In 2012, Kirk Ferentz revealed that he would no longer be assigning an assistant coach to recruit the state of Florida. At that time, I was like:
Well, the Hawkeye's record in 2012 thru 2014 has been 19-19 overall and 11-13 in conference. In looking back through the Hawkeye recruiting results since Ferentz revelation about Florida it appears that what he actually meant to say was that other than the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex, the Hawkeye's would no longer be recruiting below the 35th parallel.
Just a quick glance at the Hawkeye classes from 2002-2006, it looks like Iowa was bringing in approximately 26% of it's players from below the 35th parallel at that time. That's not only a pretty drastic drop in numbers but the ratings/rankings of the players they are bringing in from this area are extremely low. It simply seems like they're taking the "low-hanging fruit", project type players. Little to no effort toward the better recruits from the south.
I don't get it. It seems like Ferentz has no fire or desire left. Like he's given up and is just "playing out the string". Too bad for the conference as a whole but to all Iowa fans I would say:
Iowa will challenge Illinois for the basement of the B1G West for the remainder of the time that Ferentz is in charge of their program. Between his current recruiting philosophy and his recent staff hires it's gonna suck being a Hawkeye for the foreseeable future (but I'll try to keep my laughter under polite control).
GBR!
Well, the Hawkeye's record in 2012 thru 2014 has been 19-19 overall and 11-13 in conference. In looking back through the Hawkeye recruiting results since Ferentz revelation about Florida it appears that what he actually meant to say was that other than the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex, the Hawkeye's would no longer be recruiting below the 35th parallel.
Just a quick glance at the Hawkeye classes from 2002-2006, it looks like Iowa was bringing in approximately 26% of it's players from below the 35th parallel at that time. That's not only a pretty drastic drop in numbers but the ratings/rankings of the players they are bringing in from this area are extremely low. It simply seems like they're taking the "low-hanging fruit", project type players. Little to no effort toward the better recruits from the south.
I don't get it. It seems like Ferentz has no fire or desire left. Like he's given up and is just "playing out the string". Too bad for the conference as a whole but to all Iowa fans I would say:
Iowa will challenge Illinois for the basement of the B1G West for the remainder of the time that Ferentz is in charge of their program. Between his current recruiting philosophy and his recent staff hires it's gonna suck being a Hawkeye for the foreseeable future (but I'll try to keep my laughter under polite control).
GBR!
