Iowa LBs: Tarp's time

IOWA CITY -- Jeff Tarpinian faces some giant foes this fall.

There's the massive Wisconsin offensive line, the challenge of learning the middle linebacker position, which is new to the fifth-year senior, and there's advanced tax and auditing.

This is the world of Jeff Tarpinian, Iowa's middle linebacker and an all-Big Ten accounting major.

Go ahead, try to fit that all in one helmet. The 6-foot-3, 238-pound senior from Omaha, Neb., sees how it all fits together. The rest of us might have to squint, but it's there.

"Like anything in life, you have to work at it," Tarpinian said. "Accounting is something I definitely have to work at. It's not something that just happens. Numbers can just come to some people, but I have to work at it.

"Football is definitely something I've had to work at. You can apply the work ethic to both."

Make no mistake, the middle linebacker position at Iowa demands a cerebral player.

The "Mike" linebacker calls the huddle and relays the defense from the sidelines. He takes care of the front adjustments, which is what you see when a linebacker taps a D-lineman on the behind and moves him over a shade or two. Sometimes, the middle linebacker directs a call for the secondary.

"Very cerebral," linebackers coach Darrell Wilson said. "He sits in the meetings and you're looking at him and you're wondering if he's paying attention. He's not taking notes, but he's really absorbing everything. Very smart. Playing all three positions has helped him, too. He has a good feel for the whole defense."

Tarpinian has the body and the experience for this. His resume starts at quarterback.

After a high school career as an option quarterback at Millard North High School -- he was named the Gatorade player of the year in 2005 -- Tarpinian started as a safety at Iowa. His sophomore season he was poised to take over at weakside, but suffered a hamstring injury in camp and could only watch as Jeremiha Hunter bloomed into a three-year starter. Last season, Tarpinian was a the nickel package linebacker.

When Hunter left the Ohio State game with an injury, Tarpinian entered and promptly suffered a partially torn MCL tear.

Last week in fall camp, Tarpinian suffered a broken right hand. He could be available for the season opener against Eastern Illinois on Sept. 4.

The resume is there, but the nuance needs to kick in. Believe it or not, there's nuance to middle linebacker.

One such detail is communication. The defensive call goes from coordinator Norm Parker's spot in the pressbox to Wilson's headphones to Tarpinian's lift. This is a new element for Tarpinian.

"Coach Wilson got on me a little bit in spring, when I switched to middle," said Tarpinian, who has 50 career tackles. "Just the first play today he said, 'Make sure you get up there. This is your defense, you've got run things.' "

The metaphor Tarpinian went to was "breathing."  

"You definitely have to train yourself [to be more vocal]," he said. "You've got to make it so all the calls and checks you make are like breathing. You don't want to be thinking on the field. You just want to play, react and be instinctive. That's what you're shooting for." 

Of course, it's football. The other part of middle linebacker is surviving and thriving in the pit. Wilson is confident Tarpinian will.

"He's a mature, physical linebacker that we need to play versus the run," Wilson said. "Jeff has really grown into that position. He probably has the best hands, meaning getting off blocks. He just does such a good job with that. It's really been the perfect position for him right now."

Wisconsin offensive linemen Gabe Carimi and John Moffitt are going to be brutal next fall. But will they be worse than advanced tax and auditing. Those are the last two classes that stand between Tarpinian and an accounting degree at the University of Iowa.

"I only have six hours left, so that's kind of nice," he said. "They're going to be challenging. It's not like I'm going to be taking ping pong and badminton. It's going to be pretty tough."

But the real question is, would Wilson let Tarpinian do his taxes?

"Yeah, well . . . I would," Wilson said. "I wouldn't mind having him take care of my money. Maybe make me some more."

One line in the UI catalog that describes an auditing class goes "improve critical-thinking and analytical skills in the context of real-world problems involving risk."

That sounds like middle linebacker.

_______________

Depth charting

MLB -- Jeff Tarpinian, sr., 6-3, 238; Bruce Davis, jr., 6-0, 232

WLB -- Jeremiha Hunter, sr., 6-2, 235; Troy Johnson, sr., 6-2, 235

OLB -- Tyler Nielsen, jr., 6-4, 235; Ross Petersen, sr., 6-3, 236

In the huddle

One observation from the open scrimmage Aug. 14 was WLB Jeremiha Hunter came off the field in passing situations in favor of defensive back Jordan Bernstine. This would seem to be Iowa's nickel package. . . . MLB James Morris seems to be the only one of the four true freshmen who is in line for playing time this fall. Currently, he's the No. 3 MLB. Redshirts appear likely for Jim Poggi, Austin Gray and Christian Kirksey. . . . After sitting behind A.J. Edds, a fourth-round draft pick of the Miami Dolphins, for three seasons, Tyler Nielsen has held serve and will be the No. 1 OLB. "He's a big, strong athlete with an A.J. Edds-type body, that's what we look for in that position," linebacker coach Darrell Wilson said. "He's strong enough to play on the line of scrimmage and is athletic enough to play in space."

Numbers game

Hunter is third on the defense in career starts with 25. Safety Brett Greenwood leads the team with 32 starts. Defensive tackle Christian Ballard has 26 and then Hunter. . . . Iowa's returning linebackers accounted for 4.5 tackles for loss last season, with Hunter owning 2.5 of those. Bruce Davis and Troy Johnson own the other two. . . . Hunter finished seventh in the Big Ten with .17 fumbles recovered per game. . . . Tarpinian is a three-time all-academic all-Big Ten athlete. Nielsen is a two-time academic all-Big Ten player.

The senior talks about the job he has this season. For the first time, he's a starter and for the first time he's a middle linebacker.

This fall, the academic all-Big Ten accounting major has six hours. This fall, he's got Auditing and Advanced Taxes. "I only have six hours, but there not exactly badminton and ping pong."

Iowa's LB coach talks about his new middle linebacker Jeff Tarpinian, who's a middle linebacker and an accounting major (and who's earned academic all-Big Ten).

Yes, Wilson would allow Tarpinian to do his taxes. "I would let him handle my money. Maybe make me some more."

He also talks about his other new LB, outside linebacker Tyler Nielsen.