Iowa Game Thread

[Artesian_86]

1 hour ago, IUDan93 said:

Allen may not be the guy, but aside from Hep and Mallory, have we ever felt like we have the guy.  All these coaches can't be that bad, can they.  Our recruiting is that of a 5-6 win team, has been for several years. If Allen can get us recruits that are better, faster, stronger, and create more depth, than we at least have more to work with.  I guess a big part of the problem around our program is that we so rarely feel like we are confident in future sustained success, at least we don't feel confident by the time we get into mid October.  I certainly don't know what, if anything, will change the direction of the program.  It just seems we have jumped from one coach to the next to the next to the next, and here we are, exactly where we have always been.

 

I was over on another IU board and a poster mentioned that coach Allen reminded him of former Colts coach Pagano. I agree to some similarities such as....positive, motivational role model, not to mention firey. However, the poster felt that both Pagano and Allen could not coach their way out of a paper bag. 

I felt that way about Pagano, but not with Allen. I feel his biggest issue is his lack of a full, all around effective coaching staff. Of course CTA is not without blame. It could be that his offense is so bad and consistently struggling, that he has taken for granted that his defense needs help too. This is mid season, good teams, even average teams can basically pick up on what the opposing team do consistently. We are too transparent in most phases of the game with exception to the defense.

For example, .....special teams kick off return, Majette is gonna call fair catch every time.

3rd and long has Majette as the only player in the backfield. This will either be a pass over the middle, a short out route to Majette or Ramsey scrambling.  It goes on and one. Something has to change and that starts with coach making some hard decisions even if it ruffles some feathers. 

We need some butt  chewin' and motivation with results. Whatever Purdue did to almost turn their season around...I want those results. 

[rogue3542]

I'm sick of IU historically playing "checkers" with its football program and head coach while everyone else plays chess.  We have NEVER been a winning program!  We aren't going to get to that point overnight, and it will likely be a few years before we reach that milestone.  It's quite clear that Allen and our administration are trying to play "chess" now and build a winning PROGRAM, but everyone just wants to keep playing checkers.  We really need to give Allen time to develop.  I mean, come on, we are only halfway through his second season!

To be honest, I was expecting a win against Iowa; it was the most disappointing IU game I've watched in the last few years, but even as badly as IU played, they were still within striking distance for a decent portion of the game.  Two interceptions in the end zone were the nail in the proverbial coffin.

It's one bad game so far; the future still looks good.  Calls for Allen to be on the hot seat or for his resignation are absolutely absurd.  I'm sure he's aware that he will need to shake up his coaching hierarchy and/or structure after the season is over.

Also, how quickly does everyone think true strength and conditioning improvement shows up? six months?  Sure, you can build some good muscle in that time and make some decent individual gains, but as far as tangible results that will show up teamwide and truly make a difference?  That will take a couple years at least, especially when our benchmark is the Big Ten East.

[rico]

1 hour ago, rogue3542 said:

I'm sick of IU historically playing "checkers" with its football program and head coach while everyone else plays chess.  We have NEVER been a winning program!  We aren't going to get to that point overnight, and it will likely be a few years before we reach that milestone.  It's quite clear that Allen and our administration are trying to play "chess" now and build a winning PROGRAM, but everyone just wants to keep playing checkers.  We really need to give Allen time to develop.  I mean, come on, we are only halfway through his second season!

To be honest, I was expecting a win against Iowa; it was the most disappointing IU game I've watched in the last few years, but even as badly as IU played, they were still within striking distance for a decent portion of the game.  Two interceptions in the end zone were the nail in the proverbial coffin.

It's one bad game so far; the future still looks good.  Calls for Allen to be on the hot seat or for his resignation are absolutely absurd.  I'm sure he's aware that he will need to shake up his coaching hierarchy and/or structure after the season is over.

Also, how quickly does everyone think true strength and conditioning improvement shows up? six months?  Sure, you can build some good muscle in that time and make some decent individual gains, but as far as tangible results that will show up teamwide and truly make a difference?  That will take a couple years at least, especially when our benchmark is the Big Ten East.

Good post....but let me remind you of something.  The guy that hired Allen got fired.  CTA "inherited" the job.  No coaching search was done to the best of my knowledge.  Lynch sound familiar?  

[Leathernecks]

12 minutes ago, rico said:

Good post....but let me remind you of something.  The guy that hired Allen got fired.  CTA "inherited" the job.  No coaching search was done to the best of my knowledge.  Lynch sound familiar?  

I don't get why a coaching search matters. I like Allen whether we drew his name out of a hat or if we spent 3 million on a search firm to hire him. He can definitely coach defense (even with yesterday's bad game), he's done really well recruiting, and he seems to be a good leader and role model for young men. He's also likely to stick around if he does end up doing well. I don't know who I would have rather had even if we did a national search.

My main question with Allen is if he'll have the balls to make the tough decisions and fire the people who need to be fired. He's made some really good hires (Hart, Rhea & Ballou), so if he can hit a home run with an OC, I really think we'd be on the track to 8+ wins within the next few years. As long as we dump DeBord and Hiller.

[rico]

16 minutes ago, Leathernecks said:

I don't get why a coaching search matters. I like Allen whether we drew his name out of a hat or if we spent 3 million on a search firm to hire him. He can definitely coach defense (even with yesterday's bad game), he's done really well recruiting, and he seems to be a good leader and role model for young men. He's also likely to stick around if he does end up doing well. I don't know who I would have rather had even if we did a national search.

My main question with Allen is if he'll have the balls to make the tough decisions and fire the people who need to be fired. He's made some really good hires (Hart, Rhea & Ballou), so if he can hit a home run with an OC, I really think we'd be on the track to 8+ wins within the next few years. As long as we dump DeBord and Hiller.

That last paragraph is what matters.

[OGIUAndy]

17 hours ago, rico said:

Good post....but let me remind you of something.  The guy that hired Allen got fired.  CTA "inherited" the job.  No coaching search was done to the best of my knowledge.  Lynch sound familiar?  

Exactly. CTA has zero head coaching experience besides high school. Lynch was a head coach at DePauw. You can't pretend that these are great hires. I am not saying CTA can't do the job, but so far he seems in over his head. I definitely think he has a chance to turn it around the rest of the year, but he'll need to make some big changes.