Hermann to Iowa as DC?
I have heard this floated a little while back and I gave it as much value as Soup potentially becoming the Iowa OC. HOWEVA, one of Iowa's DT signees posted last night on Facebook that Hermann was indeed to become the next DC at Iowa. Captain Kirk and Lloyd are close acquaintences, Hermann would know the B1G, but, well it seems a bit off. Hermann ran crazy complex schemes which made him great for the NFL. Iowa has excelled using lesser talent in a very basic scheme with limited blitzing to allow for simple reads, "fast play" and ability to quickly integrate personnel. Anyway, will be interesting if it plays out.
Check it out at BHGP
http://www.blackheartgoldpants.com/2012/2/6/2767469/its-not-plagiarism-if-you-link-to-it#storyjump
February 6th, 2012 at 3:03 PM ^
This excites me greatly and it has nothing to do with me liking Jim Herrmann.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:11 PM ^
Denard will gain 1,000 yards in the Iowa game.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:40 PM ^
500 in the air / 300 on the ground / 200 by sea.
February 6th, 2012 at 5:19 PM ^
This isn't Tecmo Super Bowl...and he's not Bo Jackson. 1000 yards...in ONE game?!
Here's my calculator.
250 yards from the 2011 Iowa game + 40 additional yards for being a senior (10 per year) + 1 yard for every second the camera shows Denard in the last minute of a basketball game (59 times) + 3 yards which equals the number of points you get for Kirk Ferentz' favorite play in football + 133 yards for Team 133 + 14 yards for the number of points the refs gave Iowa on that last drive (7x2)...add that up....
250+40+59+3+133+14 = 499 yards
Multiply that by 2 for the Jim Hermann factor vs. a running QB
499 yards x 2 (Hermann Factor) = 998 yards.
Denard Robinson will have 998 yards vs. Iowa.
Told you. 1000 was just out of the question.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:15 PM ^
Hermann was always one of my favorite assistant coaches here and I wish him nothing but the best. I absolutely loved (and agreed btw) his philosophy that first and foremost you MUST get pressure on the QB. If you can do with it the front four - great. If not...send somebody. If 5 isn't getting it done..send 6 and so on until you DO get somebody in the QB's grill.
High risk - high reward D that attacks. Granted you need the players to make it work but in 1997 we saw just how much that approach can be.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:30 PM ^
You could have run nearly any scheme in 1997 and looked like a genius.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:46 PM ^
Herrmann was a high-risk, high-reward guy early on, but sometime around 1999 or 2000 he seemed to adopt a much more passive, don't-give-up-the-big-play attitude. As time went on, fans became increasingly frustrated over what seemed like a lack of pressure up front.
February 6th, 2012 at 5:16 PM ^
Looking back now, I didn't really get frustrated until around 2004 with Herrman. I wanted him gone after the 2005 opener against Northern Illinois. It was a 33-17 win but the D still gave up some big plays and I think coming off that Rose Bowl loss to Vince Young (with about 250 missed tackles) I had had enough.
I got my wish as he was gone after that season. But within 4 years, Greg Robinson came and...well, we know what happened there. That felt like a careful what you wish for fate type of moment.
February 7th, 2012 at 12:22 AM ^
Going on memory and not numbers, my impression of Herrmann's defenses in one word: 1997-otherworldy, 1998-meh, 1999-decent, 2000-horrible, 2001-respectable, 2002-disappointing, 2003-good, 2004-horrific, 2005-awful
February 6th, 2012 at 3:15 PM ^
Victory to The Iowa!
February 6th, 2012 at 3:45 PM ^
February 6th, 2012 at 4:26 PM ^
Then hastily replaced Iowa since I realized Hawks would be too vague. Unfortunately, there was additional editing needed.....
February 6th, 2012 at 4:48 PM ^
lol... Just messing around, not trying to be a dick. Thanks for the informative post.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:19 PM ^
The Iowa obtained a great hire in Hermann
February 6th, 2012 at 3:25 PM ^
The Iowa's ascension to command of the "Big Ten" Confederation is now inevitable, my friends.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:24 PM ^
Apparently no one remembers the DOOM that Michigan's defense succumbed to before the Ron English Revolution. Hermann was practically run out of town for his defense's lack of production.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:32 PM ^
sssshhhh. Wait until they actually hire him.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:38 PM ^
Apparently no one remembers that he coached one of the best defenses ever and won the NC propping up a horrid offense.
Are you implying that he has lost his mind?
I'd hate for anyone on the internet and have any reasoning and be able to figure out that a lot of factors go into the performance of a team on the field and the fact a coach has a bad season or stretch means he is a doofus and should be fired.
How many times does it have to happen before people can grasp it? Tom Coughlin is a genius today and 2 months ago he was supposed to be fired. Bellichick is a defensive genius and he rolled out the 31st ranked defense this year.
Please check in with the the Michigan St forums in 2008-09 and see what they thought of Narduzzi. Narduzzi is now a hero in East Lansing.
No one has any idea if Hermann will succeed at Iowa, but teamed with Ferentz they will probably do ok.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:43 PM ^
Horrid offense in '97? Perhaps the numbers aren't so gaudy because they called off the dogs pretty early in most games, but they were a highly efficient group that could score whenever it was needed.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:49 PM ^
First, the 1997 offense was far from horrid. It had a lot of future NFL players. The one thing it lacked was a big-play WR, because of Tai Streets' lingering injuries (although Woodson gave us a spark now and then on offense), but it scored enough to win most of our games comfortably. Our defense was so dominant that the offense could afford to sit on the ball in the second half of most games. If we had needed to score more points, we could have.
Second, the game has changed a lot since 1997. If you watch games from that season, it's amazing how much different the offenses were. Most teams used two-TE and/or two-back sets, even on passing downs. The shotgun and 3/4-WR sets were a rarity. Ryan Leaf's WSU offense was the only spread attack we faced all season.
February 6th, 2012 at 4:03 PM ^
The 97 offense was not good. Period. You are right it was a different era but our leading receiver that year was Tai Streets who had less than 500yds receiving. We averaged 3.9 yds a carry on offense.
Yes, we sat on the ball in the 2nd half of games, but in many of our biggest games the offense bogged down and had to be bailed out by the defense. Notre Dame, Ohio St and Washington St we could not score when we needed to. The offense played 1 really good game and that was the Penn St game.
The point is not debating the shades of gray of the offense. The defense won us the NC, that can't be disputed. Hermann was the DC of that defense and I find it crazy that we have won 1 NC in the last 50 years and we villify the 1 guy who got it done for us. A lot of people like to say that defense was so stacked anyone could have coached it. Really? Name the NFL All pros on that defense besides Woodson?
We had a lot of really good college players but this was not 2001 Miami talent wise.
February 6th, 2012 at 4:25 PM ^
You named three games. All the others were double-digit wins. The offense did its job most of the time. When your average margin of victory is 17 points, you're playing well as a team, not just on one side of the ball.
If your standard is "number of future NFL guys," then you can't possibly consider the '97 offense to be bad. Almost every starter on that offense got at least a cup of coffee in the NFL and Hutchinson is likely a future Hall of Famer (as is our backup QB from that season, a guy named Brady). You can argue that DeBord didn't get as much out of that group as he could have (although it never ended up mattering since we went 12-0), but it was a good group.
As for Herrmann, I'm certainly not vilifying him. You asked how the game has changed since 1997 and I answered. After offenses became increasingly open, Herrmann became less effective as a DC. Our 1998-2005 defenses were generally solid but not all that great given the amount of talent they typically had.
February 6th, 2012 at 4:29 PM ^
Probably explains the lack of yardage, though it doesn't help the offense is good point. He tore it up when they were healed in the Bowl game though.
And you could name any national championship team, and ask how many all pros there were on there. Quick, Bama 2009...how many defensive all pros?!?
That team had on offense and defense a lot of good NFL players, and even more made the NFL players.
Woodson. Hutchinson (who will go into the hall of fame). Gold who had a lot of years with the Broncos. Feely. Maurice Williams. Dhani Jones who just recently retired. James Hall who's had a LONG career. Jon Jansen who probably made an All-pro team at some point. Anthony Thomas and Chris Howard who got a cup of coffee in the NFL. Jeff Backus, still playing. Jerame Tuman who was good in the NFL. Brian Griese who played a long time. Mark Campbell, Aaron Shea, William Peterson. Josh Williams. And Brady.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:39 PM ^
Who can forget the histrionic, mad-cap gesticulating to send in plays, up to the moment the other team snapped the ball? What were our defenders doing (particularly LB's)? Watching Hermann on the sidelines.
Think Monty Burns signalling in the episode with the major league ringers playing for the Springfield Isotopes.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:40 PM ^
the "Ron English Revolution" was essentially "Get a defense full of returning starters, don't change much in terms of scheme, sit back and profit; then get exposed for being an awful defensive coordinator the next year after getting jailsexed by two rushing quarterbacks in a row, then get run out of town like the dude before you. "
February 6th, 2012 at 3:49 PM ^
Is there a patent on that process or is it considered trade secret?
February 6th, 2012 at 4:50 PM ^
I wouldn't be too hard on English. He seems to be turning things around at EMU. Going 6-6 there is an impressive feat, given that it's one of the most historically inept and downtrodden programs in FBS.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:45 PM ^
is working perfectly.
February 6th, 2012 at 4:38 PM ^
February 6th, 2012 at 5:22 PM ^
Hawkeye clip board hit him in the nads as he call in plays.
February 6th, 2012 at 6:29 PM ^
Woooo ten yard cushion on every single play!!!
February 6th, 2012 at 10:17 PM ^
You're needed as an assistant coach at a school in the B1G that has 3 vowels and 1 consonant in its name. Jim, Tom, whichever...