Had the same thought, plus I heard that DT is expanding his business to a 2nd location. He isn’t going to take a pay cut and uproot his family to go rescue Iowa’s wrestling program.
"DT will listen to Iowa's pitch"
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this is so unreal. No head coaching experience except with a club; rooted with farm and 'b$g' via PSWC; business established - his and wife's; 3 kids... and you want to move to Iowa?
The funny thing would be - what will Iowa fans say if he fails after3-4 years... That would be priceless
Think your all forgetting about Spencer or even Jody
Maybe that's part of Taylor's master plan. Take a job as Iowa's coach, completely destroy the team, then take the job at PSU when Cael retires.
. I kid of course. Personally I don't think Iowa is canning Brands and even if they did, I didn't think Taylor would take it.So, the state that just discovered wrestling recently bails out Iowa with 5-6 PA studs and now we may bail them out again with a guy from the very program we just found out about.
Anybody here actually know Dan Gable? I do not, but based on his commentary, I think he has great pride and a tremendous ego. Despite the blood and guts style of .....if you are having fun and enjoying yourself, you are not working hard enough. He has established a massive coaching tree beneath himself. If the AD were to fire Brands and hire somebody outside that tree without the candidate kissing his ring, I think he would be disgruntled. That would not be a good thing for the IA Admin. Taylor is a great rep of Cael and PSU and I wish him well. He would no doubt be a winner no matter where he goes. He would not be trying to live up to the Brands legacy though. IA fans are looking for the next Gable.
If you want to be head wrestling coach in D1, then what are the best jobs? In order, I’d say:
PSU
Iowa
Ok St
Ohio St
Maybe Michigan
And then a pretty big drop. (I’m amazed at what Koll and now Grey have done at Cornell, BTW.)
You’d be bat crazy to not listen to and consider the Iowa job if offered (if you want to be a D1 head coach).
PSU
Iowa
Ok St
Ohio St
Maybe Michigan
And then a pretty big drop. (I’m amazed at what Koll and now Grey have done at Cornell, BTW.)
You’d be bat crazy to not listen to and consider the Iowa job if offered (if you want to be a D1 head coach).
Yeah and the it's too early to analyze this year and think about next year quote was priceless
But don’t forget that Metcalf is still pretty young and he has a few years of assistant coaching under his belt. On top of all that, I found out that he’s a very personable guy. I wonder if anyone has attempted to contact him.
I can’t see a women’s basketball school spending crazy money on a coach for the second best wrestling team on campus
John Smith at least had the good sense to wash his hands of the Ferraris after managing to get a 197 title out AJ. Brands doesn't appear to recognize that they're collectively staining his program with ugly headlines at a time when he can't afford more ugly headlines, and he can't even point to a single W on the mat.
I'll even stipulate that the gambling story was relatively unfair because only Iowa state attorneys have bothered to poke around the issue, and if other programs in other states had been targeted they'd likely be similarly tarred. Nevertheless, the situation imposed additional pressure on Brands to keep the program's nose clean and and we see the Ferraris using the Iowa room as the backdrop for their social media content while simultaneously racking up arrests in Florida (Anthony) or getting kicked out of wrestling tournaments in Florida.
I don't know if any of this is connected to the leak of this story (which I don't buy for a second--DT and Kendra are entrenched in SC and making DT a head coach of a top program with no actual D1 coaching experience feels like stunt-casing), but Athletic Directors are effectively politicians and are (or should be if they're not) very concerned about bad headlines and are eager to know what's being done about them. And in this case, the answer to that question is confounding.
Wins are great, but Iowa has a legacy to uphold. I'll speculate is that this story was leaked to goose Tom Brands, not to replace him. It probably would've been better to handle it behind closed doors because it's gotta be embarrassing for Brands to have this story bouncing around, generally unrefuted (which maybe was the point). But if that's so, he may not react well.
Terry was out there quite a bit, including for Drake's finals match. Granted it can be hard to tell TnT apart. Took me a while even as a diehard Iowa fan.
I made a comment on another thread that I expected Brands to be called into a meeting in the ADs office as soon as she got in to work this morning. The comment was made mostly in jest, but after reading some of the comments on this thread, I wonder if there was some truth to my post.
Thinking about it… Tom was very emotional in his interview and wouldn’t talk about next year. Things leaked out about Iowa pursuing DT.
The most sensible explanation is he was already planning to step down voluntarily. As in retire.
The most sensible explanation is he was already planning to step down voluntarily. As in retire.
If Brands “voluntarily” announces that he has decided to retire after what I think was his worst season since being at Iowa, you can be sure that there is nothing voluntary about it at all.
Replacing Cael with DT? I'm sorry.......I love DT......but if Casey Cunningham is not next in line, everyone must be wearing a propeller beanie.
Iowa should hire Schwab. I think he’s a great coach who has done well with limited resources. Seems like his wrestlers really love him as well. Not sure that it would happen but I’d love to see what he could do with the resources that Iowa wrestling has.
DT has what, three young daughters correct? I know they are super young, but it might be a selling point to him about the Iowa Women's Wrestling team if he has visions of his daughters wrestling in the future.
I dunno, that's something that popped into my head as a dad of two young girls myself haha 🤷
I dunno, that's something that popped into my head as a dad of two young girls myself haha 🤷
If there's a line at all, everyone is off their rocker. Cael is only 44. We're hopefully 15 years away from that kind of talk.
This was my post, and if you had bothered to listen to the interview, that is the precise phrase DT used. If you have a problem with that, take it up with David. That said, I seriously doubt this thing has legs, this interview was seven years ago as I mentioned, and I'd be very surprised to see David at Iowa, although I don't have any inside connection either. But thanks for taking a neutral post with objectively true information and trying to use to support a narrative that all Iowa fans are nuts. I think you'd actually like most of them if you ever met one; the feeling might even be mutual.
I don't visit here nearly as often as the many PSU posters on the Iowa board, but I thought I'd check out the take on this new rumor. But seriously, the need for some on here to take everything posted on the Iowa board and spin it into some fantasy of moral and logical superiority is just bizarre. PSU could not be farther ahead of the pack, but it seems some of you are still continually threatened by Iowa wrestling's mere existence. Just enjoy being a fan of the team at the top of the mountain for a minute or two.
I think you are misconstruing a board joke (“dream school”) with a slight.
I agree we would all get along fine in the real world. Are you going to the trials? Let me buy you a beer if you are.
And yes - we are threatened by Iowa. That’s a compliment to Iowa.
I have no idea if it’s true or not. I have no idea if DT would consider it or not. But if I was IOWA AD and I was 💯 committed to restoring IOWA wrestling, and considered doing so crucial to IOWA’s athletic identity, and IF ”crazy” money was available - I would absolutely throw it at DT. His developmental skills, his passion for the sport, his ties to HS kids, his name recognition, and his contacts to fill a phenomenal staff are all at premium levels. Thats A LOT of IFs. But if so, I could care less about his managerial acumen or his head coaching experience.
EDIT: Oh, and I 100% believe Cael would fully support him doing so
EDIT: Oh, and I 100% believe Cael would fully support him doing so
DT 1st order of business: tell Terry and Nelson Brands to beat it and take Ferrari too, I doubt he brings back Bobby Telford as head recruiter also
As @mcpat said, I was riffing on a popular board meme. I well remember the episode as I was a big fan of the TRow and Funky show. I’m bummed they stopped it
Perhaps you should have been here for the 3-4 years of arrogance and denial that HR visitors would heap upon us, or maybe the 10 years of accusations that have followed and continue to this day.
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The bottom line is that this is the Penn State message board. You know, the same team that just set a new scoring record and totally dominated the entire 2023-2024 season in spite of a few unfortunate injuries.
If someone wants to read more balanced commentary about college wrestling, they should go to a neutral message board that just discusses wrestling in general without any partisan bias towards one particular school. Here, we see everything through blue and white tinted glasses and it’s not realistic to expect anything else.
WE ARE ……
I doubt very much DT is sharing his inner most career thoughts to the crowd surrounding him. "I will listen to them" tells you everything you need to know in terms of possible vs impossible. I wish it were impossible.
That's actually a good question, probably depending on how he would handle the RTC. Would he repopulate it with his guys, or try to coach up the existing talent? If he went scorched earth, he might be fighting an uphill battle with the fans.
This move would have so many angles, so many layers. I honestly can't see Iowa going outside the tree for the next hire. It would be very complicated.
Fair enough, mea culpa. I stand by the remainder of my post though.
I would love to make it to trials, but it's not in the cards this year with work and kids. You seem like a genuinely nice guy, and I'd be down to grab a beer when our paths might cross. Eyeing Big Tens next year at jNW, and maybe Philly for nationals. Not that I'm excited for what's likely to be another PSU crowning, but as an absolute con law and history nerd, I could spend weeks at the Constitution center there.
Iowa had a very tough year from start to finish starting with Spencer getting pinned, what a challenging off season gambling, plus all the Ferarri crap.
Yes it's a new AD, but Brands is newly signed through 2029. A couple more mediocre years could do TnT in.
I have been saying for a while though the Ferraris coming in could bring the whole house of cards down in less than a season. It's seems that AJs ship may have sailed but any kind of Ferrari based scandal or unlawful activity could cost the twins their jobs in a heartbeat. With this latest fiasco in Florida, are the Hawkeyes officially down to only one Ferrari? I guess we will have to see, but if I were Tom, one on the team with the rest in the stands is enough to manage.
Yes it's a new AD, but Brands is newly signed through 2029. A couple more mediocre years could do TnT in.
I have been saying for a while though the Ferraris coming in could bring the whole house of cards down in less than a season. It's seems that AJs ship may have sailed but any kind of Ferrari based scandal or unlawful activity could cost the twins their jobs in a heartbeat. With this latest fiasco in Florida, are the Hawkeyes officially down to only one Ferrari? I guess we will have to see, but if I were Tom, one on the team with the rest in the stands is enough to manage.
Gotcha, misunderstanding on my part. Carry on and I guess we'll all see what the future holds.
I suspect a hypothetical new coach would bring in new talent gradually but not overhaul immediately.
Looking at the HWC roster, it's not terrible. It's not nearly at the level of PSU or Michigan, but it's not a bad starting point. Not where it should be but far better than it was a few years ago. It does need more middle- and upper-weights.
Our Team - HWC
HAWKEYE WRESTLING CLUB Meet The Team Meet Our Team Over the last 50 years the Hawkeye Wrestling Club has been led by people that believe deeply in the development and growth of its athletes - both on the mat and off. There's a reason our athletes are known for their…
hawkeyewrestlingclub.com
The toughest nut to crack would be Spencer. He's obviously the best wrestler on the roster, also the wrestler with the most to lose in a regime change and the one with the most fan backing. If he doesn't buy in or doesn't feel he can win world gold there, then he has to move on. And that would cause backlash.
For that reason alone, a hypothetical new coach might consider keeping Dan Dennis around as the HWC coach for at least a year or two.
Don't forget #6 .... Cael actively seeked PSU out. Twice, in the winter (went ignored because they thought he was just leveraging PSU for money) then again in the summer. Cael had goals that he knew PSU could help propel and we are witnessing it all come true. Cael didn't call PSU to demand a kings ransom and his own words, it was a pay raise but very miniscule. In fact, apparently the biggest cost was he wanted Cody and Casey to make a salary that would keep them there for the long run (and here we are)
DT has never actively seeked to be a college wrestling coach at all, his focus was his career first and foremost. If his goal was to be a college HC, 2021 after the Olympics was a good time to start, he wasn't going to boost his resume further by winning more medals and another Olympic gold. Now I'm not saying he isn't interested in Iowa, he would be a fool not to listen to what they want to present to him. We bag on them but they obviously are a golden program in college wrestling and could pay almost anything. That being said, the move will be expensive, starting with paying Brands his entire contract I imagine (which is already top HC salary) while paying DT even more and funding his assistants (bidding against PSU basically) Then finally, I imagine a pretty premium for everything he has to close down with his wife in State College. Once again, Iowa could do it and if they think this is their best option, they will.
The big question here is risk, the new AD would be betting on it all on a first time college coach. If this move somehow doesn't work out, she will have a lot of questions to answer about dumping this much onto a nonrevenue sport as is. And what is "work out" for this kind of investment? IMO success here is defined by the top standard, DT better overtake Cael and PSU and restart the string of Iowa titles like PSU is doing now, not closing the gap, not just being proud you're taking PSU into Saturday night and losing anyways, not we won 1 in a down year for PSU (Brands just did that, arguably twice) no he must over take PSU as the dynasty.
So would DT be able to do that against Cael? Don't forget, one of the key advantages of PSU is geography (why Cael took the job). The top kids are in NJ/PA still, PSU is still the convenient choice. Second, DT will absolutely jump start their recruiting but Cael is still the one with the proven system, DT is a product of that system. For the record, not denying kids will like the "new young coach" but Cael is still pretty young and has the sage like presence to him. It'll make things more difficult for us but I still think Cael will continue to have his pick of the litter for top kids. We have an AD and booster (Ira, who has arguably top power of the NIL collective) who are quite big on keeping wrestling up top as well.
