Iowa football is in danger of being left behind in new era of college football
Iowa football is facing its most critical period in recent memory.
This isn’t a direct reaction to a game against No. 2 Ohio State that Iowa was always going to lose, though the idea that they already lost before stepping foot in the Horseshoe should set off alarm bells right away. This goes further than just this past afternoon, this has all been mounting over the past few seasons and is finally come to a head this fall.
Iowa football is in real danger of being left behind due to their refusal to adapt to the modern football game, both on and off the field.
There has been rapid change over the past few years to college football. It is a completely foreign operation from what college ball was a decade ago. It is not the same game or the same landscape at all. The introduction of the transfer portal, in conjunction with NIL deals, has altered everything.
Look at the success other teams have had with the transfer portal. Tennessee is currently the fourth-ranked team in the country. Their Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Hendon Hooker was overlooked at Virginia Tech, so he transferred to Tennessee. He eventually won the starting spot, and is one of the top players in all of college football while the coach who forced Hooker out is out of a job.
Caleb Williams is also a Heisman candidate now for 12th-ranked Southern California, a team who has killed it in the transfer market due to their use of NIL deals. Bringing in Lincoln Riley doesn’t hurt either.
You know who else is looking like the most recent transfer portal success story? Current Big Ten receptions and receiving touchdowns leader Charlie Jones, who has surpassed his entire career totals already this season for Purdue.
Whether you like it or not, this is the new college football landscape. Whether out of arrogance or ignorance, Iowa has not caught up to the rest of college football. Iowa was the least active Big Ten team in the transfer portal this past offseason. Only two players on roster have played for other schools, Steven Stilianos and Nick Phelps coming from FCS programs.
Iowa has the idea that they do not need the transfer portal. They’d rather develop their own guys and look inward for replacements. They looked at this current roster, especially at quarterback, and decided that it was good enough.
All of this really reminds me of a quote from an article John Steppe of the Gazette wrote over the summer. Defensive line coach Kelvin Bell gave insight on Iowa’s view of the transfer portal, and why some other programs and coaches might be more keen to lean on it.
“If I knew I didn’t have time and I knew I needed to win right now, oh yeah, I’m in the portal,” Bell said. “But we don’t have to do that.”
That quote really does bother me, and shows a massive underlying issue with Iowa football. That right there just kind of indicates a lack of fire in the program to try and contend for the Big Ten. You have the perfect opportunity to inject even more talent, while developing guys of your own to try and take yourself to the next level.
“We don’t need that,” Iowa football says. “We’re doing completely fine.”
The program reeks of arrogance and an over-reliance on doing things in an old-fashioned “proper” way, and it’s going to continue to hold the Hawkeyes back. Just look at this Brian Ferentz-led offense and tell me I’m wrong.
College football, as a whole, has become more about high scoring and throwing the football. Even though the Big Ten has the reputation of still clinging to the old standards of football, it is still seen in the top teams. Then, you have Iowa.
Boasting an archaic offense that would have been seen as passé 20 years ago, they’ve done nothing over the past few years to make any changes or innovations. They see nothing wrong with having routinely one of the least effective offenses in college football, the same way they see nothing wrong with trotting out one of the worst quarterbacks in college football.
Alex Padilla might not be better than Spencer Petras, and the upside might just be wishful thinking from the fanbase, but what the Hawkeyes faithful have received from their quarterbacks this year is nothing short of embarrassing. The passing attack under Ferentz has typically been pretty bad, but with the lack of a dominant offensive line, and some additional injuries, not to mention some horrible play-calling, we’ve seen an even worse version this season.
They failed to recognize and address the lack of talent on the offense before the season, and they are continuing to fail by not doing anything to try and improve it.
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