Your guide to the new-look Hawkeyes

[ 1 ] August 26, 2011 | Ryan Suchomel

Rebuild, reload. Tomato, tow-mAHto.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is starting his 13th season at the helm of the Hawkeyes. Only one coach in Iowa history stayed in the job longer.

Ferentz has been here long enough that things shouldn’t drastically change from one year to the next, but the 2011 version of the Hawkeyes is certainly a lot different than last year’s.

Iowa has a lot of new faces on the field this fall, and to sync up with the new 12-team Big Ten, we’re taking a look at the 12 on-field changes for the Hawkeyes going into the 2011 season.

1. Shotgun wedding. QB Ricky Stanzi went 26-9 over the past three season for the Hawkeyes and only missed two games due to injury.

Fortunately, the guy who filled in those two games Stanzi missed in 2009 was James Vandenberg, who takes over this fall and has the full faith of his coach.

“I’ve made the point on the banquet circuits, sometimes good players get positioned behind other good players,” Ferentz said. “The quarterback position is one of those that’s hard to play the number two guy.”

Vandenberg completed 42-of-87 passes for 470 yards and two touchdowns as a redshirt freshman filling in for Stanzi. More importantly, he went to the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio, and nearly knocked off the Buckeyes on their home field in his first start.

Considering Iowa hasn’t won in Columbus since 1991, that wasn’t a bad debut.

And Vandenberg has more than one fan. College football commentator Matt Millen said he loves what he sees in Vandenberg, and thought he was ready to play last year.

“Stanzi certainly deserved to play. He was a senior. He did not do anything to not play,” Millen said at Big Ten media days. “But I just think Vandenberg will be better.”

Expectations are high. And with no clear-cut No. 2 behind him, Vandenberg is likely the player Iowa can least afford to lose to injury.

2. Safety dance. Tyler Sash decided to head to the NFL a year early, meaning the tandem of Sash and Brett Greenwood is gone. The duo “only” started 82 games for Iowa over the past four years.

The two safety positions were a big toss up going into camp. Micah Hyde was shifted from corner to free safety. Tanner Miller was second team after missing time in the spring due to surgery. Miller got on the field last fall as a true freshman.

Collin Sleeper came into camp at strong safety and senior Tom Donatell was listed behind him.

“We have some guys who are interesting to watch, we just have to get settled in and figure out how the pieces fit together,” Ferentz said.

There is a general agreement that Iowa has talent in the defensive backfield, but much of it is untested. True freshman Nico Law leads a list of talented young players that may eventually push for playing time as the season moves along.

3. Where have all the dreadlocks gone? Adrian Clayborn hoped his senior season would be one long hug between himself and the Iowa fans, who liked the fact he turned away from the NFL and returned for one more year.

Clayborn didn’t have the big stats he did as a junior, but was still a good enough player to be an all-American and a first-round NFL Draft pick.

And now Iowa doesn’t have anyone with his resume as a defensive playmaker and disruptive force off the edge.

Can Broderick Binns and Lebron Daniel provide the pressure? Binns came into last season as a starter but sputtered, recording just one tackle for loss.

“We are going to be a little different, certainly,” Ferentz said. “We don’t have guys with the girth of Adrian.”

Junior Joe Gaglione and senior Joe Forgy were listed a second-team defensive ends coming into camp, but are they really ready to be next men in? Neither has so much as a tackle to their name.

If not, some underclassmen maybe called on. Mike Hardy (6-5, 270) is a redshirt freshman who showed up on the depth chart early. Darian Cooper (6-2, 280) is a true freshman who worked with the second unit at Kids Day.

4. Where’s the beef? Both defensive tackles — Christian Ballard and Karl Klug — graduated and were drafted this spring.

The good news first. Mike Daniels (6-1, 280) emerged last season and forced himself into the lineup with his play. A raging bull on the line, Daniels was second on the team with 11 tackles for loss and four sacks rushing up the middle.

Sophomore Dominic Alvis was listed at the other tackle spot. He is going to need to be a playmaker, because most 255-pound defensive tackles don’t survive long in the Big Ten.

“I’d probably compare him more to Karl in that he’s a little more linear than Mitch (King) and Matt Kroul,” Ferentz said. “But, you, know, some parallels.”

If the Hawkeyes determine they want more size, they may turn to redshirt freshman Carl Davis early and often. He’s one of the biggest defensive linemen Iowa has ever had at 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds.

“He’s definitely our biggest lineman,” Binns said. “He’s working on keeping his weight down.”

Senior Tom Nardo (6-3) and junior Steve Bigach (6-3, 282) are also listed.

5. Oy vey, DJK! All Derrell Johnson-Koulianos was for Iowa was its all-time leading receiver in both catches and yardage.

But the star receiver, who had a permanent spot in Coach Ferentz’s dog house, was shown out of the program after drug charges in December of last year.

Love him or loathe him, he will be hard to replace. In addition to catching 46 passes for 745 yards and a team-high 10 touchdowns last fall, DJK also seemed to come up with the big catches at critical times.

Everyone expects Marvin McNutt to continue the progression from quarterback to all-Big Ten receiver, but unless the Hawkeyes develop a second and third option at receiver, McNutt may face double teams much of the time.

Junior Keenan Davis, who played as a true freshman, is the player that has to step forward. He had 11 catches for 131 yards last season.

“We’re expecting a lot out of Keenan Davis,” Ferentz said. “Based on what we saw in the spring, we think he’s capable.”

Redshirt freshman Kevonte Martin-Manley was thought to have the inside track at the third receiver spot but Iowa could favor junior Steven Staggs or sophomore Don Shumpert.

Iowa has a pair of freshmen — Marcus Grant and Jacob Hillyer — that may work themselves into a job, as well.

“We have a pretty good feeling about the front line guys, but we have a lot of work to do with the guys behind them,” Ferentz said.

6. Too many running backs!!! Yeah, that was the problem last fall. At the very start of the 2010 camp most Hawkeye fans wondered if there would be enough footballs for Brandon Wegher, Adam Robinson, and Jewel Hampton.

All three left the program over the course of the year.

Sophomore Marcus Coker proved in the Insight Bowl that he is capable of being the top back in Iowa’s offense. He ran for 219 yards on 33 carries and earned MVP honors.

But given Iowa’s history with running backs, it never hurts to check the depth chart.

For the Hawkeyes, that means a lot of young, inexperienced backs.

Junior Jason White is a converted defensive back. Redshirt freshman De’Andre Johnson missed all of last season due to injury.

“Jason’s been strong in our program in a lot of areas,” Ferentz said. “De’Andre Johnson wasn’t at full speed last fall. He looked better in the spring.”

Running back is definitely a spot where the true freshmen could earn playing time. Ferentz signed three this spring. At Kids Day, Mika’il McCall got the most reps, but Damon Bullock or Jordan Canzeri could see time as well.

7. And another one to the NFL. Iowa tight ends seem to matriculate to the NFL, and so it was this past year, when Allen Reisner headed to camp after catching 42 passes for 460 yards his final season.

Senior Brad Herman (6-5, 255) was his understudy last season and caught nine passes for 154 yards. He’s a big target who has learned to become a blocker.

Sophomore C.J. Fiedorowicz (6-7, 265) has the size, strength and speed and came to Iowa as one of the top-recruited tight ends in the country. He helps keep pushing Herman to be better.

“You’ve got to keep working hard,” Herman said. “You can’t relax because you’re the number one guy. I want to strive to be the best tight end in the Big Ten and the country. That’s part of being an Iowa tight end; aiming for those goals.”

Junior Zach Derby (6-3, 240) has experience but may be pushed by some talented true freshmen. Ray Hamilton (6-5, 235) especially looks ready to step in and play right away.

8. Put your leg into it. Ryan Donahue was the Iowa punter for the past four seasons, most of them good. Scratch that, very good.

Donahue after all, was a finalist for the Ray Guy Award last season and his booming punts tilted the field in the Hawkeyes’ favor more often than not.

In steps senior Eric Guthrie, who has spent the past four years learning under Donahue. And since he was at Iowa on an academic scholarship, he probably picked up a thing or two.

“We’ve had good luck with punters all the way through,” Ferentz said. “I think Eric Guthrie will do a great job.

“But when you lose an NFL punter, it’s like losing a player at any position. It’s a big dent, but we’ll be okay.”

Ferentz has to hope Guthrie can do the job. There was no one behind him in camp. Back-up quarterback John Wienke took snaps as the second punter. Rugby player Jonny Mullings is expected back at some point in the preseason.

9. Factor back. Since the Hawkeyes rarely use the fullback for much more than another blocker, and run plenty of one-back sets, how much Iowa will miss three-year starter Brett Morse is hard to quantify.

Brad Rodgers proved he could be a crushing blocker last fall, but may miss the season with a health issue.

In steps junior Jonathan Gimm (6-3, 240) a converted tight end.

“Jonathan looked more comfortable during bowl prep working strictly at fullback and we saw that continue in the spring,” Ferentz said. “We’re very hopeful that we’ll get Brad back, but first things first; we want him to be healthy.”

10. But can they sing? Offensive line is going to be such a big strength, its easy to forget that the Hawkeyes have to replace two-fifths of the line.

Both guards that started the Insight Bowl have graduated with Julian Vandervelde — famous for his off-field singing talent — heading to the NFL.

Senior Adam Gettis, who started two games last fall before getting hurt, looks to have locked down the right guard spot.

Sophomore Nolan MacMillan — who started the first six games as a redshirt freshman before getting hurt — looks like a natural fit at left guard, but missed a lot of camp with injury.

Junior Matt Tobin got the start at left guard at Kids Day, but a lot of offensive linemen were in T-shirts and shorts that day. Redshirt freshman Brandon Scherff, sophomore Conor Boffeli, and senior Woody Orne could factor into that final spot and provide depth either way.

A dark horse for playing time could be redshirt freshman Andrew Donnal (6-7, 302), a natural tackle who played in the Army All-American Bowl in 2010 and was tossing around D-lineman at Kids Day.

“We have a lot of new guys coming in that don’t know the tempo of a whole season yet,” Gettis said. “I think the best five players are going to play.”

11. Oh, snap. It may hardly ever be noticed, but Iowa did lose its long-snapper Andy Schultz. He was signed by an NFL team this fall, so he must be pretty good at his job.

Fortunately, like at quarterback, his successor got a little experience last fall because of injury. Sophomore Casey Kreiter (6-3, 250) was forced into action late in the game against Minnesota when Schultz got hurt.

A first-team all-state lineman from DeWitt, Kreiter has had a full offseason to practice what has become a specialized craft.

12. Young ones. Big Ten Network talking heads have pointed out, several times, they really like the young players Iowa brought in this year.

You can never tell for sure since they hand out compliments like party favors when they visit each school during the fall … but it seems like this recruiting class may see the field early and often.

It’s been several years since Ferentz decided to burn redshirts whenever and wherever it made sense, even if meant losing a year of eligibility with a player who may not be a starter as a freshman.

“It’s kind of like getting your hair cut, you can’t put more back on,” Ferentz said last fall. “If the guy goes out there, he’s out there. If we’re not sure, I think you have to be conservative. That would be my opinion because once you do it, it’s done.”

Iowa played nine true freshmen last year, three in 2009, and seven in 2008. Of the nine who played last year, all nine were listed on the two-deep at the start of camp.

James Morris (LB), Christian Kirksey (LB), Mike Meyer (K), and Marcus Coker (RB) were listed as starters.

“If a guy does play as a true freshman, it probably expedites his route to a starting position,” Ferentz said. “It’s just kind of a little bit of a gut feel, a judgment call and also the players have (a say).”

Darin Cooper (DL), Ray Hamilton (TE), Nico Law (DB), Mika’il McCall (RB), Jordan Canzeri (RB), Marcus Grant (WR), and Jacob Hillyer (WR) may all see the field before the season is over.