Hlas: Ferentz made changes ... and stayed the same

IOWA CITY — Before this year, Kirk Ferentz would bring a Post-it note with him to his in-season Tuesday Iowa football press conferences.

Sitting at a table, he'd make a few quick remarks off his four or five talking points on the small piece of paper, then do a Q&A with the assembled media. It was casual.

This year, Ferentz stands at a podium. On Tuesday, as has been the case all season, he had about five minutes worth of structured comments. He is more businesslike than in the past, more direct and purposeful, more formal. Then he takes questions, where the tone typically lightens the longer the session goes.

That in itself isn't a bit newsworthy. But it's indicative of tweaking he has done since last season ended, an internal look at updating his program and even his presentation of it.

Last off-season, Ferentz reviewed tapes of his postgame press conferences from the last two games of the 2015 season, losses to Nebraska and Tennessee. He didn't like what he saw from himself, the wording or the tone. So he has changed it.

Ferentz was 59 when last season ended, and is 60 now. Many a person his age who has experienced significant success would be averse to change no matter how many wolves howled outside the door.

But no business stays the same, and those who don't change pay for it eventually. However, you can change and yet still cling to the foundation that made you successful in the first place.

Iowa is a hard place to win. You can do almost everything right here, but it's no guarantee you'll always reap desired results. But when you aren't doing almost everything right, your chances of being a big winner are nil.

But if you keep evaluating and re-evaluating without abandoning who or what you are, the bumps won't be as bumpy and the bounce-backs will be quicker.

This season is the bounce-back of bounce-backs here. It came just several months after a discouraging end to a season. Recently, Iowa offensive line coach Brian Ferentz described the culture of the Hawkeyes' program last season as 'weak.'

Not the principles, but the execution of them. So meetings were held, ideas were kicked around, minds were open.

That could be part of why there have been no told-you-sos coming from Kirk Ferentz this fall toward all among us who questioned where his program had gone and was going, who wondered if he had maybe forever lost the fans. Because he and his coaches questioned themselves.

Today, Iowa is 10-0. If it beats Purdue Saturday in Kinnick Stadium, it will represent the West Division in the Big Ten's championship game. Will there be any told-you-sos from Ferentz then? It's less likely than even a Purdue victory.

I asked him Tuesday if he had any impulse to tell the world he's known what he was doing all along. He immediately joked he wasn't sure if he knew what he was doing right now. Then he kind of/didn't really answer the question by saying this:

'It's not so much about results but it's about the way you're doing things, and my illustration there would be our '13 team versus '14 team, one-game difference in terms of wins, but if you really look at that '13 team, that team maxed out in my opinion. That's an opinion; I'm not claiming it to be a fact.

'Look at the teams that we lost to, where they went. Northern Illinois played in the Orange Bowl, I'm pretty sure that year. We lost to really good teams and we didn't embarrass ourselves. That's one way to look at it.

'Last year we left opportunity on the table, and I've mentioned that many times. That's one thing we're doing a better job of this year is taking what's out there and trying to maximize it.'

My translation: 'Nothing good comes from gloating. We're happy with how things are going, and that's plenty.'

Not everyone looks in the mirror. Ferentz did. He doesn't have a different reflection than he ever had before. His most-important features haven't been altered.

But there are subtle changes. Winning changes.

Comments: (319) 368-8840; mike.hlas@thegazette.com