Voice of the Hawkeyes Board

Earnest Wilson interviewed about a week ago. He coached running backs at New Mexico State and has since been an OC at Jackson State and Hampton recently.

how old is Earnest? youth movement with him and Reid. Hope they know how to text and twit.

According to the UVa website, Reid got his bachelor's degree in 1973, so I assume he's in his early 60's. According to Jamie Oakes of our Virginia site, Reid is young at heart and well-versed in technology.

I'm pretty stoked about Reid. I'm curious what he brings to the recruiting table cause I think I read somewhere the recruits at VA always spoked highly of him.

From the Post article:
Reid’s dismissal is the most surprising. His defense, which featured four sophomores in the secondary and a plethora of underclassmen along the defensive line, ranked fourth in the ACC in total defense and steadily improved as the year wore on. But the Cavaliers mustered only 17 sacks and created just 12 turnovers all season, which played a part in Virginia finishing with the worst turnover margin in the ACC.

...I looked into Reid's (Virg. stats) this past year to try to understand what's the fuss is all about. So, it looks like he had a young D but did ok. Yes, turnover margin stinks but the O didn't help. The scoring Defense was worse than Iowa's 28 vs 22ppg? But like I said the Virg O didn't help as it turned the ball over a whopping 26 times (Iowa only 11 times).

The stat that stood out the most for me was the 3rd down conv %. Virginia finished 9th in the country while Iowa finished a brutal 87th (and the Big wasn't all that stellar this past year).

So, let's see what you got Mr. Reid.

...and I'm hearing Albert Young's name throwing around for the RB coach spot. Just rumors?

I believe, if I am reading his resume correctly, Wilson was also an assistant with KF at Maine.

Erb was at Iowa since 2000. Probably could have left when his market value was higher. Now he's been tagged with the dubious "pursuing other opportunities" label? Between the lines translation: he was fired. And Campbell still hasn't landed anywhere? Obvious conclusion: he was fired. But it's interesting Davis was retained when his offense sucked. 102nd in passing. 104th in rushing. 113th in scoring. So two offensive coaches who were top recruiters covering areas crucial to Iowa's success get canned. Last year's mess was their fault? SMH.

KF had better do better than 4-8 this year because he's running out of scapegoats.

You make a great point regarding the value Campbell and Erb brought to the table on the recruiting trail. It'll be vital for Iowa to fill their shoes in that regard. It'll be interesting to hear whether or not Erb lands another job in the near future. One of the recruits was told by Kirk Ferentz that Erb was looking for another job, but if he didn't find one, there was a chance he'd stay at Iowa. So it's possible that he wasn't forced out, and that he indeed found another job.

That could certainly be the case, and you're right about the way Ferentz handles these things publicly. This was a private conversation with a recruit, though, so I don't know if Ferentz would have left the door open to Erb returning in that conversation if he had in fact been forced out. Again, just speculating on my part and passing along what I've heard. I think we'll have a much better idea in the near future. If Erb is announced to have another job in the coming days, then it's possible that he left on his own accord. If not, then it's probably more likely that he was forced out.

I'd caution people against using the term "fired" in describing these staff changes. Iowa's assistant coaches work on an at-will basis and on 1-year contracts. Not getting a contract renewed or leaving on your own volition are not the same as someone walking into your office and saying "You have 15 minutes to gather your things and leave the premises."

Maybe new faces on the staff will be welcomed. One would hope the new faces will have connections with recruiting not only the same ole recruiting areas as before, but also new recruiting areas.

We all have our opinions, there is no way it was all bad luck, I just dont believe that. I know the character issues had nothing to do with him though. I just think it was time for a change