Itās long overdue. Too late as a matter of fact. Writing has been on the wall for all to see and now the choices are to stick with the current coaches and completely drive the program into the ground or act in desperation because leadership didnāt plan ahead. Is what it is.
Agree 100%. Under the current NIL structure, IOWA the wrestling mecca, results should be GOLDEN. Iowa has many built in advantages to leverage.
But it requires skills Brands and Company do not have. The deficiencies were apparent, for those who looked, even back when IOWA was still competitive for National Championships.
University of Iowa Tradition/Program MONEY, name recognition and early program success, along with an intense, populous fighting attitude kept Brands and Company relevant. Brands and Company are an entertainment for hardcore wrestling fans and great, loyal men. But this is no longer enough.
Those built in advantages allowed the faithful to remain mostly engaged. But the failures to capitalize and allow other programs to leverage and take away Iowa's built in advantages, falls squarely and unapologetically on Iowa Leadership. It was a continuous slow drip and crack that is now a river, with no dam in sight.
NOTE: (I honestly stopped following the team as the reality, in fact, inevitability, of what was to come, appeared extremely likely. The results and product became far too predictable. Yet they carried on with fewer wrestlers reaching the top each March and the team filled with bigger and bigger questions. If the goal was to gut the Iowa brand, and keep IOWA on it's knees, then mission accomplished--- via the handicap that Brands and Company have sadly become.)