3-2-1: Appreciating Parker
Phil Parker has had an impressive run at Iowa as DB coach and coordinator.
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
This week in 3-2-1, we look at the linebacker battle this spring clearing up, appreciating Phil Parker, the second year for Brian Ferentz as the offensive coordinator, spring game stars, and if we should be on commitment watch this weekend.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
LINEBACKER PICTURE BECOMES CLEARER
One of the most discussed and uncertain positions this spring as linebacker. After three seniors moved on following the victory in the Pinstripe Bowl, the Iowa coaches knew they would be using spring practice to sort out the potential starting lineup for the 2018 season.
This week we got a little more clarity from defensive coordinator Phil Parker and honestly, if you have been reading some of our stuff this summer, the result shouldn’t be all that surprising. Nick Niemann has a hold on the starting spot at outside linebacker and his backup, Barrington Wade, has had a very strong spring.
Initially it was thought that Aaron Mends and Amani Jones would be battling for the starting job at weakside linebacker, but there were more than few hints dropped since the end of last season that Jones was going to get a long look at middle linebacker.
He did and right now, he’s basically moved into the starting spot in the middle of the Iowa defense. Jones is one of the hardest hitters on the Iowa defense, so this is a perfect spot for him, and it worked out pretty well for the Hawkeyes when they had a guy wearing #52 there in the past. Jack Hockaday is the #2 at the position.
That means Mends is now the starter on the weakside and Kristian Welch, who began spring ball as the starting middle linebacker, is now his backup. Since Mends is a senior, it puts Welch in good position to move into the starting lineup next fall.
We will get a long look at this group on Friday at Iowa’s final spring practice, but on paper, I think it’s pretty solid.
APPRECIATION OF PHIL PARKER
The press conference with Phil Parker was pretty interesting.
It’s almost forgotten that Parker, along with Kirk Ferentz and Chris Doyle, are the three most prominent coaches on the Iowa staff that are headed into their 20th season with the Hawkeyes.
You could make a strong case that Parker has been Iowa’s best position coach during that time frame and it’s not just because of his longevity. The list of NFL players that have developed on his watch is as impressive as any coach in college football. From Bob Sanders to Josh Jackson, he has had a hand in bringing along some players who weren’t stars coming out of high school and made them into stars at the college level and professional level.
He’s coached a Thorpe Award winner in Desmond King. He’s had three Big Ten defensive back of the year award winners since 2012 in Micah Hyde, King, and Josh Jackson. King, Jackson, and Sanders were voted either first or second team All Americans.
King, Jackson, Sanders, Tyler Sash, Jovon Johnson, Amari Spievey, Shaun Prater, Micah Hyde, and B.J. Lowery were named first team All Big Ten. Matt Bowen, Derek Pagel, Marcus Paschal, Charles Godfrey, and Brett Greenwood picked up second team honors.
When Josh Jackson is selected in the NFL Draft next week that will make 13 Hawkeyes who played under Parker as defensive backs having their dreams come true.
Since taking over as Iowa’s defensive coordinator in 2012, the Hawkeyes haven’t missed a beat on that side of the ball. Just like when his mentor Norm Parker (no relation) led the defense, Iowa continues to play hard hitting and opportunistic football.
Phil Parker doesn’t seek a lot of attention. He simply goes about his business and gets his players to perform at the highest level possible each and every year. He hasn’t received many accolades during his coaching career at Iowa, but he probably should have given his body of work as a position coach and coordinator.
FERENTZ STILL LEARNING ON THE JOB
It’s hard not to look forward to a press conference with Brian Ferentz.
The answers can sometimes be long, but the honesty and candor you get in the process is well worth it.
Ferentz is entering his second year as Iowa’s offensive coordinator and it’s fair to say the first year yielded some uneven results. While the performances and playcalling against Iowa State, Ohio State, and Nebraska were an A+, he certainly struggled in road trips to Michigan State and Wisconsin.
Those sort of highs and lows should have been expected from Ferentz in his first year calling plays. Frankly, I wasn’t expecting the highs to reach the level that they did and I sort of expected a few clunkers early on as he adjusted to calling plays.
I think what you appreciate from Ferentz is his honesty. Sure he might throw a little barb in there from time to time, needling a few schools in the region with a comment or throw a jab towards a media member, but he’s honest and willing to give a little bit of a look behind the curtain.
I found his press conference this week to be revealing when it comes to the first year, especially when it came to what he needs to improve upon in year two of his tenure.
“I think I learned that I'm not really as good at it as I'd like to be. And I think if you do anything that should be the way you're looking at it. But tried to be realistic going into it,” Ferentz said. “I've been around long enough now to understand that anything you do, you're probably going to improve over time. But you have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone a little bit and push forward.”
Looking back objectively at his first year, there was a lot on the table for Brian Ferentz. He was installing his offense for the first time. He had several new offensive staff members, including two coaches who had never worked at Iowa. And, he had a quarterback battle to sort through while getting his players comfortable with a new offense and different terminology.
I’m really interested to see what year two looks like for the Iowa offense under Brian Ferentz.
Tyler Goodson officially visits Iowa this weekend. Could he commit?
Chad Simmons
TWO QUESTIONS
ARE WE ON COMMITMENT WATCH?
The final spring practice/game is always a time when college football programs like to bring a strong batch of recruits on campus. It’s one final time in the spring to show off your program on the field of play and many times it’s led to verbal commitments from high school prospects.
Which brings us to Friday night under the lights at Kinnick Stadium, where Iowa will hold their final spring practice of 2018.
What makes this interesting is that this is first year where college football teams can bring prospects on campus for official visits in the spring. In the past, those visits couldn’t begin until the start of the prospects senior year, now they can get underway in April.
Iowa was firmly on the fence, leaning off the fence, earlier this year. Kirk Ferentz said early on that his preference was to bring all the commits and prospects they were still working on moving into the committed column in together sometime in early December. His preference was for prospects to make unofficial visits in the spring and keep working on them from there.
However, the past few weeks, we have seen the door open to using official visits in the spring. Recruiting coordinator Kelvin Bell mentioned it during his spring press conference and Ferentz brought it up on a Big Ten teleconference last week.
Then this week we find out that Georgia running back Tyler Goodson will make an official visit to Iowa. Goodson has been compared to Akrum Wadley by the Iowa coaches and is the high school teammate of Class of 2018 commit Jayden McDonald, who will be on campus this weekend for a visit.
One thing Ferentz and Bell brought up was the idea of potentially using official visits on prospects who are not from the Big Ten footprint during the spring. It’s costly for a prospect from Georgia or Florida to make an unofficial visit to a place like Iowa, so it makes sense to use official visits to get them and their parents to Iowa City.
Goodson says he plans on using all five of his official visits, but I don’t think Iowa would be bringing him in this weekend if they didn’t think there was a chance he could jump on board and be a part of the 2019 recruiting class.
Phil Parker has had an impressive run at Iowa as DB coach and coordinator.
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
This week in 3-2-1, we look at the linebacker battle this spring clearing up, appreciating Phil Parker, the second year for Brian Ferentz as the offensive coordinator, spring game stars, and if we should be on commitment watch this weekend.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
LINEBACKER PICTURE BECOMES CLEARER
One of the most discussed and uncertain positions this spring as linebacker. After three seniors moved on following the victory in the Pinstripe Bowl, the Iowa coaches knew they would be using spring practice to sort out the potential starting lineup for the 2018 season.
This week we got a little more clarity from defensive coordinator Phil Parker and honestly, if you have been reading some of our stuff this summer, the result shouldn’t be all that surprising. Nick Niemann has a hold on the starting spot at outside linebacker and his backup, Barrington Wade, has had a very strong spring.
Initially it was thought that Aaron Mends and Amani Jones would be battling for the starting job at weakside linebacker, but there were more than few hints dropped since the end of last season that Jones was going to get a long look at middle linebacker.
He did and right now, he’s basically moved into the starting spot in the middle of the Iowa defense. Jones is one of the hardest hitters on the Iowa defense, so this is a perfect spot for him, and it worked out pretty well for the Hawkeyes when they had a guy wearing #52 there in the past. Jack Hockaday is the #2 at the position.
That means Mends is now the starter on the weakside and Kristian Welch, who began spring ball as the starting middle linebacker, is now his backup. Since Mends is a senior, it puts Welch in good position to move into the starting lineup next fall.
We will get a long look at this group on Friday at Iowa’s final spring practice, but on paper, I think it’s pretty solid.
APPRECIATION OF PHIL PARKER
The press conference with Phil Parker was pretty interesting.
It’s almost forgotten that Parker, along with Kirk Ferentz and Chris Doyle, are the three most prominent coaches on the Iowa staff that are headed into their 20th season with the Hawkeyes.
You could make a strong case that Parker has been Iowa’s best position coach during that time frame and it’s not just because of his longevity. The list of NFL players that have developed on his watch is as impressive as any coach in college football. From Bob Sanders to Josh Jackson, he has had a hand in bringing along some players who weren’t stars coming out of high school and made them into stars at the college level and professional level.
He’s coached a Thorpe Award winner in Desmond King. He’s had three Big Ten defensive back of the year award winners since 2012 in Micah Hyde, King, and Josh Jackson. King, Jackson, and Sanders were voted either first or second team All Americans.
King, Jackson, Sanders, Tyler Sash, Jovon Johnson, Amari Spievey, Shaun Prater, Micah Hyde, and B.J. Lowery were named first team All Big Ten. Matt Bowen, Derek Pagel, Marcus Paschal, Charles Godfrey, and Brett Greenwood picked up second team honors.
When Josh Jackson is selected in the NFL Draft next week that will make 13 Hawkeyes who played under Parker as defensive backs having their dreams come true.
Since taking over as Iowa’s defensive coordinator in 2012, the Hawkeyes haven’t missed a beat on that side of the ball. Just like when his mentor Norm Parker (no relation) led the defense, Iowa continues to play hard hitting and opportunistic football.
Phil Parker doesn’t seek a lot of attention. He simply goes about his business and gets his players to perform at the highest level possible each and every year. He hasn’t received many accolades during his coaching career at Iowa, but he probably should have given his body of work as a position coach and coordinator.
FERENTZ STILL LEARNING ON THE JOB
It’s hard not to look forward to a press conference with Brian Ferentz.
The answers can sometimes be long, but the honesty and candor you get in the process is well worth it.
Ferentz is entering his second year as Iowa’s offensive coordinator and it’s fair to say the first year yielded some uneven results. While the performances and playcalling against Iowa State, Ohio State, and Nebraska were an A+, he certainly struggled in road trips to Michigan State and Wisconsin.
Those sort of highs and lows should have been expected from Ferentz in his first year calling plays. Frankly, I wasn’t expecting the highs to reach the level that they did and I sort of expected a few clunkers early on as he adjusted to calling plays.
I think what you appreciate from Ferentz is his honesty. Sure he might throw a little barb in there from time to time, needling a few schools in the region with a comment or throw a jab towards a media member, but he’s honest and willing to give a little bit of a look behind the curtain.
I found his press conference this week to be revealing when it comes to the first year, especially when it came to what he needs to improve upon in year two of his tenure.
“I think I learned that I'm not really as good at it as I'd like to be. And I think if you do anything that should be the way you're looking at it. But tried to be realistic going into it,” Ferentz said. “I've been around long enough now to understand that anything you do, you're probably going to improve over time. But you have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone a little bit and push forward.”
Looking back objectively at his first year, there was a lot on the table for Brian Ferentz. He was installing his offense for the first time. He had several new offensive staff members, including two coaches who had never worked at Iowa. And, he had a quarterback battle to sort through while getting his players comfortable with a new offense and different terminology.
I’m really interested to see what year two looks like for the Iowa offense under Brian Ferentz.
Tyler Goodson officially visits Iowa this weekend. Could he commit?
Chad Simmons
TWO QUESTIONS
ARE WE ON COMMITMENT WATCH?
The final spring practice/game is always a time when college football programs like to bring a strong batch of recruits on campus. It’s one final time in the spring to show off your program on the field of play and many times it’s led to verbal commitments from high school prospects.
Which brings us to Friday night under the lights at Kinnick Stadium, where Iowa will hold their final spring practice of 2018.
What makes this interesting is that this is first year where college football teams can bring prospects on campus for official visits in the spring. In the past, those visits couldn’t begin until the start of the prospects senior year, now they can get underway in April.
Iowa was firmly on the fence, leaning off the fence, earlier this year. Kirk Ferentz said early on that his preference was to bring all the commits and prospects they were still working on moving into the committed column in together sometime in early December. His preference was for prospects to make unofficial visits in the spring and keep working on them from there.
However, the past few weeks, we have seen the door open to using official visits in the spring. Recruiting coordinator Kelvin Bell mentioned it during his spring press conference and Ferentz brought it up on a Big Ten teleconference last week.
Then this week we find out that Georgia running back Tyler Goodson will make an official visit to Iowa. Goodson has been compared to Akrum Wadley by the Iowa coaches and is the high school teammate of Class of 2018 commit Jayden McDonald, who will be on campus this weekend for a visit.
One thing Ferentz and Bell brought up was the idea of potentially using official visits on prospects who are not from the Big Ten footprint during the spring. It’s costly for a prospect from Georgia or Florida to make an unofficial visit to a place like Iowa, so it makes sense to use official visits to get them and their parents to Iowa City.
Goodson says he plans on using all five of his official visits, but I don’t think Iowa would be bringing him in this weekend if they didn’t think there was a chance he could jump on board and be a part of the 2019 recruiting class.
