Iowa brand

[headshuck]

Has anyone figured out the motivation behind the recent drive to win a title at all costs, specifically transfer costs? Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling was one of the strongest sports franchises in the past century.
 
Sure, it was the winning streak, but it was much more. It was the unheard of mental and physical barriers their wrestlers went through to win.
 
Do they think winning titles again with transfers is enough to restore the brand? Maybe it’s simply a compensation contract the coaches made to win regardless of approach? You’d think an Iowa brand contract would spend money and resources on “grass roots” recruits, whatever it took.

[ionel]

Tom put the spaceship in mothballs, using the rocket fuel savings to fund transfer stipends, borrowed a bus from @MPhillips to transport em in, its the new T T & T brand. 

[Hammerlock3]

26 minutes ago, headshuck said:

Has anyone figured out the motivation behind the recent drive to win a title at all costs, specifically transfer costs? Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling was one of the strongest sports franchises in the past century.
 
Sure, it was the winning streak, but it was much more. It was the unheard of mental and physical barriers their wrestlers went through to win.
 
Do they think winning titles again with transfers is enough to restore the brand? Maybe it’s simply a compensation contract the coaches made to win regardless of approach? You’d think an Iowa brand contract would spend money and resources on “grass roots” recruits, whatever it took.

I think it's cause they go head to head with PSU for high school recruits, always lose, and instead of being patient like you referenced, they are using the transfer pool which has two big upsides, 1) proven in college, 2) PSU is likely not competing with them because they already had their picks and a solid lineup.

Thats not an ethical argument for Iowa its just what shaped the landscape.

 

Edited August 25 by Hammerlock3

[juniorvarsity]

Speaking only for myself, I lost a lot of respect when they did all that forfeiting at 2022 Big Tens. A huge sign of bad culture there. Since then, this portal focus is another sign. The Iowa brand is downstream from their culture, and it doesn't seem good from the outside looking in(emphasis on the outside).

[billyhoyle]

The motivation is very simple. What else can they do? They haven't gotten the elite recruits (since Lee), and developing their talent isn't working and is more difficult than buying it. 

[Hammerlock3]

6 minutes ago, juniorvarsity said:

Speaking only for myself, I lost a lot of respect when they did all that forfeiting at 2022 Big Tens. A huge sign of bad culture there. Since then, this portal focus is another sign. The Iowa brand is downstream from their culture, and it doesn't seem good from the outside looking in(emphasis on the outside).

that culture is ubiquitous. I remind you PSU had a 3 time NCAA champ forfeit out of the same tournament. 

 

[TylerDurden]

6 minutes ago, billyhoyle said:

The motivation is very simple. What else can they do? They haven't gotten the elite recruits (since Lee), and developing their talent isn't working and is more difficult than buying it. 

Iowa gets elite recruits. 

[headshuck]

You wonder how many senior level wrestlers and coaches they were outbidded on over the past decade? While Cael was building, was the price for an individual coach/senior level wrestler just outside of the budget? And now instead of spending $500k on a coach that could get Marinelli his titles, along with helping other middle weights, they’re now faced with the prospect of spending the same amount on an individual prima donna transfer.

The brand was push Marinelli to win at all cost.

[Hammerlock3]

45 minutes ago, TylerDurden said:

Iowa gets elite recruits. 

Do they?

[Hammerlock3]

44 minutes ago, headshuck said:

The brand was push Marinelli to win at all cost.

can you explain what you mean by this?

[headshuck]

can you explain what you mean by this?

I’m saying from an Iowa historical brand thing, you spend whatever resources you can to make the guys *you have* successful. JRob used to talk about bringing in spiritual advisors to help his wrestlers. There were no portals back in the day. JRob and Gable got the most out if their guys, even if walk-on.

[Hammerlock3]

3 minutes ago, headshuck said:

I’m saying from an Iowa historical brand thing, you spend whatever resources you can to make the guys *you have* successful. JRob used to talk about bringing in spiritual advisors to help his wrestlers. There were no portals back in the day. JRob and Gable got the most out if their guys, even if walk-on.

Yeah but Iowa isn't unique in this regard. They just have a lot of money for people who recruit poorly.

 

[headshuck]

That’s why I’m saying they are abandoning their brand.

[wrestle87]

T&T are not creative enough thinkers to compete with the top guys.  We’ve rehashed this a few times, but they are the last holdover from a previous era.  

The Iowa brand has only ever been Gable, T&T have their positions bc they remind people of Gable, and the support they receive comes from keeping those memories alive.  

The sport is not what it was, training definitely is not what it was, and I would hope that Iowa would be daring enough in another 5-10 years to make a move similar to what Okie State did, completely wiping the slate clean and starting a new era and a new dynasty.  

We are just in the second Gable post-script era. 

Now, in T&T’s defense, they have a top 3 domestic brand at their fingertips, and rightfully so, the Iowa room certainly isn’t a bad one.  We can reference prime’s interview about barely taking high schoolers anymore.  Points towards the top always help.  But until they put that development piece back in (they are 20 years behind on technique development), they won’t close the gap.

[TylerDurden]

40 minutes ago, Hammerlock3 said:

Do they?

Yes, they do. 

 

 

[Hammerlock3]

7 minutes ago, TylerDurden said:

Yes, they do. 

 

 

howmany top five overall picks have they gotten in the last 5 years?

[TylerDurden]

6 minutes ago, Hammerlock3 said:

howmany top five overall picks have they gotten in the last 5 years?

I have no idea, please detail the HS recruit rankings from every rating services so we all can see the consensus rankings. I'd love to see the names of the 25 guys you're trying to single out as "elite" and see what they've done and where they went. 

But are you trying to suggest the Ben Kueter, for instance, wasn't an elite recruit? Or that Gabe Arnold, who was the U20 US Open champ as a HS Sr., wasn't an elite recruit? Those are both from 2023, IIRC.

Sure, Iowa has focused on getting guys in the portal, but they're still landing elite HS guys. 

 

[Husker_Du]

Iowa Top 20's (you can be the arbiter of 'top recruits') Since 2019

2024

#7-Angelo Ferrari

2023

#6-Ben Kueter

#19-Gabe Arnold 

(Nate Jesuroga was Top 20 and went to military)

2022

None

2021

#4-Drake Ayala

#16-Wyatt Henson (transfered)

2020

#4-Patrick Kennedy

2019 

None

 

 

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

Pay to win (a team trophy, not first though)

[MNRodent]

Give a team an elite recruit/transfer and you feed them for a season (or at least a semester).

Teach a team to recruit and you feed them for many years.

Edited August 25 by MNRodent

[lurker]

Hearing Kennedy is transferring out

[Idaho]

Seems ironic and desperate that a team that once prided themselves in high level recruiting, development and smash mouth wrestling now has to target talent that’s not even in the portal and buy their services to fill their weaker spots in the lineup.  

[Idaho]

31 minutes ago, lurker said:

Hearing Kennedy is transferring out

As he should and will probably have his loyalty questioned

[lurker]

5 minutes ago, Idaho said:

As he should and will probably have his loyalty questioned

His style will be a great fit here.

[headshuck]

Why wouldn’t you transfer out and some back in for a cool $500k?