Firing Brands would be stupid

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

Yes, I know Iowa fans are upset they lost to Iowa State but the truth is Iowa is STILL the 2nd or 3rd best team in the country, and NO coach has done better than Tom Brands in the last 15 years than Cael Sanderson.

Firing Brands now would be myopic and stupid, and you are guaranteed to have a replacement who is worse than Brands.  Iowa just needs to stay the course and they will find themselves atop the podium in March.  It may not be 1st place but they are still the 2nd best team over the last 15 years and that is undisputable.

Tom is a class act and the best coach for Iowa.

[ionel]

But wouldn't they have to fire Brands to hire Spencer Lee? 

[Gene Mills Fan]

"Stupid is as stupid does"

[Pinnacle]

This is the kind of thought process that paralyzes their athletic director, thus Iowa might have to serve another decade in this purgatory. 

[Hammerlock3]

People whose job performance is 10/10 don't normally get fired. 

[Tyler]

No reason to fire Brands. 

[Rassling2]

Contractually, he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon - unfortunately.

[GV4444]

On 12/1/2025 at 8:35 AM, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

you are guaranteed to have a replacement who is worse than Brands.

It's not guaranteed.  More like 80%, which is why you have to decide if it is worth the risk.   You have to be convinced he will never win a championship.  

3 hours ago, Rassling2 said:

Contractually, he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon - unfortunately.

Everyone who gets fired is under contract.  Coaches are paid all the time to just leave.  It might be costly, but doable.   PSU was willing to pay $50 million to get rid of their coach.   That is now almost nothing as his new deal mitigates the buyout.

[ionel]

Just now, GV4444 said:

  PSU was willing to pay $50 million to get rid of their coach.   

Carl is gone?  

[Rassling2]

18 minutes ago, GV4444 said:

It's not guaranteed.  More like 80%, which is why you have to decide if it is worth the risk.   You have to be convinced he will never win a championship.  

Everyone who gets fired is under contract.  Coaches are paid all the time to just leave.  It might be costly, but doable.   PSU was willing to pay $50 million to get rid of their coach.   That is now almost nothing as his new deal mitigates the buyout.

If it’s determined that a different coaching style might bring in more revenue into the school through better team results then a costly buyout while under contract might be just what the doctor ordered. 

[Nak21]

The Brands aren’t going anywhere anytime soon unless it’s of their own volition. They have a contract extension until 2028-29…and it’s wrestling…we love it, for the AD it’s not on the radar unless there’s a problem that lands it on the radar.

And they’ve been successful. They won a title, one of only 2 titles not won by Cael. And they’re in the mix yearly…top 2-5 team.

Who would replace them? If you’ve got someone waiting in the wings who would excite HS kids to think about Iowa and wrestling there again, and would bring energy and a new style…hell, get slumlord millionaire on the phone and make it happen, buy the Brands out and throw a bunch of money at the program and a new coach. Those single moms don’t need those security deposits back.

In the meantime get used to what you saw Sunday. Cuz it’ll probably happen a few times yearly against the better teams. A style that just doesn’t really work anymore or atleast with any regularity. 9 guys…combined for 3 take downs for and 7 stall calls against…yikes.

[TexRef]

In all honesty, who would want to take job after Brands? If you don't win like Gable did, the fans will let you know about it! The Iowa fans have been spoiled, and now they expect it. 

I am hoping they get a refund on any NIL money they gave Bailey. I thought it was a double no-no to go get him. You have an Illinois kid that went to college in Arkansas?!

[Gene Mills Fan]

I thought the early transfer decision and rumors; Bailey was possible red shirt. I think he's tanking one for the team since Block went up and Williams went up.  57 was previously  Estrada ?

[Fletcher]

If they fire Tom, they're legally required to replace him with the top assistant which is Terry. So probably not worth the drama it would create.

[headshuck]

If they fire both Brands are they contractually required to hire an assistant coach?

[ionel]

21 minutes ago, headshuck said:

If they fire both Brands are they contractually required to hire an assistant coach?

Jimmy C. 

[bnwtwg]

When Spencer Lee becomes AD next year here are my predictions:

• Tony Ramos named head coach
• Dan Dennis immediately deported to Rio
• Marinelli promoted to assistant
• Jesus takes the wheel (named new team bus driver)
• DeSanto becomes chancellor of international studies
• Minnow named director of media relations
• Dresser sends a care package of oranges and replica Cy-Hawk trophy to Tom & Terry with a note "since you will never see one of these again"
• Nelson Brands relocates to a state that does not have legalized gambling, promptly logs in to draft kings, bets the over on Iowa to pass for 1,800 yards in a season, loses the bet, and gets thrown into state prison for illegal gambling
• Casey's is purchased by a corporate raider private equity firm and their gas station pizza goes from over-rated to inedible

Edited December 3, 2025 by bnwtwg

[fishbane]

On 12/1/2025 at 9:35 AM, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

Yes, I know Iowa fans are upset they lost to Iowa State but the truth is Iowa is STILL the 2nd or 3rd best team in the country, and NO coach has done better than Tom Brands in the last 15 years than Cael Sanderson.

Isn't there legit fear that Iowa isn't 2nd or 3rd best, but the 4th best team?  Last year they were 4th at NCAAs.  PSU is the consensus best team this year and Iowa has already dropped duals to Ohio State and Iowa State.  They should be ranked 4th in a dual ranking at the moment behind PSU, Ohio State, and ISU.

When Zalesky was cut loose one probably could have made a similar statement that no coach had done better over his tenure (9 years) other than John Smith.  He was still replaced.

[ionel]

1 minute ago, bnwtwg said:

When Spencer Lee becomes AD next year here are my predictions:

• Tony Ramos named head coach
• Dan Dennis immediately deported to Rio
• Marinelli promoted to assistant
• Jesus takes the wheel (named new team bus driver)
• DeSanto becomes chancellor of international studies
• Minnow named director of media relations
• Dresser sends a care package of oranges and replica Cy-Hawk trophy to Tom & Terry
• Nelson Brands relocates to a state that does not have legalized gambling, promptly logs in to draft kings, bets the over on Iowa to pass for 1,800 yards in a season, loses the bet, and gets thrown into state prison for illegal gambling
• Casey's is purchased by a corporate raider private equity firm and their gas station pizza goes from over-rated to inedible

ahh ... no room for Jimmy in this new world?  

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

3 hours ago, Coastal said:

Iowa hasn't won a full field championship since 2010.  Iowa keeping tweedle dee and tweedle dum is the greatest gift Iowa haters can get every Christmas.

 

Full field championship- give me a break. 

Imagine someone saying: Penn State under Cael  never won a championship when there were over 100 schools!  Fake titles!

[The_KC_Godfather]

2 hours ago, TexRef said:

In all honesty, who would want to take job after Brands? If you don't win like Gable did, the fans will let you know about it! The Iowa fans have been spoiled, and now they expect it. 

I am hoping they get a refund on any NIL money they gave Bailey. I thought it was a double no-no to go get him. You have an Illinois kid that went to college in Arkansas?!

I watched the Flo clip this morning about the criticism of Iowa being fair or foul. CP talked about Iowa's standard, and said "Penn State doesn't have a standard, they have Cael Sanderson". Iowa's standard was set with Gable, and even after Cael eventually retires, I don't know that the "Cael standard" will be as strong with fans as the Gable/Iowa standard is.

Nebraska lost 18 of 20 matches in their last two duals at NDI...nobody is calling for Manning's head. Iowa is just a different beast in that even a top 5 team every year is unacceptable if it's not 1st.

I think the the main concerns are 1) Lack of recruiting/use of the portal (although I'm saying that after they landed four top-25 recruits in 2027) and 2) lack of offense. Iowa Style is attack, attack, attack, yet they barely shoot. Again I'll reference David Taylor's mentality of shoot, score, cut, shoot, score, cut...that's Iowa Style, but why isn't it happening? And if there was no NIL, how would they be doing?

[bnwtwg]

36 minutes ago, ionel said:

ahh ... no room for Jimmy in this new world?  

I guess you could say my prediction was wearing a

jimmy hat

[fishbane]

Iowa currently has 2 dual losses (Ohio State and ISU) and they have 11 duals remaining including matches against Penn State, Nebraska, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Oklahoma State who are the top 7 teams in Intermat's dual rankings other than Iowa/ISU.  How many duals will they lose this year?

Iowa had never lost more than 3 duals under Dan Gable and never more than 4 under Kurdelmeier.  Since 1967 Iowa has only lost 5 duals in a season 3 times 2004-2005 (10-5), 2005-2006 (11-7), and 2006-2007 (14-5).  These were the last two years of Zalesky's tenure and the first year under Brands.  Iowa seems likely to lose to PSU and Ohio State which would make 4 losses.  Four losses would be 14-4 and tied for the second worst record under Brands (2011-2012).  If they lose 5 that would be the worst record of the Brand's era (13-5).

[MPhillips]

1 hour ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Full field championship- give me a break. 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

4 hours ago, Coastal said:

Answer a simple question... Was 2021 a full field at the NCAA Wrestling Championships?

Did the Ivy League compete for example?

 

Every team was allowed to participate.

 

Answer a few simple questions:

Did any traditional SEC teams compete during any of Cael's title runs? 

How about Notre Dame

Are you even a serious person?