Non-Spritzer-like Personal Escort

damn random log outs

I can't remember anybody arguing that Pugh, by himself, merited a great deal of praise and was destined for All-BXI next year or anything. But he's an active body, he's spent the most time with this QB and this line. That means something.

Losing Pugh means no tailback that had a carry last year will be toting the ball this season. You can't just lose a known quantity, even if he's not great, and not be worse off for it. It doesn't work that way.

This won't be 2004 all over again--even if Iowa's only got Brinson, Hampton, and Guillory, fine. At least it's not Sam Brownlee back there. It'll probably be Ferentz's next worst season on the ground, though. I don't see a 1000-yard rusher here at all.

I sure agree, Pugh was an unknown.  Could have been good, maybe not.  Who knows?  But now we have bigger unknowns.  That's the story, and the apparent malaise that makes this ballclub unworthy of commitment and sacrifice by nearly one full recruiting class -- in the last 9 months.

Speaking for myself, Pugh represented a guy who at least practiced last year, was quick enough to play in the league, and big enough to block DEs.  I just want to have a reg-uh-ler college football team with four scholarship running backs, even if only one had a single Big Ten carry.  (We should have five.  I believe SC has 7.)  (Who wants to do the analysis of RB depth, Iowa v. the rest of the league.)  (Who needs to?)

Now we have three scholarship ball carriers, one of whom is smaller than Lickleiter Junior, and none of them have ever touched a D-I football.  We have coaches who have never attempted to put frosh RBs on the field.  Do they know how to do it?  Will KOK subject us to another year of implicitly blaming his personnel for "not executing" whatever wet dream of 2002 that's playing in his head like a demented YouTube endless loop?  We have an offense that requires the RB to block like pros.  We put walk-ons and slow LBs at fullback, and give them the ball three times a year.  This is extremely weird.  There is just something amiss at the top of this program and the other coaches in the league have to be laughing.  

I just don't now how, in year 10, you're building a program with 20% annual attrition.  Especially a program that prizes three years of apprenticeship (i.e., not playing) before getting on the field.

So Pugh is another mile marker on some strange road that I would never have thought KF would be driving, this deep into his career at Iowa.  

The issue is attrition -- and, realizing I have become a black cloud -- nota bene: the year isn't close to being over.  20% year-over-year is the preliminary number.

Let's say Dace is done (if he were my son, I'd advise him not to play unless he is in damn fine shape), only two other guys get hurt this spring, one guy doesn't make his grades, and two more a) get homesick, or b) get photographed with oily small bills stacked on their heads and are busted by Sally Mason's SWATs at 3 a.m. for having presciption Tylenol without the right paperwork.  I don't think this is even pessimistic, I think it's normal, with the exception of the small bill problem, and the idiotic SWATs (Hillcrest 911?) which seems to be a viral/statistical cluster that defies description.  

What's that attrition rate?  27%.  

That's not normal, something is amiss, you cannot compete at this level by having open tryouts on the intramural fields.

Just as a manager, I know I can't build a company if a quarter of my skill positions disappear every 12 months.   I could give a shit if they're doing speedballs all night and sleeping with New Jersey governors.  But they're not allowed to quit, because playing the game is too much fun.

Maybe this kind of adversity is just what this team needs, and more accurately, what KF & staff need.  Maybe he/they simply don't know/aren't very good at motivating 4 & 5 star types, and instead only really excel and find passion in Breaking the Rock and motivating via the chip-on-the-shoulder vibe.  It seems to fit, personality-wise (or at least what we as the general public see from his personality).  He's a blue-collar guy, no nonsense, absolutely no flash...  He's a 3-star guy, ya know?  Les Miles, Pete Carroll, Zook, D-Rod, et al - those are 5-star guys.  They're the rock stars.  KF?  More of a singer-songwriter type.  Still great, just different.  So maybe he just simply has a very difficult time relating to the rock star-type players, ya know?  His Message just doesn't get across to them, and doesn't ring true.  Maybe they need to get someone on staff, be it as assisstant coach or a recruiting guy, whatever, who has that 5-star/rockstar personality, who can sell ideas to kids like that.  
Fuck, I dunno...