Kirk Ferentz Tried to Compare 12-0 Iowa to ... the San Antonio Spurs?
By Jason McIntyre
Iowa’s 12-0 and on the verge of a trip to the college football playoff. All the Hawkeyes have to do is beat Michigan State Saturday in the Big 10 Championship game. It’ll be Iowa’s first game against a team with a winning record since October 17.
The Hawkeyes have taken a lot of flack for their schedule (it’s settled years in advance!), quality wins (Northwestern and Wisconsin!) and so nationally, they’ve kind of become a punching bag of sorts.
Kirk Ferentz, their longtime coach, actually said this after the Hawkeyes didn’t convert a 3rd down but beat hapless Nebraska, 28-20:
"“I don’t listen too much, but it’s kind of entertaining and interesting in some ways,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “I don’t know what we did. All we’re doing is playing. That’s all we’re doing. It seems to me that if you watch our team play, and you like football and you like camaraderie and teamwork, which when I watch sports that’s what I really like, whether it’s a good NBA basketball team, Golden State … San Antonio. It’s about the relationships and all that. “When you get teams that are like that, that’s when you have a chance to do something that you’re not supposed to do. I don’t know why people wouldn’t like that, but there are probably people who don’t like the San Antonio Spurs.”"
This … this isn’t a sharp analogy. The Spurs are led by a Hall of Fame star in Tim Duncan. The Hawkeyes don’t have anyone who will sniff the 1st or 2nd round of the NFL draft, though cornerback Desmond King is very good and will get selected at some point.
The Spurs have won five NBA titles with Tim Duncan. The Hawkeyes haven’t been to a Rose Bowl since 1991; they have won’t a Rose Bowl since 1959.
The Spurs are one of the best-coached teams in the NBA and the purists love their passing; is anyone saying anything remotely similar about the Hawkeyes?