2020 Iowa Offseason Thread

[Hawkinole]

I studied up on Coy Cronk today. If he makes a good recovery from his injury I think this will be quite an acquisition.  He will only have a few months in the Iowa strength and conditioning program. Every indication is that Cronk was a beloved teammate, and well-liked by Coach Allen. 

I'd like to know what the thought process is that led him to leave Indiana. I am a bit cynical about this relating to finding the best school to pursue graduate studies. I am guessing they think this is a better path to the NFL, but I didn't see that discussed in any articles either.

His dad is making all the announcements about his son entering the transfer portal, and then later when he is accepted at Iowa. 

[FearlessF]

perhaps his father wasn't well liked by Coach Allen

[iahawk15]

I'd like to know what the thought process is that led him to leave Indiana. I am a bit cynical about this relating to finding the best school to pursue graduate studies. I am guessing they think this is a better path to the NFL, but I didn't see that discussed in any articles either.

There's a lot of message board chatter out there and a grain of salt should be applied where needed, but it's pretty well established he left Indiana because they asked him to move to G after starting 40 games at LT.

For that reason, I was a bit shocked to see him land at Iowa because I know the staff wouldn't promise him the starting RT spot, and I don't think they'd promise trying him exclusively at T.

He's an NFL talent right now, without further development from Iowa. However, he does have an opportunity to raise his draft stock. His NFL future is at G. Seemingly everyone knows that except Coy? Maybe he knows it, too.

Next year's OL is yet to be known, but I'm not entirely sure Cronk's addition changes the fact that everything hinges on Kallenberger. He's still projected at LT in 2021, IMO, and if he can handle RT this year the staff needs to give him those reps. That would move Cronk to LG. If Cronk is far and away better at RT than Kallenberger, leave him at LG.

So we're looking at:

LT - Jackson
LG - Cronk
C - Linderbaum
RG - Schott / Banwart
RT - Kallenberger

or

LT - Jackson
LG - Kallenberger
C - Linderbaum
RG - Schott / Banwart
RT - Cronk

[Hawkinole]

A review of the Holiday Bowl from the standpoint of USC by someone whose appearance reflects even more experience than my own. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iwA5c-YSmg

[Mdot21]

what in the hell is going on at Iowa right now? Lots of former black players coming out against Ferentz and the program.

https://www.goiowaawesome.com/iowa-hawkeyes-football/2020/06/4820/former-players-speak-about-the-culture-of-iowa-football-program-and-the-treatment-of-black-players

https://saturdaytradition.com/iowa-football/former-hawkeyes-speak-on-racial-disparities-in-iowa-football-program/

[Mdot21]

Chris Doyle placed on administrative leave. Iowa football players now allowed to use twitter. Ferentz trying to save face.


https://twitter.com/IowaAwesome/status/1269481550137221121?s=20

[MaximumSam]

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/hawkeyes/iowa-football/former-players-have-spoken-and-hawkeye-football-has-been-rocked-20200606

"Over the last 10 years, about three-fourths of Iowa’s team captains have been white while only about half the starters were. About half of the Hawkeyes’ NFL draftees in that time have been African Americans. Were more of them worthy of captainship, I wondered, but never asked. It would have been uncomfortable.
For the last eight years, Iowa has put the name of a former Hawkeye on its ANF Wall of Honor in Kinnick Stadium. Each honoree has been white. Obviously, one of Iowa’s recruiting areas is Midwestern farm kids, and they’re white.
But couldn’t there be something for balance, something to celebrate African Americans from the program who have gone out and made the world a little better? There is no shortage of great candidates. I’ve never asked anyone at Iowa, and have had the platform to do so."


Interesting column

[HawkFrenzy]

But couldn’t there be something for balance, something to celebrate African Americans from the program who have gone out and made the world a little better? There is no shortage of great candidates. I’ve never asked anyone at Iowa, and have had the platform to do so."


Interesting column

Rob Howe with Hawkeyenation.com is a very respected journalist for Hawkeye sports. He has a very interesting take in his article Howe: Iowa Football Must Address Former Players Speaking Out that may answer your question and it has a lot to do with attrition.

As a journalist covering the program for the last 23 years, I should have done more. I could have asked why Iowa brought in 49 black players on scholarship in the four recruiting classes from 2015-2018 and 19 of them transferred, but only four of 40 white players left for reasons other than academics, discipline or injury. The numbers here did not include original walk-ons.

In the ’15 class, Iowa brought in nine back athletes. All but James Daniels and Michael Ojemudia left. Of the 12 white players in the recruiting cycle, none left for reasons other than injury, academics or personal reasons before graduating.

Maybe there’s reason for these lopsided statistics. I will ask the next time I’m given the opportunity.

Now, there may be a lot of other factors involved in the transfers of the black athletes that is not about race but the disparity should be noted. Most Iowa, as well as non-Iowa, fans were like him and didn't notice. The overall opinion is KF runs a respectful program. Still, with James Daniels starting the trend, I would be shocked if Iowa is the only program with this problem and I bet more across the nation will bring attention about other programs.

If you look through the tweets you will see many are not calling for anyone to be fired, especially those who credit Chris Doyle for preparing them for the NFL. Most are actually saying KF is not the problem and one tweet from Kevin Ward mentioned that KF noticed an issue with the attrition rates and has been working to fix it. What that means and what he actually knows is not known as of now but I am sure it will come out.

I do think the plan he is putting together is in the right direction. Having a diverse committee of current and former players is a good start. I am not sure what they can solve but even if they bring awareness, it will help. I do think KF is someone who would be respectful to the committee and their conversations. I believe he would do what he can to fix the issue.

[Benthere2]

with all this going on (and I will admit I am not close to the Iowa program) does this affect Kirk and his position?

Does he hang it up instead of fighting through?  How long does Kirk plan on coaching?  Is he another JoePa?  where he wants to stay until the bitter end?

[iahawk15]

what in the hell is going on at Iowa right now? Lots of former black players coming out against Ferentz and the program.

https://www.goiowaawesome.com/iowa-hawkeyes-football/2020/06/4820/former-players-speak-about-the-culture-of-iowa-football-program-and-the-treatment-of-black-players

https://saturdaytradition.com/iowa-football/former-hawkeyes-speak-on-racial-disparities-in-iowa-football-program/

The overwhelming majority of the comments are about strength coach Chris Doyle and the culture set in the weight room, and many even go out of their way to exclude KF from their complaint. So no, they're not coming out against Ferentz.

That said, Doyle has been with KF at Iowa since Day 1, so Kirk is ultimately responsible for Doyle's actions and culture.

[bayareabadger]

 
Now, there may be a lot of other factors involved in the transfers of the black athletes that is not about race but the disparity should be noted. Most Iowa, as well as non-Iowa, fans were like him and didn't notice. The overall opinion is KF runs a respectful program. Still, with James Daniels starting the trend, I would be shocked if Iowa is the only program with this problem and I bet more across the nation will bring attention about other programs.

If you look through the tweets you will see many are not calling for anyone to be fired, especially those who credit Chris Doyle for preparing them for the NFL. Most are actually saying KF is not the problem and one tweet from Kevin Ward mentioned that KF noticed an issue with the attrition rates and has been working to fix it. What that means and what he actually knows is not known as of now but I am sure it will come out.

I do think the plan he is putting together is in the right direction. Having a diverse committee of current and former players is a good start. I am not sure what they can solve but even if they bring awareness, it will help. I do think KF is someone who would be respectful to the committee and their conversations. I believe he would do what he can to fix the issue.

This strikes me as a correlation/causation question, perhaps less to say it's not about race, but it might not be about the Iowa football culture when it comes to race. 

IC is 80 percent white. The school is 3.3 percent black. The state is 90 percent white. That means you have young people coming from farther away, moving from situations where they see a lot of people who look like them to situations where they see almost none outside the football building. In that case, I'm not so surprised at that attrition. (I wouldn't be surprised if UW looked similar in terms of attrition makeup)

[iahawk15]

Rob Howe with Hawkeyenation.com is a very respected journalist for Hawkeye sports.

I would say he's arguably the least respected journalist covering Iowa Football. It's a neck-and-neck race between him and Pat Harty.

[iahawk15]

with all this going on (and I will admit I am not close to the Iowa program) does this affect Kirk and his position?

Does he hang it up instead of fighting through?  How long does Kirk plan on coaching?  Is he another JoePa?  where he wants to stay until the bitter end?

Hard to say because the situation is evolving so quickly.

Knowing what we know right now, I'd (sadly but not surprisingly) say it's the big money boosters that decide his fate. Not the AD, not the president, not the Board of Regents, and not Kirk himself.

I think I can safely say Doyle is done. How will KF handle that? He may retire out of protest, but I'm leaning toward not. I don't think he'll allow his legacy to be defined by that.

[GopherRock]

How was Doyle not sacked after the rhabdo fiasco?