You hear the name Croston, you’ve heard the name Croston

IOWA CITY - Cole Croston might not play this weekend at Wisconsin. You might not want him to. He's the backup left offensive tackle. If he's in, then Boone Myers, the No. 1, still is out with a neck stinger and that's just not good going against the Badgers.

You've only really gotten to know Croston, a 6-5, 304-pound junior, this season. The name, you know it, it's on the tip of your tongue. We'll get to that, but let's keep the intro going.

Croston walked on from Sergeant Bluff-Luton High School, where he earned letters as a lineman, punter and golfer. He had no scholarship offers coming out of high school, but he had an in with Iowa and head coach Kirk Ferentz.

Whether Croston plays or not as the Hawkeyes (4-0) shoot for their first win over No. 18 Wisconsin (3-1) since their last trip to Camp Randall Stadium in 2009 isn't the complete point here. You want Iowa's starters to play. Iowa needs its top 22 against the Badgers ever-blitzing, no-matter-the-situation 3-4 defense.

Ferentz said Tuesday that Myers was limited in practice so far this week and was a 'we'll see as the week goes.” Myers left last week's victory over North Texas and had ice on his neck after the first quarter. Croston got into the first big action of his career.

'It wasn't as bad as I thought,” Croston said. 'I came off the field thinking, ‘Yikes.' But I wasn't as bad as I thought, so that was nice.”

The name, you know it. You know you know it . . . Croston. Oh yeah, Dave Croston. He was a big offensive lineman from Sioux City for the Hawkeyes in the mid 1980s. He was big and good, a three-year starter who earned all-American in 1986 and was named Big Ten offensive lineman of the year that season. He went in the third round to the Green Bay Packers in the 1987 NFL draft.

Dave Croston is Cole's dad. Everyday Cole goes to work in the Iowa Hansen Performance Center, he looks up and sees a big picture of his dad on the wall, where all-Americans are honored in the players' classrooms.

Yeah, it's a little weird.

'It was interesting at first to see him up there, a big Fathead of him on the wall,” Cole said with a smile. 'But no, he looks good up there.”

Let's roll through the whole 'ties the bind” thing here.

Dave Croston's son, Cole, is an O-line student under Iowa O-line coach Brian Ferentz, who is the son of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, who recruited and coached Dave Croston as Iowa's O-line coach from 1981 to 1989. (We won't even mention that tight end George Kittle's dad, Bruce, was an offensive tackle in Kirk Ferentz's first season at Iowa in ‘81 and that George lines up at tight end with his cousin, Henry Kriege Coble.)

As it turned out, Ferentz had to be talked into offering Dave Croston a scholarship by the late and legendary Sioux City East head coach Walt Fiegel.

'I've said this on record, I was underwhelmed by Dave in the recruiting process,” Kirk Ferentz said. 'It was my first year recruiting. It shows you how much I knew. . . . Thank goodness for Walt Fiegel, because when Dave came in here he was an outstanding player right from the start.”

Back to Cole Croston, who may or may not be Iowa's left tackle this weekend against Wisconsin. His dad was his O-line coach in high school. And, no, that wasn't weird, Cole said. That was actually really great.

'There's no better coach in the world than your dad, you know?” Cole Croston said. 'He taught me a lot of things that maybe at the college level I wouldn't have gotten in high school from other coaches.”

The coaching hasn't stopped really. 'He's still giving pointers here and there,” Cole said with a laugh. 'I'll take them, because I can use all the help I can get.”

Cole Croston began his journey as an Iowa offensive lineman as a 235-pound walk-on. Former Iowa defensive end and fellow northwest Iowa resident Dominic Alvis threw him around during the formative years. Cole's main task during that time was, in his words, 'Eat, eat, eat, constantly eat,” he said. 'Hard work in the weightroom with (strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle) coach Doyle. Hard work on the field with Brian (Ferentz). It all accumulated to where I am now.”

Part of where Croston is now is on scholarship. During camp in August, after three years as a walk-on, Croston was awarded a scholarship. You've seen a lot of elaborate videos and ways coaches handout scholarship to walk-ons. They are all inspiring. Croston actually preferred Iowa's understated approach.

'These other schools are making it all dramatic,” Croston said. 'I'm glad they handled it the way they did here. I was definitely excited to be put on scholarship, but it's just another step in the process.”

The steps are happening pretty quickly now.

Last Saturday, Cole Croston got his first big bite of playing time. Up until North Texas, the closest Croston got to meaningful playing time was former Iowa all-American offensive tackle and Outland Trophy winner Brandon Scherff mentioning that he was envious of his pass sets.

'He told me that,” Croston said. 'I don't know. Brandon is a great player and he doesn't have that much to worry about. He was just being nice, I think.”

Last Saturday was a nice break-in for Croston. He thought it was awful, but watched the film and was cool. Kirk Ferentz gave that initial performance a thumbs up.

The toughest critic was his coach. His coach-coach, not his dad-coach.

'It was Brian (Ferentz),” Croston said. 'My dad was pretty happy with me just getting in there. There's a long way to go. My dad had a few things to say, but he wasn't too critical.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com