa State is bad for IWOA, and therefore good for us.
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I appreciate that, La45N.

Iowa owns the eastern part of the state. Nebraska owns a slice of real estate in the west along the Missouri River. The central part of the state, which includes Des Moines, has seen a slow but noticeable increase in Iowa State fans. It started from the pits, though, because ISU has had such a dismal sports history.

This increase in popularity really began during the successful Hoiberg basketball years. What's kept ISU from exploding any further is the football program, which has been one of the worst in the country for the past hundred years or so (its last league title was in 1912, just months after the Titanic sank, when it claimed the vaunted Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship).

ISU actually has a bigger enrollment now than UI. Things are changing. And Matt Campbell is a really solid coach who I think will be there for a long time.
 

This is yet another black eye on the Iowa program. This story just pisses me off even more that we lose to Iowa far too often. If even one more black player comes out with a story like this, both Ferentz coaches are fired, and it will happen sooner rather than later. Who despises Iowa?
 

Pete smith said:
Hire a black candidate only if he is the best candidate. Hiring someone to be the Head Coach only because he is black is racism.
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If they let Kirk Ferentz go, I’d expect Dino Babers, Syracuse head coach, to be a leading candidate.

I do think Kirk Ferentz is on the ropes and Brian Ferentz is in big trouble. If the season were cancelled, god forbid, he would be gone for sure.
 

Anyone know the buyout clause on the Ferentz's contracts? I'm thinking it's a pretty steep price tag.
 

I always liked Akrum Wadley. Very intelligent young man...
 

HoustonTXGopher said:
This is yet another black eye on the Iowa program. This story just pisses me off even more that we lose to Iowa far too often. If even one more black player comes out with a story like this, both Ferentz coaches are fired, and it will happen sooner rather than later. Who despises Iowa?
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Think about if a story came out about numerous black people saying that there boss has been treating them differently for years because of there race. That boss would have been gone within a few days.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that it shouldn't take anymore people to come out against Ferentz for him to be fired.
 

Ferentz’s buyout is enormous. I don’t feel like doing the math, but it’s probably in the neighborhood of $20 million. There’s a section in this article that explains it. They can’t afford to fire him.

www.hawkcentral.com

Explaining fine points of Iowa's $49.5M investment in Ferentz

Bigger numbers, an eight-win threshold and increased private-plane usage are among the new wrinkles.
www.hawkcentral.com
 

Urbandale said:
I appreciate that, La45N.

Iowa owns the eastern part of the state. Nebraska owns a slice of real estate in the west along the Missouri River. The central part of the state, which includes Des Moines, has seen a slow but noticeable increase in Iowa State fans. It started from the pits, though, because ISU has had such a dismal sports history.

This increase in popularity really began during the successful Hoiberg basketball years. What's kept ISU from exploding any further is the football program, which has been one of the worst in the country for the past hundred years or so (its last league title was in 1912, just months after the Titanic sank, when it claimed the vaunted Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship).

ISU actually has a bigger enrollment now than UI. Things are changing. And Matt Campbell is a really solid coach who I think will be there for a long time.
Click to expand...
I agree with everything here.
 

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