Look Ahead to 2012: Hiring right defensive coordinator a key
Next football season — Sept. 1, to be exact — Iowa will play Northern Illinois at Soldier Field in Chicago.
James Vandenberg will throw the ball to Hawkeye receivers like Keenan Davis and Kevonte Martin-Manley, he’ll hand the ball to anyone still standing at tailback — and someone will formulate the defensive strategy.
That’s the biggest offseason situation after Iowa finished 2011 with a 7-6 record following Friday’s Insight Bowl 31-14 loss against 19th-ranked Oklahoma at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
Norm Parker retired after 40-plus years as a coach, the final 13 as coach Kirk Ferentz’s defensive coordinator.
Defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski accepted a similar position at Nebraska just before the bowl game, leaving two positions open on what has been a stable staff.
It could take awhile to fill the voids — and Ferentz says he’s all right with that.
“It’s more important to get the right person,” he said. “If it costs us a recruit or two, we will make up for that next year.
“Replacing Norm Parker — you don’t just jump at that. I’m going to make sure we have the right people in place.”
Ferentz’s history has been to promote from within his staff, and conventional thought centers on secondary coach Phil Parker and linebacker coach Darrell Wilson being in the mix to become coordinator.
LeVar Woods is a possibility to replace Kaczenski, a role the former Hawkeye player filled in the practices before the bowl game.
“I would consider anybody,” Ferentz said. “I would consider anybody who is a good fit for our program, including former players.”
That would seem to also include guys like former Hawkeye Bob Diaco, Notre Dame defensive coordinator; and maybe even Ferentz’s son Brian, who is tight ends coach for the New England Patriots.
“We have a lot of former players,” Kirk Ferentz said. “Here we go with the rumor mill.”
Some players — present and past — threw their support to coaches they know in the days leading up to the bowl game.
“I’ve been around a lot of good football coaches … and I’d love to see coach Parker as the defensive coordinator,” former Iowa safety Sean Considine told a cluster of reporters at practice last week.
Linebacker Tyler Nielsen also leaned toward the coaches he knows.
“Either Phil Parker or coach Wilson will do a great job,” Nielsen said. “LeVar’s been doing a good job while filling in for coach K.”
Another question that will be answered before spring practice starts in March will be running back, where 1,384-yard rusher Marcus Coker was suspended before the bowl game for violating the student-athlete code of conduct.
“The invitation is there for him to come back,” athletic director Gary Barta said.
Stay tuned.
A LOOK BACK AT THE SEASON
High point: The Hawkeyes’ sky, once believed to be falling, became sunny again after a 24-16 upset of 13th-ranked Michigan at Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeye team with the head-scratching loss at Minnesota became bowl eligible after beating the Wolverines for the third time in a row, and it came at a time when some fans questioned the program’s direction. Minnesota beat Iowa on a touchdown with 2:48 remaining a week earlier, so the Hawkeyes were used to drama when a last-drive catch by Michigan’s Junior Hemingway in the back of the end zone was ruled incomplete. “It couldn’t happen two weeks in a row,” Broderick Binns said. “We looked at each other — it wasn’t going to happen again.”
Low point: From a game standpoint, clearly the loss at Minnesota created the most head-scratching. “I would call today a team loss,” coach Kirk Ferentz said after a 22-21 loss against a two-win Minnesota team the Hawkeyes actually led by 11 points with just less than 14 minutes to play. “If you don’t finish drives and get points, that will come back and get you,” Ferentz added. “If you can’t stop the run, at some point it’s going to get you, and we didn’t really do anything to distinguish ourselves on special teams.” From a personnel standpoint, Marcus Coker’s pre-bowl suspension tops the list.
Could have used: As good as Coker was, he could have used a trusted backup. But that wasn’t the case, and that’s why the sophomore carried a whopping 281 times – the sixth-highest total in the nation. The best option, Mika’il McCall, was suspended before the bowl game for reasons unknown. The Hawkeyes could have used him in the bowl game, but instead, turned to more unproven backs.
Offensive MVP: Marvin McNutt rewrote the record books after having the best season — and career — of any Iowa receiver. “Marvin has put the work in,” coach Kirk Ferentz said. “You look at two of the guys that he’s passed, Tim Dwight and Danan Hughes. Both had excellent NFL careers. So it is a real tribute to Marvin to make a position switch (from quarterback) and pass two guys who were career receivers at Iowa. It really speaks to the work he has done. I’m really happy to see him have that kind of success.
Defensive MVP: Iowa doesn’t pull off its biggest upset of the season without defensive end Broderick Binns. Against 13th-ranked Michigan, Binns not only had three tackles for loss, but he broke up three passes. The 6-foot-2, 261-pound senior was named to the media’s second all-Big Ten team and his coaches selected him as the team’s defensive MVP after leading the Hawkeyes in tackles for loss with 12. He was second in sacks with five.
Reasons for optimism: Quarterback James Vandenberg returns to guide an offense that could include eight who started — if junior left tackle Riley Reiff chooses college over the NFL draft, and if running back Marcus Coker returns to the team. While there’s a big void with the loss of McNutt, Vandenberg has experienced receivers in Keenan Davis and Kevonte Martin-Manley. “It’s not like there won’t be anyone to throw to,” McNutt said. “There’s a lot of good guys on this team just waiting their turn.”
Reasons for pessimism: Cynics might think otherwise, but losing three starting defensive linemen never is good. A new defensive coordinator and a new defensive line coach must find a way to shore up a rush defense that allowed an average of 156.0 yards a game. Whoever Ferentz hires, there will be a transition period; not only new coaches instilling new idea, but new starters and their backups now becoming significant contributors. Of course, this all changes if Coker doesn’t return. Then the pessimism factor turns to the running back position.
WHAT’S BACK
Rushing yards
(Assuming Marcus Coker and Mika’il McCall return from suspensions)
Returning: 97.1 percent
Departing: 2.9 percent
Passing yards
Returning: 100.0 percent
Departing: 0 percent
Receiving yards
Returning: 46.6 percent
Departing: 53.4 percent
Scoring
Returning: 74.9 percent
Departing: 25.1 percent
Tackles
Returning: 54.8 percent
Departing: 45.2 percent
Sacks
Returning: 27.3 percent
Departing: 72.7 percent
Tackles for loss
Returning: 32.3 percent
Departing: 67.7 percent
2012 SCHEDULE
Sept. 1 vs. Northern Illinois at Soldier Field
Sept. 8 vs. Iowa State
Sept. 15 vs. Northern Iowa
Sept. 22 vs. Central Michigan
Sept. 29 vs. Minnesota
Oct. 13 at Michigan State
Oct. 20 vs. Penn State
Oct. 27 at Northwestern
Nov. 3 at Indiana
Nov. 10 vs. Purdue
Nov. 17 at Michigan
Nov. 23 vs. Nebraska
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes Football
Tom Bradley’s gonna be looking for a job in a few hours
http://blog.pennlive.com/bobflounders/2012/01/one_of_a_kind_longtime_penn_st.html
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Let’s stay away from him…and the scandal filled State Penn Program. Too bad for Tom, but he was part of a staff and probably heard all of the rumors. Bad things happen when good people do nothing.
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Pat:
1. McCall is gone. The head games of “he’s ready to go, we’re just waiting for the RIGHT time to put him in” while holding him out 3 extra games after “being ready” rightly drove him nuts and he’s gone.
2. The line, as vaunted as it’s supposed to be, was even more disappointing than the DL this year. We KNEW the DL would struggle – the OL was supposed to be the bedrock of the offense and the team. It wasn’t close to that.
3. Iowa SHOULD be 5-0 going into MSU, but I’m guessing that we’ll find a way to be 3-2.
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McCall is not gone. Latest news is that when he puts a charge behind him that is bogus, he will again be on the team in good standing. From what I hear, it’s something that KF had no choice but to do, but it was something bogus and is about to be proved as such.
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McCall is gone
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As I said before, McCall’s gone. Hopefully Coker gets his off-field stuff straightened out, and WITH Garmon SPLITTING the carries, the Hawks have a one-two punch that will score points consistently next year. That’s only going to work if KF doesn’t play the same mind games with Garmon that he played with McCall.
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In retrospect, I think you mean Coker will be back, not McCall.
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Heard the same thing regarding the bogus charge.
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Well, I stand corrected on McCall. I wish him well and wish I knew all the particulars, but don’t know if any of us ever will. It had more to do with his disappointment over playing time, I’m sure.
I’m encouraged by Greg Garman’s commitment to Iowa. If he has the same drive and character as former Hawks from Erie, PA (Bob Sanders, Ed Hinkel and Javon Johnson) he will be a good one.
I wonder if Canzeri could be turned into a wide receiver. He seemed to have great hands.
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Now that it is official and McCall is gone, I hope he puts out a full statement of what he was put through by the staff. I am with LettermanHawk. They screwed him over, burned his potential injury redshirt and then punished him for some unnamed “rules violation”, which looks more like he questioned the staff on their handling of him, and they were not about to put up with that for a second. It’s a free country, I guess, at least until you sign a letter of intent with Iowa. Then it changes.
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They did screw him our of his red-shirt, but I doubt he’ll ever release a statement because it could also include the mysterious bogus charges that another student has on him and I doubt he’d want to talk about that.
If it was all about him questioning the staff and their decision that created his downfall, he probably should have handled it better if it lead him to be suspended. Even though it is a free country, I could go and say some stuff to my boss that would get me fired. My freedom of speach rights can’t protect me from being fired much like they can’t protect a player who crosses the line, if in fact there was a line that was crossed.
It’s like the “how many licks does it take to get to the middle of a tootsie pop commercial”….. The world may never know.
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Nothing like a 4-day waiting period to see your comments posted here on Hawk Central.
Kinda funny that it only takes THREE DAYS to buy a gun – guess comments are much more dangerous than guns!
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[...] Of all the Hawkeyes’ running back departures — Adam Robinson, Brandon Wegher, Jewel Hampton, Mika’il McCall — Coker’s is the most mysterious and potentially the most damaging. Head coach Kirk Ferentz still hasn’t specified why Coker was suspended for the Insight Bowl — the team called it a violation of university policy and the student-athlete code of conduct. While McCall seemed likely to return after his suspension, Coker’s situation seemed different. Athletic director Gary Barta said last month that Coker had an invitation to return to the team. [...]
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