Yesterday the media got its shot at Iowa Football's offensive and defensive coordinators. It was typical presser stuff with some fluffy questions and not-too-specific answers. But, Norm Parker is always awesome to hear from and KOK is actually kind of insightful. Morehouse has a ton of videos up from the presser: Norm videos, KOK videos. And, Rob Howe (of HawkeyeInsider.com) posted a new depth chart that I assume is what the team will look like for the spring "game" (which actually could have up to 2 full quarters of action, though no tackling).

Depth Chart:

Offense
SE | Derrell Johnson-Koulianos or Colin Sandeman
LT | Riley Reiff, Matt Tobin
LG | Julian Vandervelde, Woody Orne
C | Josh Koeppel/James Ferentz, Conor Boffeli
RG | Adam Gettis, Cody Hundertmark
RT | Markus Zusevics, Brett Van Sloten
TE | Allen Reisner, Brad Herman
QB | Ricky Stanzi, James Vandenberg
WR | Marvin McNutt, Keenan Davis
RB | Brad Rogers, Jason White
FB | Brett Morse, Wade Leppert

Defense
DE | Adrian Clayborn, Lebron Daniel
DT | Karl Klug, Thomas Nardo
DT | Christian Ballard, Mike Daniels
DE | Broderick Binns, Joe Forgy
OLB | Tyler Nielsen, Ross Peterson
MLB | Jeff Tarpinian, Bruce Davis
WLB | Jeremiha Hunter, Troy Johnson
LC | Shaun Prater, Greg Castillo
SS | Nick Nielsen, Kyle Steinbrecher
FS | Jack Swanson, Tom Donatell
RC | Micah Hyde, Jordan Bernstine

Special Teams
P | Ryan Donahue, Eric Guthrie
PK | Daniel Murray or Trent Mossbrucker

Not too many big surprises here. Injured players have been taken off (Sash, Greenwood, all the running backs...). The biggest change I see is that Jeff Tarpinian has moved his way up into the starting 3 at linebacker. He was listed as the second stringer at both OLB positions at the beginning of spring. There has also been some shuffling around and progress at some of the backup linemen positions. Boffeli was mentioned as a guy making progress at Center, and transfer Woody Orne has made his way into the 2-deeps.

Ken O'Keefe Highlights

You should really just watch the videos, but here are some of the things that stood out to me.
  • Jordan Cotton was mentioned as a player that has made a lot of progress.
  • Jewel Hampton looks like he is back in form.
  • A.J. Derby is getting a lot of reps and has had more thrown at him than any other freshman besides maybe Drew Tate.
  • Ricky Stanzi has been a good leader and has been looking to eliminate mistakes while staying aggressive.
  • James Ferentz and Josh Koeppel are still tied. (How many times are we going to hear this? I actually kind of think this "tie" stuff is just motivation for Ferentz, who I guessing will win the job.)

Norm Parker Highlights

Norm speaking is really just one big highlight. On Tuesday he said, "I’ll probably croak out on the field someday. Hope we’re ahead when I do it." Yeah, he's a cool guy.
  • Jeff Tarpinian is emerging (echoed by the starting MLB on the depth chart) as a really good player.
  • Norm compares Karl Klug to King, Kroul, and Roth. Those are some big shoes to fill. Though I think Klug will have a breakout year.
  • Though out for the spring, Tyler Sash and Brett Greenwood should come back even better than in 2009.
  • Adrian Clayborn is "a year bigger, he's a year stronger, he's a year more mature. He should be a better player that he was last year." Big Ten QBs...watch out.

Kirk Ferentz Highlights, Plus Video!

Coach Ferentz has been bopping around (yeah he bops, okay?) to various media outlets the past couple of days. He took part in the Big Ten Call-in Conference, spoke on the radio (KGYM), and was on the Big Ten Network

Ferentz on BTN


Unsurprisingly Ferentz talked a lot about the offensive line in every venue. He singled out Adam Gettis and Markus Zusevics (who is slowly becoming my new favorite player...maybe it's just his awesome name) as two guys who have really improved this spring. I think this bodes extremely well for the biggest question mark on the team.

Other than that, Ferentz echoed a lot of the same ideas from the coordinators. Cotton has looked good, the defensive line has helped the offensive line improve, all the running backs are hurt (even Paki), Tarpinian and the other linebackers have been improving, etc...

All this talk from the coaching has got me fired up. I can't wait for Saturday!