3-2-1: It's "Hate Week" in Iowa
Tom Kakert | Editor
It’s “Hate Week” in the state of Iowa. It also turned into contract week from the Iowa perspective with Kirk Ferentz signing his long rumored extension. In this week’s edition of 3-2-1, we take a look at three things we learned, two questions, and one bold prediction.
The Outlaw Josey Jewell will improve Iowa's defense against the run.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
Kirk Ferentz has a really good agent
It’s no secret that Neil Cornrich is a good agent. He represents quite a few head coaches, including Bill Belichick, Bob Stoops, and Brett Bielema. He represents quite a few players, including several former Hawkeyes. His connection to Iowa is that he also represents Kirk Ferentz and in his last two contracts, he has helped negotiate a pair of terrific deals for his client. Ferentz now has another 10 year deal on the books with a pretty low bar to achieve more within his buyout structure should that become necessary. I guess the positive from Iowa’s perspective is that there is a bar this time instead of a flat number. Of course, we already knew that Ferentz had a really good agent, but it’s worth repeating once again.
Iowa’s defense isn’t the same without Josey Jewell
One series. That’s all we got to see from Iowa’s All Big Ten linebacker on Saturday, one series. Then Josey Jewell was out of the game due to personal foul call on a punt return. I’ll say this, Jack Hockaday did a nice job filling in, forcing a fumble and overall, playing a solid middle linebacker. But, he’s not Jewell. Iowa ended up yielding 424 yards to the RedHawks on Saturday and their run stopping defense wasn’t strong. A lot of that can be attributed to Jewell being in the locker room and not on the field. One thing we learned last year is that Jewell is a difference maker on defense and my sense is you will see a very different level of defense from Iowa on Saturday with him out there.
Iowa will be relying on the “Full Nelson”
It seems somewhat unlikely that Parker Hesse will be able to play on Saturday. If he does play, he’s likely to be limited in what he can do given his hamstring issue. That means it will be a “Full Nelson” at defensive end for the Hawkeyes this Saturday against Iowa State. Matt and Anthony Nelson (no relation) will likely be playing plenty of snaps at end with support from Sam Brincks and perhaps Brady Reiff. Anthony Nelson had quite a first game for the Hawkeyes with 2.5 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles. Matt Nelson has continued to progress with his play and is a solid player as well.
Russ Yeast is on his official visit to Iowa this weekend
TWO QUESTIONS
Will the Hawkeyes pick up any commitments this weekend?
While the focus of Saturday will be on the field, recruiting will also be an important part of the weekend. In addition to 8 of Iowa’s verbal commitments in Iowa City for the game, including 4 star A.J. Epenesa., there will be a pair of official visitors in cornerbacks Russ Yeast and Zamari Maxwell. Yeast has put together quite an offer list, so a commitment would be a surprise, I think. Maxwell offer list is also pretty impressive and of the two, he might be the more likely to commit. Another player who could be on commitment is wide receiver Beau Corrales from Texas. Corrales recently picked up an offer from the Hawkeyes and then quickly de-committed from Texas State. He will be in unofficially this weekend, so perhaps he is on commitment watch before heading back home.
How will Iowa work Jay Scheel into the rotation at wide receiver?
After missing the opening game of the season, Jay Scheel looks like he will be back in action on Saturday against Iowa State. Scheel was listed at the top of the depth chart heading into the Miami (OH) game, but was held out due to a sore hamstring. He’s been back at practice this week, but now he’s also listed behind Jerminic Smith, who had a very good opening effort on Saturday. I think what Scheel’s return will do is give Iowa a true top four that can rotate in and out of the lineup, which is a good thing. All indications are that Scheel can be a playmaker and I would expect they will figure out a way to get him involved against Iowa State.
Current head coach and perhaps the future head coach in this picture?
Kirk Ferentz won’t be the Iowa coach thru this entire newly signed contract
There, I said it. Look, this deal had to be done at some level for recruiting purposes. I think most of us who know the way college football, know the recruiting side of this and why it had to be done. Ferentz said on Tuesday that he’s never felt better physically and mentally and I frankly, I wish I was in as good of shape at 50 as he is at 61. Having said that, I think at some point he’s going to want to hand over the program to someone else, but I think he will only do that if the program is really rolling in the right direction. I don’t know when that point will be in the next ten years, but my sense is it will happen and I think the person taking over will be his son, Brian, who will be a great fit for the future of the program.
Tom Kakert | Editor
It’s “Hate Week” in the state of Iowa. It also turned into contract week from the Iowa perspective with Kirk Ferentz signing his long rumored extension. In this week’s edition of 3-2-1, we take a look at three things we learned, two questions, and one bold prediction.
The Outlaw Josey Jewell will improve Iowa's defense against the run.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
Kirk Ferentz has a really good agent
It’s no secret that Neil Cornrich is a good agent. He represents quite a few head coaches, including Bill Belichick, Bob Stoops, and Brett Bielema. He represents quite a few players, including several former Hawkeyes. His connection to Iowa is that he also represents Kirk Ferentz and in his last two contracts, he has helped negotiate a pair of terrific deals for his client. Ferentz now has another 10 year deal on the books with a pretty low bar to achieve more within his buyout structure should that become necessary. I guess the positive from Iowa’s perspective is that there is a bar this time instead of a flat number. Of course, we already knew that Ferentz had a really good agent, but it’s worth repeating once again.
Iowa’s defense isn’t the same without Josey Jewell
One series. That’s all we got to see from Iowa’s All Big Ten linebacker on Saturday, one series. Then Josey Jewell was out of the game due to personal foul call on a punt return. I’ll say this, Jack Hockaday did a nice job filling in, forcing a fumble and overall, playing a solid middle linebacker. But, he’s not Jewell. Iowa ended up yielding 424 yards to the RedHawks on Saturday and their run stopping defense wasn’t strong. A lot of that can be attributed to Jewell being in the locker room and not on the field. One thing we learned last year is that Jewell is a difference maker on defense and my sense is you will see a very different level of defense from Iowa on Saturday with him out there.
Iowa will be relying on the “Full Nelson”
It seems somewhat unlikely that Parker Hesse will be able to play on Saturday. If he does play, he’s likely to be limited in what he can do given his hamstring issue. That means it will be a “Full Nelson” at defensive end for the Hawkeyes this Saturday against Iowa State. Matt and Anthony Nelson (no relation) will likely be playing plenty of snaps at end with support from Sam Brincks and perhaps Brady Reiff. Anthony Nelson had quite a first game for the Hawkeyes with 2.5 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles. Matt Nelson has continued to progress with his play and is a solid player as well.
Russ Yeast is on his official visit to Iowa this weekend
TWO QUESTIONS
Will the Hawkeyes pick up any commitments this weekend?
While the focus of Saturday will be on the field, recruiting will also be an important part of the weekend. In addition to 8 of Iowa’s verbal commitments in Iowa City for the game, including 4 star A.J. Epenesa., there will be a pair of official visitors in cornerbacks Russ Yeast and Zamari Maxwell. Yeast has put together quite an offer list, so a commitment would be a surprise, I think. Maxwell offer list is also pretty impressive and of the two, he might be the more likely to commit. Another player who could be on commitment is wide receiver Beau Corrales from Texas. Corrales recently picked up an offer from the Hawkeyes and then quickly de-committed from Texas State. He will be in unofficially this weekend, so perhaps he is on commitment watch before heading back home.
How will Iowa work Jay Scheel into the rotation at wide receiver?
After missing the opening game of the season, Jay Scheel looks like he will be back in action on Saturday against Iowa State. Scheel was listed at the top of the depth chart heading into the Miami (OH) game, but was held out due to a sore hamstring. He’s been back at practice this week, but now he’s also listed behind Jerminic Smith, who had a very good opening effort on Saturday. I think what Scheel’s return will do is give Iowa a true top four that can rotate in and out of the lineup, which is a good thing. All indications are that Scheel can be a playmaker and I would expect they will figure out a way to get him involved against Iowa State.
Current head coach and perhaps the future head coach in this picture?
Kirk Ferentz won’t be the Iowa coach thru this entire newly signed contract
There, I said it. Look, this deal had to be done at some level for recruiting purposes. I think most of us who know the way college football, know the recruiting side of this and why it had to be done. Ferentz said on Tuesday that he’s never felt better physically and mentally and I frankly, I wish I was in as good of shape at 50 as he is at 61. Having said that, I think at some point he’s going to want to hand over the program to someone else, but I think he will only do that if the program is really rolling in the right direction. I don’t know when that point will be in the next ten years, but my sense is it will happen and I think the person taking over will be his son, Brian, who will be a great fit for the future of the program.
