Along with Greg Davis, another name being thrown out there to possibly become the next offensive coordinator for Iowa is Tom Moore.

Moore played quarterback at Iowa from 1957-1960 and shortly after that he became a graduate assistant for his alma mater in 1961.  After serving two years in the Army, Moore has coached ever since and his first job was at the University of Dayton as the running backs coach in 1965.  Moore would bounce around in college football until he got his shot at coaching in the NFL in 1977, as a receivers coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Moore has coached in the NFL for over 30 years and his claim to fame was overseeing the development of Peyton Manning.  Moore was part of the Colts offensive coaching staff from 1998-2010 and last season served as an offensive consultant to the Jets.

Moore is 73 years old and if he does become the offensive coordinator, it would more than likely be a very short time.  I think that Tom Moore becoming the offensive coordinator at Iowa is a long shot due to his age but he is definitely someone who needs to be interviewed to see if he has any interest in the position.

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* – Tom Moore photo credit: via Scoople NYC Channel

The Iowa Hawkeye football team is in need of an offensive coordinator and rumors are beginning to surface about who could be the leading candidate.

According to Bobby Burton of 247 Sports, the main name being tossed out there is Greg Davis and this is the tweet that he sent out.

Greg Davis has coached for a long time and has been an offensive coordinator since 1992.  Davis’ big break in coaching came in 1985, when he became an assistant (WR coach) under Mack Brown at Tulane.  Once Mack Brown left to become the head coach North Carolina in 1988, Davis became his successor at Tulane.  He would be the head coach at Tulane from 1988-1991 and compiled a 14-31 overall record (probably the reason he never got another head coaching job).

After his brief stint as a head coach, Davis would become an offensive coordinator and would maintain that role on every team he was a part of after that.  He would become the offensive coordinator at Arkansas and Georgia but would rejoin Mack Brown’s coaching staff at North Carolina in 1996.  Mack Brown would then take Davis with him as the offensive coordinator when he became the Texas head coach.

Davis was the offensive coordinator at Texas until 2010; he resigned after that as the Longhorns had their worst season under Mack Brown. Davis took a lot of blame for Texas’ offensive failures that season and the reality was that he did not have enough talent at the quarterback position to be successful.

Greg Davis was the offensive coordinator for some very good Texas teams including the one that won the 2006 National Championship game. That season he won the 2005 Broyles Award, given to the best assistant coach in college football.

After what happened with the Jim Herrmann rumors as the next defensive coordinator not being true, it is very hard to actually know who will be the next offensive coordinator will be until it is announced.

There seems to be a lot mixed reactions among most people towards Greg Davis being named the next offensive coordinator at Iowa but believe me they could do a lot worse.  At the end of his time at Texas, he just did not have the players around him to have a successful offense.

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* – Greg Davis photo credit: via Statesman 

The Iowa Hawkeyes might have played their best game of the season Sunday as they upset No. 20 Indiana 78-66.

Matt Gatens scored a career high 30 points which led all scorers and helped Iowa snap their three-game losing streak to Indiana.  Gatens hit 7-of-10 from behind the arc and every time Iowa needed someone to hit a big shot, he always delivered.  This was one of Matt Gatens best games as a Hawkeye and this is what Indiana head coach Tom Crean had to say about his performance.

Gatens, who was the most determined player on the floor in my opinion the whole day anyway, just took it to another level. When he hit those shots, we just couldn’t overcome it.

Unlike the first meeting between these two teams, the Hawkeyes played exceptional defense all game and held Indiana to only 66 points. The Hawkeyes forced 14 Hoosier turnovers and outrebounded Indiana 37-33.

Here are the highlights of Iowa’s upset victory over Indiana.

Watch this video on YouTube.

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* – Matt Gatens photo credit: via USA Today

The Iowa Hawkeyes second-half comeback fell just short against Penn State as they were defeated 69-64.

The Hawkeyes were down 38-24 at halftime and could never overcome that deficit despite a great effort in the second-half.  This is their fourth conference road loss in a row and Iowa continues to struggle away from Carver Hawkeye Arena. Iowa won their first two conference road games against Wisconsin and Minnesota but have not been able to get another one since.

With this loss, it gives Iowa an overall record of 13-13 and puts their hopes of getting a NIT bid in serious jeopardy.

Aaron White recorded a double-double of 16 points and 10 boards while Roy Devyn Marble scored 13 points and handed out 6 assists.  It was Matt Gatens that led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 21 points and 19 of them came in the second-half.

Other than those three players, the Hawkeyes got very limited scoring production from anyone else. Melsahn Basabe had 7 points and after that the next leading scorer was Josh Oglesby with 3 points.  The Hawkeye bench managed to score only 9 points and was very ineffective.

Iowa made a staggering 26.9 percent of their field goals in the first half and could never really get anything going offensively.  The second half was a different story for the Hawkeyes as they shot 56.5 percent from field and went 5-of-11 from behind the arc.

In the second-half, Iowa came close to tying the game with two-minutes left at 63-61 but could never get any closer. Iowa couldn’t get any key stops defensively down the stretch and allowed Penn State to secure the victory.

Not only could they not get defensive stops late in the game but their missed free throws were costly as well.  With the game within reach, Josh Oglesby and Melsahn Basabe missed some very important free throws that could have tied the game.

I put this loss as one of the worst on the season for Iowa because Penn State is a bad team.  The Hawkeyes were clearly the better team which they showed in the second-half but just could not shake their slow start.  Their lack of scoring production from their bench was costly and needs to get better for them to get back to winning.

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 * – Zach McCabe photo credit: via Penn Live

Earlier in the week, Rodney Coe started to send out tweets that implied that he would not be playing football for Iowa if he couldn’t be a running back.

Yesterday, he took to twitter again and it looks like he might not have completely ruled out playing football at Iowa.  Here is the tweet that he sent out that makes you wonder if he might actually become a Hawkeye after all.

Rodney Coe has a very tough decision that requires a lot thought and he needs make sure that he chooses the right one.

If I had to guess, I would say that someone might have talked to Rodney Coe and convinced him that switching positions might not be a bad thing if he wants to play professionally.  It is hard to completely understand what his thought process is because he is still a kid that is facing a very difficult decision.

If you would have asked me earlier in the week, I would have said there was no chance that Rodney Coe would be playing for Iowa. Now I would say the odds that he does has increased significantly. Reading some his tweets from yesterday, it looks like playing for Iowa is not completely out of the picture.

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* – Rodney Coe photo credit: STL Today

Iowa Hawkeye fans have wondered if Rodney Coe would be playing football in Iowa City anytime soon and he began to answer those questions yesterday on Twitter.

Rodney Coe had originally committed to play running back at Iowa but was not eligible because of grades and had to take the junior college route. Coe was around 235 pounds when he committed to Iowa and because of his size there was speculation that he might switch to the defensive line. Iowa did say they would give him a shot at running back but now that might not be the case and his only option is on the defensive line if he wants to be a Hawkeye.

He began to give indicators on Twitter that he would not be going to Iowa if he had to become a defensive lineman and would be reopening the recruiting process.  Hawkeyenation has complete timeline of his tweets and it does not look like he will be playing running back or any other position at Iowa.

Rodney Coe did play running back last season at Iowa Western Community College but did not exactly light it up statistically. In 10 games, he only rushed for 470 yards on 76 carries.  Here is a complete look at his stats from last season.

Rodney Coe is also reportedly weighing in these days at 270 pounds and that is a pretty big increase from when he originally was recruited by Iowa. A lot of people were saying that he could be the next Brandon Jacobs as a big bruising type running back. Jacobs tips the scales at around 265 pounds and if Coe is already at 270 pounds, the chances of him slimming down as sophomore in college does not seem likely.

Coe is probably going to get bigger and if he wants to play at the next level then he will have to become a defensive lineman. I applaud Coe for sticking to what he wants to do but the reality is that if he wants to play professionally then he is going to need to switch positions. Coe does have the athletic ability to make transition to defense fairly quickly if he wants to.  After all, playing for Iowa on the defensive line is not a bad thing especially if you wants to play in the NFL.

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* – Rodney Coe photo credit: via Scout.com

This season for the Iowa Hawkeye basketball team has been full of ups and downs that has proven that the program is still a work in progress.

Offensively, the Hawkeyes have been of the best teams in the Big Ten statistically and nationally they are in the top half in almost all categories.  There are 345 Division 1 teams so anything that is above the 150 ranking nationally means that you are doing pretty well.

The most important statistic to measure how well a team is doing offensively is to look at how many points per game they are scoring.  Iowa is doing very well in this area statistically, averaging 73.8 points per game, which ranks 3^rd in the Big Ten and 54^th overall nationally.

Iowa has done very well on the offensive end but the defensive side of the ball is a completely different story and they have had their struggles all season long. They rank in the bottom half in almost every defensive category and are allowing their opponents to make an alarming number of field goals. The Hawkeyes allow their opponents to make 26.2 field goals a game which ranks 302^nd out of 345 teams.

Another alarming stat defensively that stands out for Iowa’s defense is how many points they allow the opposition to score in the second half.  The Hawkeyes are allowing teams to score on average, 38.7 points in the second half, which ranks 303^rd nationally.  They have been slightly better in the first half  allowing teams to score 33.8 points per game. which ranks 266^th nationally.

Iowa has performed better than most people expected and they still are alive for a NIT bid. They also have a chance to finish the season with a winning record which proves the team has improved from last season and the program is on the rise.  There are still some things though that the Hawkeyes need to improve on such as getting better defensively.

Here is a complete look at their season statistics so far and where they rank nationally.  These stats were provided by teamrankings.com which is an outstanding web site that provides a great deal information for all sports.

Iowa Hawkeyes Stats

Overall Statistics

Shooting Statistics

Scoring Statistics

Rebounding Statistics

Blocks Statistics

Steals Statistics

Turnovers Statistics

Fouls Statistics

* – Aaron White photo credit: via The Commercial Appeal

Iowa couldn’t stop Northwestern from behind the arc as the Wildcats hit 13 three-point shots to easily defeat the Hawkeyes 83-64.

The Hawkeyes had a chance to even their Big Ten record at 6-6 with a win but were not able to find ways to stop Northwestern’s sharp shooting. It wasn’t just their offense that Iowa had problems with but also Northwestern’s 1-3-1 zone confused them all night long. The Hawkeyes could never get into a rhythm offensively, which in turn caused them to turn the ball over 18 times.

The Hawkeyes struggled on both sides of the ball as they lose another tough road game in Big Ten conference play.

Iowa’s defense had no answer for Northwestern as they were able to do almost anything they wanted offensively. Not only did they hit 13 three-point shots but they also had five players score in double figures.  Iowa’s defense has been a problem for them all season long and this game might have been one of their worst performances.

They also struggled offensively as well and were never able to beat Northwestern’s zone. Aaron White led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 17 points as he had another outstanding game. The Hawkeyes did have four players score in double figures (White 17, Gatens 15, Basabe 13 and Marble 10) but after that the next highest was Josh Oglesby with 5 points.

Coming off two solid wins, the Hawkeyes had some momentum coming into this game but could not match Northwestern’s energy.  This is not the outcome the Hawkeyes were hoping for but it is nothing for them to hang their head about.  This team has played well above expectations and are still very much alive for a possible NIT bid.

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* – Zach McCabe  photo credit: via My San Antonio 

The Iowa Hawkeyes have named their new defensive coordinator and have promoted Phil Parker.

Parker has been a member of Kirk Ferentz’s staff since he became the head coach at Iowa 13 seasons ago. He was the secondary coach, and now takes over as the defensive coordinator for Norm Parker (no relation), who retired at the end of the season.

When it was announced that Iowa would be looking for a new defensive coordinator, the first name that was thrown out there was Phil Parker.  Many thought that he would be named as defensive coordinator right away after the Insight Bowl but the process seemed be taking longer than originally thought.  This delay caused people to speculate that the position would be filled from someone from outside of the current staff.

Phil Parker has had some very impressive accomplishments with the Iowa Hawkeye defense that make him very qualified to take the next step.  His accomplishments have not gone unnoticed and Parker was named by Rivals.com as a first team member of its College Football Assistant Coach Dream Team.

The coaching staff was further shaken up, when it was also announced that Darrell Wilson and Reese Morgan will be taking on new coaching assignments as well. Darrell Wilson has coached the linebackers for the past 10 seasons and will now be the secondary coach. Kirk Ferentz also announced that Reese Morgan, who had been the offensive line coach, will be replacing Rick Kaczenski as the new defensive line coach.

Here is what Kirk Ferentz had to say about these coaches and how they will help the Hawkeyes in the future.

Phil, Darrell and Reese have all done an outstanding job in our program for a significant period of time, said Ferentz. “I am confident they will have a very positive effect on our team as we transition forward.

By process of elimination, that leaves one coaching spot to be filled on the defensive side of the ball and it is with the linebackers.  I look for this position to be filled by LaVar Woods, who is a former Iowa player and is listed as an administrative assistant.

I am not surprised that Kirk Ferentz promoted from within to find his new defensive coordinator but I did start to think that he would go outside of his staff the longer it took to fill.  As a whole, these moves seem to fit the way Kirk Ferentz does things and I look for this to help the program get better.

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* – Phil Parker and Kirk Ferentz photo credit: via Bleacher Report

In today’s world of social media and news now type outlets; it didn’t take long before rumors to confirm fan’s suspicions of who the next defensive coordinator and defensive line coach for the Iowa Hawkeyes could be.

With the retirement of long time defensive coordinator Norm Parker, the Hawkeyes had an opening that many thought was taking a very long time fill.  The longer it took, the more people realized that the hire was not coming from within and that the delay was because their next defensive coordinator could be from the New York Giants staff.  As everyone is well aware of, the Giants won the Super Bowl and hiring anyone from their staff that would have to wait their season was over.

Now that Super Bowl is over, Jim Herrmann becoming Iowa’s next defensive coordinator seems like a real possibility.  Incoming recruit, Jaleel Johnson, might have already confirmed what most people suspected before it was made official about Iowa’s next defensive coordinator.  According to Johnson’s Facebook post, it looks like Jim Herrmann might be the next defensive coordinator at Iowa and this what he posted:

The Iowa hawkeyes will be gettin a new defensive coordinator….the LB coach from the NEW YORK GIANTS!!!!

If Jaleel Johnson is right, here some highlights of Jim Herrmann’s career that make him a very good candidate to be the Hawkeyes next defensive coordinator:

During Herrmann’s nine years as coordinator, Michigan won five Big Ten championships and the defense held 47 opponents to less than 100 rushing yards. His defense led the Big Ten in sacks in 1997, 2001 and 2002, including a school-record 50 sacks in 2001. Herrmann coached six All-Americas at Michigan, including Marlin Jackson, Ernest Shazor, Leon Hall, LaMarr Woodley, Larry Foote and Charles Woodson, who won the 1997 Heisman Trophy and was named the national Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are also looking for a defensive line coach after Rick Kaczenski left to coach at Nebraska.  After he left, rumors began to circulate that LaVar Woods could possibly become the next defensive line coach at Iowa.

Those rumors might have been confirmed when high school junior, David Kenney, told Rivals.com that LaVar Woods was introduced to him as the new defensive line coach.  Woods played at Iowa from 1998-2000 and was a two-year starter at outside linebacker.  He is currently listed as administrative assistant at Hawkeyesports.com. but that might change this Wednesday after Kirk Ferentz’s press conference.

If these rumors are both true, than the Hawkeyes might have found two outstanding coaches on the defensive side of the ball.

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* –Jim Herrmann photo credit: via Giants.com