With spring practice near in the Big Ten, we're taking a snapshot of every program. We'll examine recent performance, win-loss trends, coaching, current personnel and recruiting.
Iowa is up next:
2014 record: 7-6 (4-4 Big Ten, fourth in West Division)
Three-year record: 19-19
Coaching situation: Kirk Ferentz is the dean of Big Ten football coaches, heading toward his 17th season in Iowa City -- four years short of the Hayden Fry reign. Ferentz built a stable foundation, raised Iowa to a level that arguably exceeded Fry’s best years and has watched the Hawkeyes slide over the past five seasons. Defensive coordinator Phil Parker has been with Ferentz since the beginning, and offensive coordinator Greg Davis is a veteran in the business who has been criticized at multiple stops for doing less with more than some of his peers. The head coach’s son, Brian Ferentz, recently promoted to run game coordinator, is considered an innovative coach, and LeVar Woods, newly moved to coach tight ends, did nice work with the linebackers.
Roster situation: It’s not awash in talent. The Hawkeyes have developed linebackers and offensive linemen well. And the trend figures to continue with youngsters like Bo Bower and Josey Jewell on the defensive side and Ike Boettger, Boone Myers and Sean Welsh on offense. Iowa loses talented offensive tackles Andrew Donnal and Brandon Scherff (a consensus All-American); receivers Kevonte Martin-Manley and Damond Powell; running back Mark Weisman; defensive tackles Carl Davis and Louis Trinca-Pasat; and linebacker Quinton Alston. That’s a lot to replace. Defensive end Drew Ott is a budding star, and cornerback Desmond King is already there. Iowa needs C.J. Beathard or Jake Rudock to take charge at quarterback.
Recruiting situation: The Hawkeyes signed a 21-man class this month that ranked 57th nationally and 10th in the Big Ten, one spot ahead of Indiana and also ahead of Northwestern, Minnesota and Illinois. It’s never been about rankings, though, for Iowa, which signed the No. 49 class a year ago. If the Hawkeyes find the right fits, they’re doing well. For instance, Iowa badly needs a running back to break its stretch of oddly poor luck at the position over the past several years. It had a solid candidate in Karan Higdon out of Florida, but he flipped to Michigan at the 11th hour. Iowa will always find a few hidden gems. It found a promising legacy at home in 27th-rated athlete Drew Cook and pulled the nation’s No. 5-rated center, James Daniels, out of Ohio. Still, the Hawkeyes need more high-end talent to keep up with fellow West Division contenders Wisconsin and Nebraska, against which Iowa is 1-4 over the past three years.
Trajectory: After the 2012 and 2013 seasons, the Hawkeyes’ three-year record was 19-19. Same this year. Is Iowa stuck in neutral? Sure looks like it. As recently as 2010, it's three-year record was 28-11. Go back to 2004, it was 32-7. The last time Iowa had a three-year record under .500 was 2001 after Ferentz’s third season, and the program was clearly trending up. What now? Well, at best, Iowa is treading water, though a solid showing in 2015 could put it back on track. Worst case, its troubling finish to 2014, followed by the loss of a strong senior class, more uncertainty at quarterback and a sluggish recruiting class could spell doom for this regime.