Tag: Kirk Ferentz

ESPN selects Iowa Hawkeyes linebacker Jack Campbell to have biggest defensive presence in 2022

ESPN writer Tom VanHaaren chose Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell as his defensive player to have the biggest presence in 2022.

Iowa enters the spring slate off a 10-4 season that included a Big Ten West division championship. Hawkeyes defensive coordinator Phil Parker and assistant defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Seth Wallace have reason to be excited about what Iowa returns defensively.

One of the biggest reasons for excitement is senior linebacker Jack Campbell. The 6-foot-5, 243 pound linebacker enjoyed a monster 2021 season. The Cedar Falls, Iowa, native racked up 143 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, six quarterback hurries, six passes defensed, a pair of fumble recoveries, two interceptions and one sack.

It’s no surprise then that Campbell is receiving national attention. In ESPN’s college football roundtable, a panelists of writers were asked to pick which defensive player not named Will Anderson Jr. would have the biggest presence in 2022. ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren chose Campbell.

Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell played in only five games of the 2020 season, but he had 29 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and one interception in those games. He was healthy in 2021, and all he did was lead all FBS defenders with 143 tackles. He also had two interceptions and three tackles for loss last season.

He could have made the jump to the NFL, but decided to return for his senior season and is one of the unquestioned leaders on the Hawkeye defense. If we’re talking about presence, Campbell’s return to Iowa was a huge deal, and he has a chance to improve on an excellent season in 2022. – ESPN, VanHaaren.

Campbell’s return provides Iowa with defensive star power. Campbell is joined by another talented starting linebacker’s return. Senior Seth Benson is back as well after registering 105 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, eight quarterback hurries, three passes defensed, two sacks and one interception.

Defensively, Iowa was one of the nation’s best a season ago. The Hawkeyes finished ranked No. 13 in scoring defense, surrendering just 19.2 points per game. That was thanks to a total defense that ranked No. 17 nationally and allowed just 328.8 yards per game.

Campbell and Benson helped anchor the country’s No. 13 rushing defense in 2021 as the Hawkeyes allowed just 3.15 yards per carry and 114.4 rushing yards per game. Iowa also led the nation with 25 interceptions and finished tied-third nationally with 30 total takeaways.

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Follow Josh on Twitter: @JoshOnREF

Iowa earns No. 6 seed in ESPN’s fictional 64-team college football bracket

ESPN’s Chris Low took a crack at what a 64-team college football bracket might look like for the 2022 season. How far would the Hawkeyes go?

Recent reports indicate that the College Football Playoff won’t be expanding any time soon. In fact, according to CBS Sports reporter Barrett Sallee’s report from last month, the CFP will remain at four teams for the duration of the current contract through the 2025 college football season.

Still, that can rain on our parade as we enjoy the festivities of March Madness and wonder what if college football had a 64-team bracket like college basketball. ESPN’s Chris Low took a stab at what that might look like for the upcoming 2022 college football season.

With help from ESPN’s 2022 SP+ projections, Low put together a 64-team team tournament field for college football. Iowa ranked No. 26 in ESPN’s 2022 SP+ projections. That projection for the Hawkeyes checked in as just the seventh-highest ranking among Big Ten teams.

Ohio State was ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s 2022 SP+ projections, Michigan No. 4, Wisconsin No. 10, Penn State No. 16, Michigan State, No. 17 and Minnesota No. 19.

Using the SP+ projections as a tool to help create the 64-team bracket, Iowa ended up as the No. 6 seed in the South region playing No. 11 seed North Carolina. Low predicted the Hawkeyes would win their first-round matchup against the Tar Heels, 27-20, and wrote this about the matchup.

Between them, Kirk Ferentz and Mack Brown have 58 years of head coaching experience in college football. The Hawkeyes’ experience, though, is the difference in this one, as their defensive line takes control of the game in the second half. – Low, ESPN.

North Carolina State earned the No. 3 seed in the South region. The Wolfpack got a test from 14th-seeded Oregon State, but North Carolina State scored three unanswered touchdowns to top the Beavers, 28-14. That set up Iowa’s second-round matchup against N.C. State. Low predicted that Iowa would bow out of the tournament in a close, 20-17, loss to the Wolfpack.

Played in rainy, sloppy conditions, this slugfest goes down to the final minutes when N.C. State star linebacker Drake Thomas, one of several talented Wolfpack linebackers, makes a diving tackle inside the 5-yard line on fourth down. – Low, ESPN.

The No. 1 seeds in Low’s 64-team college football bracket included Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State and Georgia. Low predicted that Alabama would top North Carolina State in the South region final, 41-21. The Midwest region champion was Ohio State after a 34-17 win over Cincinnati, the East region champion was Texas A&M after a 24-23 win over Georgia and the West region champion was Oklahoma beating USC, 35-28.

Low had Alabama beating Oklahoma 41-21 and Ohio State topping Texas A&M 38-24 to set up the national championship game between the Crimson Tide and Buckeyes.

In Low’s fictional national championship game, Ohio State captured the crown in a classic, beating Alabama, 34-30.

Obviously, there’s nothing to this outside of a fun exercise in imaginary December and January Madness. Still, it’s nice to see that Iowa was safely inside the tournament field and expected to win a game.

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What Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said about Michigan football after the Big Ten Championship Game

As you can imagine, he extremely complimentary of the Wolverines.

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INDIANAPOLIS — It was some tough sledding for the No. 13 Iowa Hawkeyes, with Michigan football winning the Big Ten Championship thanks to an utterly dominant performance.

The Hawkeye offense could get nothing going, and while the defense occasionally stymied the Wolverines, a couple early big plays opened things up before Michigan football pulled away in the second half, to win, 42-3.

After the game, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz minced no words. It wasn’t about his team as much as it was about the maize and blue — particularly the defensive side of the ball — that kept the Hawkeyes at bay. It’s the worst loss that Iowa has had since losing to Penn State in 2016.

Here are the pertinent things that Ferentz said about Michigan football.

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What they said: Kirk Ferentz compares Aidan Hutchinson to HOF defensive linemen

The Iowa coach has a ton of respect for Aidan Hutchinson and Michigan football.

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No. 2 Michigan has made the Big Ten Championship Game for the first time since the Big Ten started the annual game between the two divisions back in 2011.

The Wolverines are set to take on one of the tougher tests they have faced this season when the 13th-ranked Iowa defense takes the field on Saturday. While the Hawkeyes have an offense that ranks towards the bottom of the country, the defense has carried Iowa this far, and it’s a big reason why Iowa was ranked No. 2 in the nation once this year.

Games are all played for a reason, but Michigan vastly has more talent than Iowa when looking at both teams on paper. Kirk Ferentz had some high praises for Michigan in his opening statement on Tuesday with the media, and he says this will be a big challenge for his Hawkeyes. Ferentz says this may be one of the best Michigan teams that he has seen, but he can’t see the Wolverines playing much better than they did against Ohio State — it can’t get much better than that.

“Looking at Michigan, my first experience in this game was in 1981,” Ferentz said. “They were awfully good then. And they had a lot of good teams in the ’80s. Since I’ve been back, they’ve had a lot of good teams, too. This team certainly looks like they’re right at the top of that list from what we can tell.” 

“They’re extremely talented in all phases. They have good depth. Very talented and well-coached. And to me, this is typical of good teams. But Michigan has a real identity, offensively, defensively, special teams. You can tell their players fully believe in what they’re doing. They do it well and they do it with a lot of energy and play at a high level.”

“So it’s a real credit to their football team. They’ve had a great season. Got off to a good start. Had the one bump in the road and came right back and finished out the season in impressive fashion. I can’t imagine them playing a lot better than they did this past Saturday against a team that’s extremely talented and a very good football team. They played a tremendous football game.”

Iowa has the 110th-ranked passing offense in the nation, and while the running attack is ranked 106th, the Hawkeyes will want to lean on their run game on Saturday. Iowa is going to try and shorten the game by having long drives and running out the clock, in other words, the Hawkeyes need to run the ball. Ferentz says Michigan is so strong up the middle, and he knows that Iowa won’t gain a ton of yards, but he wants to see his team do it effectively.

“We’ll have to bang away at it, see what we can do,” said Ferentz. “Starts with blocking. Try to block them and pick runs maybe that are smart. And we’re still working on that part of it. These guys, they’re really big inside. They look like a pro-defense. They’ve got big, strong players inside. 

“They roll a lot of guys through, depending on your personnel. The outside guy, 97 is not coming off the field. But on the other side, they’ll put a big physical guy in there if you’re in a run group if you will. So they match up strategically. They’re smart that way. So they pose a lot of problems for you, they really do. We’re going to have to — and I don’t think we’ll be running for 300 yards. That’s not realistic. But we have to try to find a way to run efficiently.”

Switching over to the defense, Ferentz had to answer questions about Aidan Hutchinson. Ferentz compares Hutchinson to two former NFL defensive linemen, and he says that Hutchinson’s counterpart is pretty dang good as well.

“Yes, and he’s got a running mate that kind of gets your attention,” said Ferentz. I don’t know what you do to neutralize him. He’s an outstanding player. And better know where he lines up. And it’s fairly predictable, but the only problem is the guy on the other side is, I don’t want to say equally dangerous, but it’s pretty close. It’s a 1-2.”

“I was thinking this morning, I don’t know how often we’ve faced a team that has two guys outside like that that can be as disruptive as they are. And I said to somebody in the last 48 hours, when I was in the NFL there were two guys — there a lot of good players in the NFL, needless to say, that’s an obvious statement. A guy like Reggie White doesn’t count because he’s so freakishly talented. His size, speed, strength, just extraordinary, plus a better person than he was a player. Two guys that always stood out in my career, my time, at least my six years, my long career at six years, right, but Howie Long was one of them. And John Randle played more inside than outside, he was a Tasmanian devil. Howie Long the same way. If you relaxed one play, he was going to be in there wrecking the play and really causing havoc.”

“They’re not the same players, those two guys I described. Hutchinson is not. But he doesn’t stop. And that’s part of the reason he’s so good. Plus he has a good skill set. He has a motor that’s really impressive.”

Ferentz was asked what it would take to win the game on Saturday against Michigan. He brought up the last time Iowa was a big underdog against the Wolverines, back in 2016, and Iowa knocked the maize and blue off. He says that Michigan is really good at every position, and his team will need to catch a break during the game, but anything is possible.

“I’m still trying to get my head around that a little bit,” said Ferentz. “We’ve played in some games, I’m thinking, just off the top of my head, the last, what, two times ago, when we played these guys in ’16, I think we were 34 underdogs, 26, something like that.”

“These guys are just so good in every position. They just put a lot of pressure on you. And I don’t mean like blitzing pressure or tempo pressure, you just know what they’re capable of. You really just have to try to make them earn everything. It’s easier said than done.  And then we’re going to have to come up with something. Somewhere along the way, create a break or whatever. And somehow someway find a way to get it done.”

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What Big Ten head coaches have already qualified for annual bonuses?

Big Ten coaches and head coaches across the country, are beginning to collect money for performance bonuses in their contracts.

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A number of coaches across college football have hit performance numbers within their contract, often tied to wins and bowl eligibility. As USA TODAY’s Steve Berkowitz writes, the bonus season is starting to kick in for a number of college coaches including several from the Big Ten:

This past week alone, Football Bowl Subdivision public-school head coaches claimed more than $1.1 million in bonuses.

Overall, they are set for a combined total of more than $3.2 million so far.

Some of the higher-profile head coaches, such as Ryan Day (Ohio State) and Jim Harbaugh (Michigan) have not reached their bonus numbers yet because, presumably, the standard at these perenially ranked programs is more than just six wins and a bowl game.

That didn’t stop coaches at places like Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and Oklahoma among others from getting a six-win bonus.

In the coming weeks, more Big Ten coaches should begin to join the list regularly. Berkowitz compiled his list alphabetically in order by program:

Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi becomes unlikely ally of Penn State’s James Franklin on Iowa fans debate

Penn State head coach James Franklin found an unlikely ally in Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi on the Iowa fans booing injuries debate

As much as we tried putting to rest this whole ongoing conversation about Iowa fans booing Penn State injuries last weekend, we were thrown one more curveball in this whole story. Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi became a surprise ally of Penn State’s James Franklin when the Panthers head coach took Franklin’s side on the whole situation.

In answering a question about one of his players who was banged up in a recent game, Narduzzi went on a slight tangent and brought up the idea of players cramping up in games. Then, out of almost nowhere, Narduzzi decided to stick up for Franklin following Franklin’s passionate comments defending his players being injured and being serenaded with a chorus of boos from Iowa fans all game long.

“A lot of talk about cramps and tempo this week,” Narduzzi said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I don’t agree with James Franklin on a whole bunch. But James, I’ve got your back. When you’re not playing a fast tempo offense, a team that huddles, nobody goes down with a cramp. That’s a bunch of baloney.”

Of course, Narduzzi has some personal beef on a related issue with Iowa dating back to his time as defensive coordinator at Michigan State. Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette;

Before he accepted the job at Pitt, Narduzzi was Michigan State’s defensive coordinator from 2007-14. In 2011, several Spartan players went down with injuries late in a 37-21 win over the Hawkeyes at Kinnick. According to a story in The Daily Iowan, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio called them “legitimate injuries” — while some Hawkeye fans questioned the validity of those injuries.

Perhaps it was his own personal stake in the war on Iowa that caused Narduzzi to come to the defense of Franklin. You have to wonder how much Narduzzi wrestled with that one.

Franklin explained to the media following Penn State’s loss to Iowa that players faking injuries is not a strategy that was deployed by Penn State and suggested that doing so didn’t make sense against a team that runs the style of offense Iowa typically does.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz defended Iowa fans by suggesting they “smelled a rat.” Franklin got his final word in on this manner earlier this week.

Maybe now we can officially turn the page on this whole storyline.

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Ranking Big Ten football coaching salaries for 2021

Here is how the Big Ten football coaching salaries compare against each other in 2021.

It goes without saying that being a head coach in the Big Ten is a financially rewarding gig if you can get it. With the financial resources available to schools around the Big Ten, the coaches receive some big paydays even for a mediocre job. Every year, USA TODAY updates its database of coaching salaries so fans can see just how much many coaches around the country are being paid, which inevitably leads to debates over which coaches are overpaid and which deserve more?

And then there are the coaches who do not see their salary terms made public. Well, for the most part, that is. Not every school, including Penn State, has decided to make all of the financial details with their head football coach available for public consumption. But that won’t stop us from ranking the Big Ten’s coaching salaries based on what we do know.

So here is a ranking of Big Ten coaching salaries based solely on what the school is scheduled to pay their head coach in 2021. Note that these figures do not take into account any payment reductions as a result of restructuring during a pandemic.

James Franklin seems ready to move on from Iowa fans booing Penn State injuries

James Franklin gave a passionate closing argument to this whole stupid Iowa fans booing Penn State injuries saga

Penn State head coach James Franklin seemingly closed the book on a days-long topic of conversation on Wednesday by giving a passionate response to the latest talking points regarding Iowa fans booing injuries suffered by Penn State last weekend. Franklin’s passionate reaction came after Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz defended Iowa fans for booing what Hawkeye fans believed to be Penn State faking injuries.

“[In] our six years of playing [Iowa], six years straight, 4-2 as our record, has that ever shown up? Has anybody seen that in my eight years as a head coach has that showed up at Penn State,” Franklin openly asked, regarding Penn state’s previous success against Iowa. “[In] my 12 years as a head coach has that showed up? It has not shown up.”

Franklin made many good points that should knock down any suggestion Penn State was looking for an advantage in slowing down the Iowa offense. Franklin ran through the long list of players that were injured to one degree or another and suggested it would be crazy to believe Penn State would voluntarily remove those players for any amount of time on the field.

The following transcription was reported by Lions 247;

Now, again from a strategy standpoint, would it be, would it be strategic, for us to tell PJ Mustipher to go down and fake an injury, one of our best players, one of our starters, one of our captains. Does that make sense? If you’re gonna do it, you wouldn’t do it with your starter, your captain. Alright, let’s talk about his backup D’Von Ellies who also got booed. So when it makes sense for the backup DT to send him out for a play? I don’t think so.

“AK (Arnold Ebiketie) may be our best defensive player, and his probably looked the worst. He went down. Maybe it’s because he plays so hard and he was cramping. But am I gonna tell AK to go down and not play a play on defense. Does that make any sense? Jaquan Brisker, he went down twice against Wisconsin, they did not boo him. Sean Clifford, did we want him to go down and not returning to the game? Devyn Ford, our starting tailback in the game went down and did not return in the game. Did we want that to happen? John Lovett went down, did not return in the game. Jonathan Sutherland our captain. Our captain went down and did not return in the game. Are you kidding me?

Franklin’s extended thoughts and response to this ongoing saga seemed like a fitting closing argument for one of college football’s worst storylines. At this point, despite Franklin’s plea for fans to take off their Penn State or Iowa hats on this subject for a moment, fans of either school are probably going to believe whatever they want to believe. But Franklin is right in defending his program and combat the notion Penn State was looking for any advantage by faking injuries.

And with this final word from Franklin, it is time to officially begin turning the page on this entire saga for better or worse. The idea of players faking injuries in football will, unfortunately, continue to pop up from time to time, maybe even this coming weekend around the country. And there is little that can be done to combat it from a rules perspective as injuries of all kinds should be dealt with responsibly even if they are minor.

For now, Franklin and Penn State have more important things to spend their time on. That starts with getting players rest and back on the field as quickly as they can before the second half of the schedule kicks off. Penn State has a bye week this weekend and the Nittany Lions continue their season next week with a home game against Illinois.

For now, it is unknown whether or not Sean Clifford will be available for the homecoming game against the Illini. At least Clifford didn’t have to hear Iowa fans boo him.

OK, now I’m turning the page on this topic.

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Kirk Ferentz defends Iowa fans booing Penn State injuries

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz says Iowa fans ‘smelled a rat’ with Penn State’s injuries

It seems a war of words is upon us days after the game itself has been decided. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz was asked about the recent drama and debate focusing on Iowa’s fans booing Penn State players who were injured at various points during the Week 6 matchup between the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions. While Ferentz didn’t come right out and accuse Penn State players of taking a dive to slow things down when Iowa was on offense, he did go to bat for the Iowa faithful suggesting Iowa fans are not stupid.

Iowa fans were regularly booing every Penn State injury during the game, feeling the Nittany Lions were actively attempting to slow Iowa’s snail-paced offense to a crawl after potentially big gains. The boos grew louder and louder as the game went on and more and more Penn State players were getting banged up.

Ferentz noticed a number of Penn State players returned to the field rather quickly (which happens plenty of times during every college football game) but did recognize there were some significant injuries Penn State experienced, including defensive lineman PJ Mustipher and quarterback Sean Clifford.

But Ferentz said Iowa fans aren’t stupid and they smelled a rat in Penn State.

Penn State head coach James Franklin did not take kindly to Iowa’s fans booing his injured players and sternly said Iowa does not have the type of offense faking injuries would typically come into play. And to this point, no video evidence has been made available suggesting Penn State players were being instructed to fall to the ground after a play to draw an injury timeout.

So, for now, this is all nothing more than a coaching version of verbal jockeying for a position. There is no evidence one way or the other and each side will believe what they want to believe.

Unfortunately for Penn State, the only way to get the last word on this will be t face Iowa for a second time in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz knows how dangerous Sean Clifford can be

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz praised Sean Clifford’s veteran leadership this week

Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford has been off to a much better start than he experienced a year ago. As a result, he has certainly caught the attention of the head coach of Penn State’s next opponent, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz.

While discussing his team and the upcoming showdown between Iowa and Penn State this Saturday, Ferentz was complimentary of Clifford. Ferentz is well aware of how confident Clifford appears to be this season and has stressed the importance of not allowing Clifford to get going with his feet for very long.

“Offensively, their quarterback is a veteran player, can make any throw that they ask him to make,” Ferentz said when discussing Clifford with the media this week. “Besides that, he’s a dangerous runner. They’ll run with him a little bit by design.”

Clifford has rushed for 140 yards and a touchdown in the first five games of the season. As noted by Ferentz, Penn State and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich have called don Clifford to take off and run on some designed plays, but much of Clifford’s rushing production has seemingly come on the fly when he doesn’t see something he likes through the air and takes off to take advantage of the open field.

Penn State has actually struggled to get much consistent production on the ground, but Clifford has accumulated some yards with his decision-making to take what the defense may be giving him.

“As dangerous as anything, if it’s not there for him, something opens up, he’ll pull it down and go,” Ferentz added. “He’ll throw off the run or take it and make the yardage necessary for a first down or even more than that. That’s where it all starts.”

That ability to take off or extend a play until a receiver can find some open space was praised by one of the players who reaps the benefits of Clifford extending plays, wide receiver Jahan Dotson.

“[We] know that we just have to stay alive and scramble drills. We literally preach it every single Sunday,” Dotson said after Penn State’s win over Indiana in Week 5. “So just staying alive with him, making sure you keep your eyes on him while he’s scrambling we know he’s gonna make a play make the right decision.”

“Again, he’s a veteran player, a leader, a guy they look to,” Ferentz said.

Clifford will be in for his biggest challenge yet. Iowa leads the nation with 12 interceptions in its first five games. The Hawkeyes picked off six passes last week against Maryland.

Clifford and the Nittany Lions visit Iowa this Saturday, Oct. 9 in a matchup of top four teams.

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