Accomplishments made by '23 D all the more impressive in hindsight

[ghostOfHomer777]

Look at the guys the D lost from '22 to '23 ... and then look at how Iowa still managed to win games (albeit, by the slimmest of margins):
DBs - Moss, Merriweather
LBs - Benson, Campbell
DL - Van Ness, Waggoner, Shannon

The only guy who "wasn't a starter" was Van Ness ... but he also received starter-quantity snaps. Shannon was obviously lost due to the gambling scandal.

Anyhow, by any measure, that is A LOT of defensive firepower to have to replace. We're talking about many guys who were 1st team All-B1G caliber dudes ... in a conference that actually values defense.

Phil Parker waves his wand ... his guys pour in all the sacrificial blood-sweat-and-tears ... and the illusion of "reloading" propagates. There's nothing simple about it. It's impressive how these players develop. It's a credit to their character and a credit to their coaches.

Anyhow, the Hawks now have the following personnel losses ...
DB - DeJean (only played in 10 games)
DL - Evans, Lee

By most measures ... those are pretty scant personnel losses. The measure of experience that some of the returning guys have is pretty impressive.

Nick Jackson already has 4 years starting experience ... each with 100+ tackle performances. And he continues to improve!
Given Nick's accomplishments ... it's crazy to fathom that he still may have only been our 2nd best LB! Kudos to Jay Higgins!

Look to the DB room ... Castro burst on the scene 2 years ago as an unexpected contributor when DB injuries forced DeJean to slide over to CB ... so Castro had to take over at the Cash spot. While I was a fan of Sebastian ... I saw there being plenty of young talent in the DB room ... I didn't think that it would be guaranteed that he'd be able to hold down a starting gig for the '23 season. Nothing is a given ... everything is a competition. Anyhow, Castro did nothing less than put an exclamation mark on whether his prior flashes were "real" or not ... dude was nothing less than a difference-maker!

Schulte mans a FS spot that is critical in that it is the "QB-position" of the secondary. He too has done nothing but improve. What you want in a Phil Parker secondary is great communication and consistency. When those guys are each playing their role ... that is when good things happen.

It's exciting to imagine Nwankpa continuing to improve ... and that's what he's invariably going to do. If you pay attention to PFF ... you'll notice that he graded out pretty well. Now that he has a full year of starts under his belt ... he'll invariably be able to play faster. Fun thought for us to consider ... scary prospect for our adversaries!

Obviously there's more fine young talent in the DB room too ... Lee, Entringer, Hall, Nestor, and Lutmer ... all guys who have generated internal buzz at various times. Phil will have guys ready to "step up."

You don't have a pulse if you're not excited about Iowa's '24 DBs!

Lastly, there is the DL! The stories from our DL are regularly some of my faves. I don't know if anybody on the D improved more last year than Black. He's a guy who really had generated a lot of early buzz in his career ... but between injuries and inconsistency ... we didn't see the buzz materialize on the field ... UNTIL last year! The duo of Black and Graves ... I'm really excited about those dudes! Iowa defenses have been strong when you have 1 impressive dude ... but when you have 2? When guys have what they bring to the table ... they're double-teams waiting to happen. If that happens ... that frees up Jay Higgins to get another 170+ tackles! If it doesn't ... then it equates to TFLs! Pick your poison!

On the outside ... Craig and Hurkett were rock solid! Llewellyn is reputed to be a "riser" ... and Allen has been generating buzz for 2 years now. I'm excited to see how all these guys perform ... and to see which new guys rise to the top!

I don't resort to hyperbole too often ... but this might be one of the few years when I look at the Iowa D ... and I don't know if I can point out ONE SINGLE hole in our defensive personnel!

That means that the starting bar will be high from the get-go. Then, on top of that ... these guys can still improve. They can still always better mesh together and play better as a unit. What stamp will these guys put in Hawkeye lore? I'm excited ... I think that there will be epic battles and terrific stories to watch unfold in the coming season.

 

[stanzithemanzi12]

We also played against some of the worst offenses in college football.

 

[pistachio1999]

We also played against some of the worst offenses in college football.

Somewhat fair. Rewatch against Michigan. They had them held pretty damn good. Our turnovers and that punt return miss and turrible offense killed us.

 

[jonesy5960]

The defense has been top 10 since Phil took the reins. He doesn't rebuild anymore. He reloads.

 

[Beattheohiostate]

The 2023 Iowa defense played more downs than any defense in FBS . . . and it wasn't even close. Imagine what the defensive numbers would have been had KF put a below average offense on the field instead of the very worst "offense" in all of FBS. Which is why I don't get how Phil Parker stays in Iowa City. Why waste a great defense almost every damn year?

 

[jonesy5960]

The 2023 Iowa defense played more downs than any defense in FBS . . . and it wasn't even close. Imagine what the defensive numbers would have been had KF put a below average offense on the field instead of the very worst "offense" in all of FBS. Which is why I don't get how Phil Parker stays in Iowa City. Why waste a great defense almost every damn year?

Because he likes working for/with Kirk?

 

[bradaf]

We also played against some of the worst offenses in college football.

Rutgers had the #94 scoring offense at 23.1 PPG but faced the top 4 scoring defenses in the nation in Michigan, OSU, PSU and Iowa and averaged 7.25 PPG against those defenses. They also played the #20 scoring defense in Wisconsin. They played 4 non-conference teams including 2 ACC teams and averaged 38.5 PPG never scoring less than 30.

Michigan the #1 scoring defense faced the #13 scoring offense in Washington who averaged 36.0 PPG but only managed 13 while Alabama was the #23 scoring offense at 34.0 PPG and managed 20 against Michigan. So those two play-off teams average 35 PPG and against Michigan they averaged 16.5 PPG or 18.5 below their average.

The Big 10 had the top 4 scoring defenses and #13 Nebraska, and #20 Wisconsin that sure impacts offenses.

 

[Rocket_Fran]

The 2023 Iowa defense played more downs than any defense in FBS . . . and it wasn't even close. Imagine what the defensive numbers would have been had KF put a below average offense on the field instead of the very worst "offense" in all of FBS. Which is why I don't get how Phil Parker stays in Iowa City. Why waste a great defense almost every damn year?

Because Phil doesn't consider it a waste nor do the vast majority of his peers? My question is why do you think its a waste? Genuinely.

By that logic anyone who coaches an elite unit without legit national title aspirations is wasting (their time, season, players, etc etc). Then what does that mean for the other 95% who don't coach elite units and also don't have national title aspirations. So 95% of the college football year is a waste? Or is it only a waste when one unit is elite without title implications? So, by definition being elite at his job is a waste UNLESS he's at 1 of 6 programs that actually compete for titles.

The logic makes no sense when you try to follow that train of thought. Compare that to being an athlete or literally any other profession. No one would ever say that. I bring up the broader points because "wasting defenses" sentiment has been echoed throughout the general public and in sports writing the last decade about Phil Parker's defenses. I struggle to understand it.

Phil has stayed because (number 1: he gets an amazingly stable boatload of money, duh) gets to be himself behind the walls of the football facility with genuine transparency and obviously loves the implicit reward of coaching a player and/or squad into excellence. You don't have to be cut from the same cloth to understand it. Some coaches just love to win and some coaches actually love coaching. Urban Meyer vs. Kirk Ferentz.

 

[Drinkin Buddy]

Somewhat fair. Rewatch against Michigan. They had them held pretty damn good. Our turnovers and that punt return miss and turrible offense killed us.

Smart observation.

Michigan was up 10-0 at the end of Q1 as well as at the half.

7 of those points followed the 87 yard punt return (the scoring drive was 2 plays, 5 yards) at the end of Q1.

Michigan's only other TD followed Hill's Q3 fumble and an unsportsmanlike penalty on BF. 1 play, 6 yards.

So, basically, Iowa ST's and O gifted Michigan 14 points. The defense really held them to 12 points. And these are those FG scoring drives:

• Q1: 13 plays, 52 yards
• Q3: 9 plays, 28 yards
• Q4: 4 plays, -3 yards (Iowa fumble set up field position)
• Q4: 6 plays, 14 yards (iowa turned over on downs)

Also, Iowa lost three fumbles total in the game. Michigan fumbled 3 times but recovered them all.

Michigan averaged 37 ppg in'23 on its way to the natty.

Iowa's D was legit in '23, and will be even more so in '24.

JMO

 

[Hawk_4shur]

The 2023 Iowa defense played more downs than any defense in FBS . . . and it wasn't even close. Imagine what the defensive numbers would have been had KF put a below average offense on the field instead of the very worst "offense" in all of FBS. Which is why I don't get how Phil Parker stays in Iowa City. Why waste a great defense almost every damn year?

Wasn't wasted. The D won 10 games almost by themselves. PP is getting paid, getting accolades and winning games.

And if KF "put" the offense of the field, then he put the defense on the field.

 

[pistachio1999]

Smart observation.

Michigan was up 10-0 at the end of Q1 as well as at the half.

7 of those points followed the 87 yard punt return (the scoring drive was 2 plays, 5 yards) at the end of Q1.

Michigan's only other TD followed Hill's Q3 fumble and an unsportsmanlike penalty on BF. 1 play, 6 yards.

So, basically, Iowa ST's and O gifted Michigan 14 points. The defense really held them to 12 points. And these are those FG scoring drives:

• Q1: 13 plays, 52 yards
• Q3: 9 plays, 28 yards
• Q4: 4 plays, -3 yards (Iowa fumble set up field position)
• Q4: 6 plays, 14 yards (iowa turned over on downs)

Also, Iowa lost three fumbles total in the game. Michigan fumbled 3 times but recovered them all.

Michigan averaged 37 ppg in'23 on its way to the natty.

Iowa's D was legit in '23, and will be even more so in '24.

JMO

Yeah those Michigan fans around us were frustrated as hell with their offense in that game. Our D was on.

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

Urban Meyer publicly stated Iowa Football has a National Champion quality defense. Which makes the offense product all the more maddening. Ugh.

 

[pistachio1999]

Urban Meyer publicly stated Iowa Football has a National Champion quality defense. Which makes the offense product all the more maddening. Ugh.

We certainly had a Big Ten conference winning defense that day, even without Coop.

 

[BirdistheWord]

We also played against some of the worst offenses in college football.

And our defense was saddled with the worst P5 offense in 20 years, which meant field position gaffes and lotso turnovers and NO margin for error in the scoring column.

 

[rrdd2021]

Somewhat fair. Rewatch against Michigan. They had them held pretty damn good. Our turnovers and that punt return miss and turrible offense killed us.

There are certain teams destined every year to succeed when everything breaks their way - Michigan was it in 2023.

 

[rrdd2021]

Urban Meyer publicly stated Iowa Football has a National Champion quality defense. Which makes the offense product all the more maddening. Ugh.

I've said for years now that Iowa's Phil Parker is the best DC in CF. Ferentz should give part of his paycheck to Parker

 

[herkyhawk00]

Somewhat fair. Rewatch against Michigan. They had them held pretty damn good. Our turnovers and that punt return miss and turrible offense killed us.

Also, let’s face it, the best defense is an offense that can sustain drives, suck time off the clock, and put points on the board. When an offense can’t at least sustain drives and suck time off the clock, it makes it very difficult for a defense.

 

[jonesy5960]

gave up 35 to Tennessee and the time of possession was 31 for Tennessee and 28 for Iowa so you can’t say they were on the field all game. After the first quarter the game was over and all they had to do was run the clock out.

Ummm NO!! The defense did NOT give up 35 points. It was 14-0 until Iowa fumbled the ball to Tennessee at their own 2 to make it 21 nothing. The next Tennessee TD to make it 28 nothing was on an interception just a couple minutes later to start the 4th quarter. The game was over at that point.

 

[BirdistheWord]

Also, let’s face it, the best defense is an offense that can sustain drives, suck time off the clock, and put points on the board. When an offense can’t at least sustain drives and suck time off the clock, it makes it very difficult for a defense.

And our offense is the polar opposite…no rest for the defense, no field position help, turnovers….

 

[NCHawkeye24]

Objectively speaking, the 2024 defense has question marks at defensive end and at corner. I think the defense will be very very good don't get me wrong, but for it to be championship level they are going to have to be able to get to the QB as well as match up with WR1's.

 

[2D_]

I still think the most impressive thing from the 23 season is how the defense shut down Michigan. We gave JJ the fits all game, Corum couldn't get the run game going to save his life, and limiting their yardage to the lowest in the Harbaugh era. Yes, the score seems to indicate otherwise, but it was Iowa's offense that continually gave Michigan chances to score on extremely short fields.

To summarize, our defense shut down a national championship caliber offense.

 

[BirdistheWord]

I still think the most impressive thing from the 23 season is how the defense shut down Michigan. We gave JJ the fits all game, Corum couldn't get the run game going to save his life, and limiting their yardage to the lowest in the Harbaugh era. Yes, the score seems to indicate otherwise, but it was Iowa's offense that continually gave Michigan chances to score on extremely short fields.

To summarize, our defense shut down a national championship caliber offense.

To be fair, khaki pants tapped the brakes knowing that our offense could not punch their way out of a wet paper bag. They turtled their way to victory in 2nd half with no risks.

 

[chuck285]

The defense has been top 10 since Phil took the reins. He doesn't rebuild anymore. He reloads.

Phil's just lucky to have all 4 and 5 star recruits like Michigan and Ohio State...

 

[MAXIMUSHAWKEYE]

And our defense was saddled with the worst P5 offense in 20 years, which meant field position gaffes and lotso turnovers and NO margin for error in the scoring column.

Imagine how much better and rested the dee could have been the past 3 years without BF ****ing up the offense.

 

[MAXIMUSHAWKEYE]

I've said for years now that Iowa's Phil Parker is the best DC in CF. Ferentz should give part of his paycheck to Parker

I don't understand why KF didn't give Parker Asst HC title....

 

[chuck285]

Maybe he didn’t want it???

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Look at the guys the D lost from '22 to '23 ... and then look at how Iowa still managed to win games (albeit, by the slimmest of margins):
DBs - Moss, Merriweather
LBs - Benson, Campbell
DL - Van Ness, Waggoner, Shannon

The only guy who "wasn't a starter" was Van Ness ... but he also received starter-quantity snaps. Shannon was obviously lost due to the gambling scandal.

Anyhow, by any measure, that is A LOT of defensive firepower to have to replace. We're talking about many guys who were 1st team All-B1G caliber dudes ... in a conference that actually values defense.

Phil Parker waves his wand ... his guys pour in all the sacrificial blood-sweat-and-tears ... and the illusion of "reloading" propagates. There's nothing simple about it. It's impressive how these players develop. It's a credit to their character and a credit to their coaches.

Anyhow, the Hawks now have the following personnel losses ...
DB - DeJean (only played in 10 games)
DL - Evans, Lee

By most measures ... those are pretty scant personnel losses. The measure of experience that some of the returning guys have is pretty impressive.

Nick Jackson already has 4 years starting experience ... each with 100+ tackle performances. And he continues to improve!
Given Nick's accomplishments ... it's crazy to fathom that he still may have only been our 2nd best LB! Kudos to Jay Higgins!

Look to the DB room ... Castro burst on the scene 2 years ago as an unexpected contributor when DB injuries forced DeJean to slide over to CB ... so Castro had to take over at the Cash spot. While I was a fan of Sebastian ... I saw there being plenty of young talent in the DB room ... I didn't think that it would be guaranteed that he'd be able to hold down a starting gig for the '23 season. Nothing is a given ... everything is a competition. Anyhow, Castro did nothing less than put an exclamation mark on whether his prior flashes were "real" or not ... dude was nothing less than a difference-maker!

Schulte mans a FS spot that is critical in that it is the "QB-position" of the secondary. He too has done nothing but improve. What you want in a Phil Parker secondary is great communication and consistency. When those guys are each playing their role ... that is when good things happen.

It's exciting to imagine Nwankpa continuing to improve ... and that's what he's invariably going to do. If you pay attention to PFF ... you'll notice that he graded out pretty well. Now that he has a full year of starts under his belt ... he'll invariably be able to play faster. Fun thought for us to consider ... scary prospect for our adversaries!

Obviously there's more fine young talent in the DB room too ... Lee, Entringer, Hall, Nestor, and Lutmer ... all guys who have generated internal buzz at various times. Phil will have guys ready to "step up."

You don't have a pulse if you're not excited about Iowa's '24 DBs!

Lastly, there is the DL! The stories from our DL are regularly some of my faves. I don't know if anybody on the D improved more last year than Black. He's a guy who really had generated a lot of early buzz in his career ... but between injuries and inconsistency ... we didn't see the buzz materialize on the field ... UNTIL last year! The duo of Black and Graves ... I'm really excited about those dudes! Iowa defenses have been strong when you have 1 impressive dude ... but when you have 2? When guys have what they bring to the table ... they're double-teams waiting to happen. If that happens ... that frees up Jay Higgins to get another 170+ tackles! If it doesn't ... then it equates to TFLs! Pick your poison!

On the outside ... Craig and Hurkett were rock solid! Llewellyn is reputed to be a "riser" ... and Allen has been generating buzz for 2 years now. I'm excited to see how all these guys perform ... and to see which new guys rise to the top!

I don't resort to hyperbole too often ... but this might be one of the few years when I look at the Iowa D ... and I don't know if I can point out ONE SINGLE hole in our defensive personnel!

That means that the starting bar will be high from the get-go. Then, on top of that ... these guys can still improve. They can still always better mesh together and play better as a unit. What stamp will these guys put in Hawkeye lore? I'm excited ... I think that there will be epic battles and terrific stories to watch unfold in the coming season.

Idk. A LOT of "!" marks in that post.

That said, I was calling Jay Higgins as the 2023 breakout guy since the 2022 season. The fact he wasn't "just third down or situational" in 2022 told me he was more than legit.

 

[BirdistheWord]

Idk. A LOT of "!" marks in that post.

That said, I was calling Jay Higgins as the 2023 breakout guy since the 2022 season. The fact he wasn't "just third down or situational" in 2022 told me he was more than legit.

CSB

 

[desihawk]

phil has been iowa’s dc for 11 years but fielded elite defenses only in 2021, 2022, and 2023. weirdly those are exactly the 3 years with 3 worst offenses that iowa has fielded in the kf era. not just shit offenses but nationally last ranked horrific. is this truly just a coincidence?

 

[BirdistheWord]

phil has been iowa’s dc for 11 years but fielded elite defenses only in 2021, 2022, and 2023. weirdly those are exactly the 3 years with 3 worst offenses that iowa has fielded in the kf era. not just shit offenses but nationally last ranked horrific. is this truly just a coincidence?

How are you defining elite? And what statistical categories? I did a quick check and 2015, 2016 and 2017 all had very strong defenses in points allowed with 1 top 20 and 2 of those years in the top 15.

 

[ellobo]

To be fair, khaki pants tapped the brakes knowing that our offense could not punch their way out of a wet paper bag. They turtled their way to victory in 2nd half with no risks.

I'll go one step further...

Michigan never put their foot on the gas to start with (thus no tapping the breaks needed). The Michigan coaches knew your O couldn't beat us. The only way we lose is if your D and special teams score points...and it is something (historically under KF) Iowa is exceptional at.

As much as some (here) will hate to hear it...the conference championship was a trap game for Michigan. Michigan was going to be the #2 or #1 seed no matter what (as long as they won). And which one wasn't about how Michigan performed...the ONLY way Michigan got the 1 seed is if UGA lost...which they did but if they had won by just a point and we beat you by 50 Michigan still would have been #2.

All Michigan had to do is get to 10-13 points...unless we found a way to give it away...our coaches game planned for that.

 

[desihawk]

How are you defining elite? And what statistical categories? I did a quick check and 2015, 2016 and 2017 all had very strong defenses in points allowed with 1 top 20 and 2 of those years in the top 15.

i was going with a top-5 ranking by points given up. i confess to not looking up any stats....just went by recollection. now that i checked only 2022 and 23 were top 5. in general i do agree phil's defenses have been fantastic particularly when he has reasonable talent with no blatant weak link/s.