Iowa hitting a groove
with recruits
Ryan Suchomel
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz smiled at the thought of having a “war room” where he and his coaching staff meet to divide up the country like a casserole and race off to bring back the best of the best of the best that high school football has to offer.
“I don't want to say it was a routine year, but it just seems like things really went pretty methodically,” Ferentz said Wednesday after the Hawkeyes had signed commitments from 21 new recruits. “We’ll all know more about four years from now.
“That’s really about the best way to rank a recruiting class; see how they do on the field.”
Rivals.com has the Iowa class ranked 42nd, and Scout.com has Iowa 45th. Chances are, Ferentz doesn't notice those rankings or if does, probably doesn't really care.
Going into his 11th season as the head Hawkeye this fall, Ferentz has made it a point to go after players that fit the character of his team.
It's a proven idea. And one that Iowa may have gotten away from a little bit in the middle of his tenure while pursuing a top recruiting class.
After the Hawkeyes finished ranked No. 8 in the country three straight seasons (2002-04) Iowa began to bring in more and more players with a lot of stars next to their names. After all, if you are going to be a Top 10 program, shouldn't you recruit like one?
It didn't exactly work. A lot of the players didn't stick around for four or five years. Team chemistry seemed to tilt a little off-kilter while Iowa went through a few “down” seasons.
Ferentz and his staff seem to have found their groove again with the Class of 2010. They targeted the players they wanted, that fit in their system and that don't mind coming to Iowa City.
"We just need guys who are going to come in here and really work hard and buy into what we're trying to get accomplished," Ferentz said. "I wish we had a better chart, but that's what we do."