Firing Brands would be stupid

[BruceyB]

3 hours ago, jchapman said:

I didn't make that quote, it was Nak21. 

Sorry, not sure what happened there.

[AnklePicker]

If Brands doesn’t shake up his coaching staff he will be gone after next season imo.  He needs to get someone in there who is outside of the Iowa box.  A Keegan Otoole maybe or eventually Mitchel Messenbrink.  Someone who knows how to teach modern scrambling which will lead to more attacks because they aren’t so worried about guys getting to their legs.  Morningstar and Telford should be replaced tomorrow if Tom wants to keep this gig.  And maybe even Terry too.  Love him, but when I saw him showing Dean Peterson a basic leg pass like he hadn’t seen that before and the other guy Cruz actually not knowing how to do it I was blown away.  Change or die.  

[BaldAt23]

On 3/4/2026 at 11:07 AM, BruceyB said:

I think you could win a national title at tOSU before NIL. I don't think they can win a title now. 

Look at David Taylor's first two recruiting classes. 14 big boarders and 8 of them are in the top 11.

2025: #3 Ladarion Lockett, #5 Landon Robideau, #7 Sergio Vega, #28 Kody Routledge, #30 Ronnie Ramirez, #54 Austin Johnson #58 Ishmael Guerrero, #92 Beau Hickman

This is the class they have coming in next fall:

#1 Jax Forrest (already there, obviously), #4 Dreshaun Ross, #5 Jordyn Raney, #6 Jayden Raney, #11 Rocklin Zinkin, #55 Michael White.

This doesn't even include Freshmen Cody Merrill and Zack Ryder.

I'm from the PNW and don't have a specific team that I have an allegiance to. I love seeing programs grow, and would love to see more parity in the sport. But NIL has changed the game to three realistic contenders for national titles.

With the two classes I just listed, tell me how Ohio State competes with Oklahoma State moving forward? And that's to compete with Oklahoma State.. we aren't even talking Penn State yet.

 

 

 

They are ranked #2 (by a wide margin) during NIL right now. You act like they’re outside the top 10. You can certainly win at tOSU, it’s certainly possible

[BIGTENFANBOY]

On 3/4/2026 at 5:54 PM, BruceyB said:

People on these boards consistently mention names other than Burroughs or Dake that don't have any more of a media presence than Stieber. Hahn, Schwab, Metcalf, Erisman, Robie, Pop, etc. all get their names mentioned when big vacancies open up, but I don't think I have ever heard Stieber's name tossed out there. Logan is the same age as DT and has been involved in coaching since he graduated.. he seems like a great candidate if interested for any head coaching position. 

Disagree 100% both Burroughs and Dake get mention outside of wrestling circles. None of the others you mentioned to.

[BruceyB]

1 hour ago, BaldAt23 said:

They are ranked #2 (by a wide margin) during NIL right now. You act like they’re outside the top 10. You can certainly win at tOSU, it’s certainly possible

I'm not acting like they're outside of the top 10. I said that they can't win a national title. They can take second this year. But they are currently 54.5 points away from a title based on intermat tournament rankings, and PSU isn't getting any worse in the near future. Where on the horizon are they going to be making up that ground? It seems much more likely that they are a bit worse next season than this season, and likely take another step back the following based on recruits coming in. On the flipside, OSU and Penn State will both be returning 9 of 10 current starters next season, have elite prospects on their roster trying to crack the lineup, and more guys coming in from the 2026 class.

In order to win a national title in the foreseeable future, you are going to need a roster that is capable of scoring 150+. That doesn't appear to be in the cards for tOSU in the near future based on their current lineup, incoming recruits, and historical use of the portal.

It doesn't bring me any pleasure to say any of this. It's just the reality. Ohio State isn't close to taking down PSU.

[creek chub]

After session 1, Iowa is trending towards a 5-7th place finish. If that projection holds by the end of the day tomorrow, it could indicate an 8-10th place finish at the ncaa tournament. At some point the questions will grow louder, donations will decrease and the Iowa administration will make a change to some degree with the coaching staff. There is too much history and $ in Iowa for these results and their recent performance trends. 

[Pinnacle]

16 minutes ago, creek chub said:

After session 1, Iowa is trending towards a 5-7th place finish. If that projection holds by the end of the day tomorrow, it could indicate an 8-10th place finish at the ncaa tournament. At some point the questions will grow louder, donations will decrease and the Iowa administration will make a change to some degree with the coaching staff. There is too much history and $ in Iowa for these results and their recent performance trends. 

 

Pretty sure some of those negatives are already happening.

[Southend]

1 hour ago, creek chub said:

After session 1, Iowa is trending towards a 5-7th place finish. If that projection holds by the end of the day tomorrow, it could indicate an 8-10th place finish at the ncaa tournament. At some point the questions will grow louder, donations will decrease and the Iowa administration will make a change to some degree with the coaching staff. There is too much history and $ in Iowa for these results and their recent performance trends. 

Donations won’t stop. My god. Next year regroup. Following year, hammer time.

[mr.nonothingatall]

Just now, Southend said:

Donations won’t stop. My god. Next year regroup. Following year, hammer time.

Have you seen any of the last 3 seasons?

[Southend]

Just now, mr.nonothingatall said:

Have you seen any of the last 3 seasons?

Yes I have and programs go thru cycles. 

[mr.nonothingatall]

1 minute ago, Southend said:

Yes I have and programs go thru cycles. 

Just curious, what are your indicators that next year will be a rebuild yea and what indication have you seen that make you feel confident that brands will be back on track within 2 years?

[jmoney]

On 3/6/2026 at 7:50 AM, AnklePicker said:

If Brands doesn’t shake up his coaching staff he will be gone after next season imo.  He needs to get someone in there who is outside of the Iowa box.  A Keegan Otoole maybe or eventually Mitchel Messenbrink.  Someone who knows how to teach modern scrambling which will lead to more attacks because they aren’t so worried about guys getting to their legs.  Morningstar and Telford should be replaced tomorrow if Tom wants to keep this gig.  And maybe even Terry too.  Love him, but when I saw him showing Dean Peterson a basic leg pass like he hadn’t seen that before and the other guy Cruz actually not knowing how to do it I was blown away.  Change or die.  

That would be such a statement to wrestling community that he isn’t a stale granola bar. But I’m pretty darn sure Tom Brands has the personality of a stale granola bar and will die on his sword without making any changes. The way Metcalf and Gilman speak about that place it really gives you a sense they realize they were missing a whole lot of open minded thoughts and positivity being trapped in that pressure cooker. 

[mr.nonothingatall]

Brands choosing Victor over williams is about enough for me to justify his departure from Iowa anyway. Victor is out of the tourney already. 

[CHROMEBIRD]

Iowa's AD got square with Brands and his job is safe for now, though she wants to do a top-down eval and make some changes in the offseason. A rumor I heard from several Iowa fans was that they're trying to get James Green as either an assistant or for the HWC (I've heard people say both). 

Big grain of salt and all.

[IceMan]

On 3/6/2026 at 7:50 AM, AnklePicker said:

If Brands doesn’t shake up his coaching staff he will be gone after next season imo.  He needs to get someone in there who is outside of the Iowa box.  A Keegan Otoole maybe or eventually Mitchel Messenbrink.  Someone who knows how to teach modern scrambling which will lead to more attacks because they aren’t so worried about guys getting to their legs.  Morningstar and Telford should be replaced tomorrow if Tom wants to keep this gig.  And maybe even Terry too.  Love him, but when I saw him showing Dean Peterson a basic leg pass like he hadn’t seen that before and the other guy Cruz actually not knowing how to do it I was blown away.  Change or die.  

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who saw this out there on their YouTube page and said to myself... "Did anybody think about cutting this one and starting it over again before posting it?" Yikes. 

[fishbane]

On 3/4/2026 at 9:07 PM, kschlosser said:

With Schwab on staff Brands won three NCAA titles, without Schwab on staff Brands has one title. There are three big ten titles with and without. He is an Iowa guy so I doubt he leaves the state, but would love to see what he could do at a flagship state u.

 

It’s like you are trying to give Schwab all the credit for the Hawkeye’s success under Brands even though he was in one of the positions with the least responsibility.  He was a volunteer assistant under Brands at Virginia Tech.  At Iowa he was initially a strength and conditioning coach before becoming an assistant, but not the top assistant.

When Zalesky got axed for Brands, Tom Brands was the top coaching prospect in the country.  He took Virginia Tech from a program with no history that was 0-13 two years earlier and 6-12 the season before Brands took over to a title contender.  In his first season they were 16-4 and had a top 3 recruiting class. The next season they redshirted all the new recruits and had 2 AAs.  Virginia Tech only had 5AAs in this history up to that point.  Two in a single season was a high water mark. They were set up to be a top 10 program going into his 3rd season.

Schwab could do a great job at Iowa, but his track record at UNI isn’t one you fire a national title winning coach to bring in.  It took him 15 years to get a top ten team there and UNI is a program with much more history and recent success than VT had when Brands took over.  This weekend the Hawkeyes were 4th in the big ten which isn’t the goal but is inevitably happens even at big programs given the competitiveness of the league.  UNI just finished 10th in the Big 12.  Schwab has produced exactly 1 AA outside of Keckeisen over the past 5 seasons.  What was his best ever recruiting class at UNI and how does it compare to Brands’s 2005 class at VT?  

[kschlosser]

9 minutes ago, fishbane said:

It’s like you are trying to give Schwab all the credit for the Hawkeye’s success under Brands even though he was in one of the positions with the least responsibility.  He was a volunteer assistant under Brands at Virginia Tech.  At Iowa he was initially a strength and conditioning coach before becoming an assistant, but not the top assistant.

When Zalesky got axed for Brands, Tom Brands was the top coaching prospect in the country.  He took Virginia Tech from a program with no history that was 0-13 two years earlier and 6-12 the season before Brands took over to a title contender.  In his first season they were 16-4 and had a top 3 recruiting class. The next season they redshirted all the new recruits and had 2 AAs.  Virginia Tech only had 5AAs in this history up to that point.  Two in a single season was a high water mark. They were set up to be a top 10 program going into his 3rd season.

Schwab could do a great job at Iowa, but his track record at UNI isn’t one you fire a national title winning coach to bring in.  It took him 15 years to get a top ten team there and UNI is a program with much more history and recent success than VT had when Brands took over.  This weekend the Hawkeyes were 4th in the big ten which isn’t the goal but is inevitably happens even at big programs given the competitiveness of the league.  UNI just finished 10th in the Big 12.  Schwab has produced exactly 1 AA outside of Keckeisen over the past 5 seasons.  What was his best ever recruiting class at UNI and how does it compare to Brands’s 2005 class at VT?  

Don't think Schwab will be Iowa coach just saying he contributed to the success they had while he was there. Regardless of position he was also on the mat with those guys at the time

I don't think T+T are the wrong coaches, I think their position would improve with better assistants from different backgrounds and strengths. The longer people stay together from the same program, the more it can become an echo chamber.

I think Ohio state has some of the same issues and in those regards. At their start, they had diversity, Ryan (gable-hofstra), rowlands (hellickson-ohio state), heskett (Douglas-isu), rosselli (flynn-bruce edinboro)., and Thatcher (sunderland-psu). At the same time bringing in rtc guys like gavin (randy-pitt), tervel (otc-uno), escobedo (goldman-iu) complimented or replaced those guys. When ohio state closed the doors to the outside they peaked

My comment wanting to Schwab get a chance at a flagship state school I didn't think it was Iowa. I want to see him somewhere he is the number one school for talent and resources, not the number three. Uni is b12 now, the Mac hasn't been relevant since tom borelli left CMU. Id like to see what he could do at a wisconsin, Mizzou, asu, illinois