Inevitable change is coming

[Maxwell Smart]

It happened at PSU and OK ST.  Everyone knew it had to happen, but the rabid fan base resisted till the end. Moving on from a legend, John Smith, made it harder. When it was finally done, a breath of fresh air spread over the program and the fan base reacted with pent up joy. Posters have opined for years that the coaching wasn't getting the job done, and the sycophants were there to aggressively defend. The great times and the associated feelings are hard to forget. When will a change at Iowa come?  It's more inevitable than ever and will be better for Iowa and the sport.

[WrestlingRasta]

Doug Schwab 

[Ragu]

Not gonna happen 

[Pinnacle]

Kevin Dresser. He is in the Iowa Hall of Fame and he likes and tough wrestling. 

[ionel]

I only opened this thread cause thought it an announcement about Jimmy C moving on to bigger and better forums ... carry on.  

[MPhillips]

2 hours ago, Maxwell Smart said:

Posters have opined for years that the coaching wasn't getting the job done, and the sycophants were there to aggressively defend.

Ohio State fans...

[Mr. PeanutButter]

If you don't want to read the rambling paragraphs I mashed on my phone below, the "too long, didn't read" version is: I would be eggcited by a coaching staff if I was confident a realistic improvement was available.

 

Long version:

I would be onboard with a coaching change right now if there was an eggciting but realistic new option available (was eggcited by the David Taylor to Iowa rumors when they swirled around briefly) or if there was an eggsisting staff change that would guarantee equal or better results. 

Look, I'm not a Brands apologist. I think there are obvious deficiencies in the current staff makeup and when I look at Iowa wrestlers, even as an Iowa fan, I see weaknesses - relatively "poor" scrambling being one of them. Additionally, even though it's cool to have a long standing streak of getting wrestlers into the finals, consistently coming up short has just gotten eggstremely tiresome.

I also have to say that, although I've had very positive (albeit brief) interactions with TnT, and it is encouraging to see how positively the  wrestlers have spoken about the staff, particularly from this past season (but of course, not ignoring the many puzzling burned bridges from years past), the matside antics and weird post/pre match interviews are less than Gucci. 

I think Brands may have had his hands tied in regards to Bill Bassett's demands (if we can even believe what the pundits are putting out there as to the reason for the break up) but I can't help but think that Brands probably didn't navigate that tension with the most elegance.

NOW, with that out of the way, Im just not convinced there is a REALISTIC option out there right now that could step in and practically immediately improve on results - Iowa fans and boosters will not tolerate an 8th place finish. Lots of people like to poo poo the staff (within decent reasoning) and claim others could do it better but yet somehow conveniently manage to ignore the fact that no program outside of PSU has performed consistently better than Iowa. For a minute there, it looked like Ohio State was going to be the big number 2, but, although the future looks promising, they went through a really rough patch. That won't be tolerated at Iowa. There was a lot of hype and admiration for what NC State has been doing, but then they went ahead and had the worst collapse at NCAAs that I can remember 2 years ago. That won't fly at Iowa. Even Nebraska - the future looks very bright - but prior to this past year they had even worse shortcomings and disappointments at NCAAs than Iowa and were often the butt of jokes online.

So, for those calling for a change, I hear ya and I'm with ya. But who could actually step in and do better? 

[Maxwell Smart]

You make a lot of good points. Expectations are always high for the Hawkeyes, and they create anticipation when on the schedule. It feels like they should've had more individual success with the wrestlers they had the past couple years. Iowa is an essential part of wrestling but things don't seem or feel right. I'm not always right, it just seems that way.

[Rassling2]

3 hours ago, Maxwell Smart said:

It happened at PSU and OK ST.  Everyone knew it had to happen, but the rabid fan base resisted till the end. Moving on from a legend, John Smith, made it harder. When it was finally done, a breath of fresh air spread over the program and the fan base reacted with pent up joy. Posters have opined for years that the coaching wasn't getting the job done, and the sycophants were there to aggressively defend. The great times and the associated feelings are hard to forget. When will a change at Iowa come?  It's more inevitable than ever and will be better for Iowa and 

Edited 6 hours ago by Rassling2

[VakAttack]

2 hours ago, Mr. PeanutButter said:

If you don't want to read the rambling paragraphs I mashed on my phone below, the "too long, didn't read" version is: I would be eggcited by a coaching staff if I was confident a realistic improvement was available.

 

Long version:

I would be onboard with a coaching change right now if there was an eggciting but realistic new option available (was eggcited by the David Taylor to Iowa rumors when they swirled around briefly) or if there was an eggsisting staff change that would guarantee equal or better results. 

Look, I'm not a Brands apologist. I think there are obvious deficiencies in the current staff makeup and when I look at Iowa wrestlers, even as an Iowa fan, I see weaknesses - relatively "poor" scrambling being one of them. Additionally, even though it's cool to have a long standing streak of getting wrestlers into the finals, consistently coming up short has just gotten eggstremely tiresome.

I also have to say that, although I've had very positive (albeit brief) interactions with TnT, and it is encouraging to see how positively the  wrestlers have spoken about the staff, particularly from this past season (but of course, not ignoring the many puzzling burned bridges from years past), the matside antics and weird post/pre match interviews are less than Gucci. 

I think Brands may have had his hands tied in regards to Bill Bassett's demands (if we can even believe what the pundits are putting out there as to the reason for the break up) but I can't help but think that Brands probably didn't navigate that tension with the most elegance.

NOW, with that out of the way, Im just not convinced there is a REALISTIC option out there right now that could step in and practically immediately improve on results - Iowa fans and boosters will not tolerate an 8th place finish. Lots of people like to poo poo the staff (within decent reasoning) and claim others could do it better but yet somehow conveniently manage to ignore the fact that no program outside of PSU has performed consistently better than Iowa. For a minute there, it looked like Ohio State was going to be the big number 2, but, although the future looks promising, they went through a really rough patch. That won't be tolerated at Iowa. There was a lot of hype and admiration for what NC State has been doing, but then they went ahead and had the worst collapse at NCAAs that I can remember 2 years ago. That won't fly at Iowa. Even Nebraska - the future looks very bright - but prior to this past year they had even worse shortcomings and disappointments at NCAAs than Iowa and were often the butt of jokes online.

So, for those calling for a change, I hear ya and I'm with ya. But who could actually step in and do better? 

I think this is a great summation.  When the Taylor to Iowa rumors were swirling, i was pro.  Outside of him, I don't think there's a candidate that moves the needle that way available right now.  Even Burroughs, who has only just in the last month expressed any interest in coaching.

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

Spencer Lee for player-coach, ASAP.  I'm telling you, if Iowa waits too long Ohio State is going to make him a offer he can't refuse...

[Mr. PeanutButter]

A small part of my post got deleted earlier so I'll be brief: I have a very strong feeling that many of the boosters, deep down, are more comfortable being a near lock at 2nd-4th (and the rare 5th) than taking a gamble on the new and unknown. I believe I read a post on HR in the past where Bob claimed he would be "done when Tom's done" so whoever the next coach is better generate an elephant's worth of eggcitement in order to keep the cash flowing

[CHROMEBIRD]

I'm with Peebs. I like TnT as wrestlers and ambassadors to the sport, and love their commitment to their guys; my critique is with the coaching and culture at Iowa, as I don't believe "emulate Gable" works super well in today's environment. Would love to see whoever the next hc is, whenever that happens, to be an outsider who wasn't molded in and married to the Iowa Style as if it were gospel... or at least Iowa alums who've had enough of a change of scenery (Metcalf, DSJ, Ramos, etc.) to know what works/what doesn't and evolve Iowa Style.

All of that being said, people calling for Brands to step down over the BB thing need to get a grip. Imagine having so much juice as a hs recruit that you can get the head coach of a Top 3 program replaced. Foh with that.

[alex1fly]

 

1 hour ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

 

All of that being said, people calling for Brands to step down over the BB thing need to get a grip. Imagine having so much juice as a hs recruit that you can get the head coach of a Top 3 program replaced. Foh with that.

Iowa elicits a lot of feelings from both fans and non-fans, lol. It's kind of a funny characteristic for our sport. I enjoy watching the drama but don't care what happens to Iowa beyond wishing the Brands Bros weren't such emotional turds matside.

[VakAttack]

6 minutes ago, alex1fly said:

 

Iowa elicits a lot of feelings from both fans and non-fans, lol. It's kind of a funny characteristic for our sport. I enjoy watching the drama but don't care what happens to Iowa beyond wishing the Brands Bros weren't such emotional turds matside.

Which is crazy, that's my absolute favorite thing about them.  This is an entertainment product.  I've been less enthused by their on-the-mat product, but I'll admit to being pleasantly surprised with some improvements these last two years with on the mat production and style.

[Caveira]

It’s almost like.   Just almost.  This horse still has some life in it and hasn’t been beaten to death many times in the past.