Comments were made during a Des Moines podcast, by Kirk Ferentz's son Brian, the current (and newly minted) offensive coordinator for Iowa.

They were published today in a small blurb by the Mpls StarTrib.

Quote:Fleck’s aggressive recruiting style has helped the Gophers get off to a strong start with the Class of 2018, as they have 13 commitments and currently rank 10th nationally in the 247Sports Composite Rankings. By mid-February, the Gophers already had offered scholarships to 134 players, dozens more than they had made by that point in the recruiting cycle under previous coaches Tracy Claeys and Jerry Kill.

Iowa has five commitments and ranks 43rd.

“The guys in Ames and the new guy in Minneapolis seem to have no problem throwing early things out,” Brian Ferentz said on the Hawk Central podcast. “What I’ve learned, certainly about the guys in Ames, we’ll find out about the guys in Minneapolis, what does an offer really mean?”

Those "guys" are:

- former Toledo head coach and 2015 MAC Coach of the Year, Matt Campbell (Iowa State)

- former W Michigan head coach and 2014 & 2016 MAC Coach of the Year, PJ Fleck (Minnesota)

(05-08-2017 09:01 AM)MplsBison Wrote:  Comments were made during a Des Moines podcast, by Kirk Ferentz's son Brian, the current (and newly minted) offensive coordinator for Iowa.

They were published today in a small blurb by the Mpls StarTrib.

Quote:Fleck’s aggressive recruiting style has helped the Gophers get off to a strong start with the Class of 2018, as they have 13 commitments and currently rank 10th nationally in the 247Sports Composite Rankings. By mid-February, the Gophers already had offered scholarships to 134 players, dozens more than they had made by that point in the recruiting cycle under previous coaches Tracy Claeys and Jerry Kill.

Iowa has five commitments and ranks 43rd.

“The guys in Ames and the new guy in Minneapolis seem to have no problem throwing early things out,” Brian Ferentz said on the Hawk Central podcast. “What I’ve learned, certainly about the guys in Ames, we’ll find out about the guys in Minneapolis, what does an offer really mean?”

Those "guys" are:

- former Toledo head coach and 2015 MAC Coach of the Year, Matt Campbell (Iowa State)

- former W Michigan head coach and 2014 & 2016 MAC Coach of the Year, PJ Fleck (Minnesota)

Sounds like sour grapes from a guy who's team is fixing to have a mudhole stomped in them by those schools over the next several years.

I'll try and speak Ferentz:

Well, the head guy over there in Iowa, he's been there a long time. I think he makes the most money for a state employee over there. What I've learned is that, certainly about about that new offensive coordinator - if there isn't a family connection there - what does a title really mean?

Well, Iowa has a great tradition. Great stadium, great fans.

They had their dream season, in 2015. A school like that, deserves one of those every 20 years or so.


But gosh darnit, so does Minnesota! When do we get our dream season!?

(05-08-2017 09:36 AM)MplsBison Wrote:  Well, Iowa has a great tradition. Great stadium, great fans.

They had their dream season, in 2015. A school like that, deserves one of those every 20 years or so.


But gosh darnit, so does Minnesota! When do we get our dream season!?

2013 and 2014 called and said your dream is this reality

Minn just hired a fantastic recruiter has a HC. He will make noise on the recruiting front every year, then it will start showing on the field. Four year outlook looks good for Minn.

I really thought Iowa would have exploited the eastern stretches of the "Big Ten kingdom." They have a PA guy for a coach, and while sometimes they've picked off a kid or two here, they're not as present as the other two monsters have been (OSU and Meesh). These midwestern schools tapped other midwestern school coaches. Of course there's going to be more pressure on Iowa.

Of course, when is Iowa going to start following Penn State's old travels down to the Beltway and the Delmarva peninsula?

This is a whole lotta nothing. Brian should follow his father's example and learn how to keep his mouth shut.

I think for Fleck at least, it will be an adjustment to being higher up in the food chain. At a MAC school, you have to offer to a ton of prospects to get the 25 that will stick. Higher up, you should be able to offer to less prospects to get the same 25 that stick.

The problem is that Iowa State and Minnesota are offering up to more than they can handle, and it can be a one-way street. Just because a player commits to an offer, doesn't mean the school then accepts the commit.

Essentially, what’s happening all over college football recruiting is what I would call speculative offers. Those are offers where a school will tell the prospect they have a scholarship opportunity, but if that prospect were to call and commit, the school wouldn’t accept it. They will accept some, but not all.

I would hire PJ Fleck to build my program in a millisecond.

That said, if I was a recruit, no chance in hell I'd trust him. But with 134 offers, he only needs 15% to be naive and trust him. Those are damn good odds.

(05-08-2017 04:18 PM)goofus Wrote:  This is a whole lotta nothing. Brian should follow his father's example and learn how to keep his mouth shut.

Maybe Kirk can give his son a pack of his gum to chew on.

what's wrong with casting a really wide net?

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(05-08-2017 05:30 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(05-08-2017 04:18 PM)goofus Wrote:  This is a whole lotta nothing. Brian should follow his father's example and learn how to keep his mouth shut.

Maybe Kirk can give his son a pack of his gum to chew on.

Brian Ferentz needs to be focusing on learning the Offensive Coordinator job. Many Iowa fans are still wondering why he was the best candidate for the job, other than the obvious reason, Kirk is grooming Brian to take over as head coach when Kirk retires.

But I guess I will try to keep an open mind. Brian brings more energy and passion to the job than the previous guy. But its an adjustment. The previous coordinator was more the cerebral type who coached from the pressbox. Brian will be coaching from the field. Hopefully the players will feed off his energy but we will see.

(05-08-2017 04:32 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  I would hire PJ Fleck to build my program in a millisecond.

That said, if I was a recruit, no chance in hell I'd trust him. But with 134 offers, he only needs 15% to be naive and trust him. Those are damn good odds.

Yeah, but would you want that 15%?

The other 85% are the ones with multiple coaches telling them the same thing (so they have higher talent), or they're the ones who can learn things by themselves.

Also: the naive 15% are probably going to be more pissed off when things don't work out.

The Big Ten West is about to get a lot more interesting that's for sure. Fleck is a fish out of water in terms of personality in that region, I think he's going to do really well at Minnesota. Their fans need to keep in mind he went only 1-11 his first season at WMU.