Ferentz shares Sash memories

IOWA CITY - Kirk Ferentz's voice quavered. The bags under his eyes were pronounced. His face said Tuesday night was sleepless.

Iowa's head coach spoke Wednesday about the death of former Iowa safety Tyler Sash, who was found dead Tuesday morning in his Oskaloosa home. Sash was a two-time first-team all-Big Ten player for the Hawkeyes during their last great run, the 2008-10 seasons.

College football coaches relationships with their athletes usually begin in high school. Ferentz first saw Sash play in a youth basketball game in Sigourney. A group from the City High system, which included Ferentz's son, James (now a Denver Bronco offensive lineman), and former Hawkeye basketball star Matt Gatens, took on a Sash-led team from Oskaloosa.

Oskaloosa won, 40-36, with Sash scoring 36 points. Four years later, Sash was a Hawkeye and he was particularly good at football.

Sash ranks fifth in career interceptions with 13 and holds Iowa career record and ranks fourth all-time in the Big Ten Conference with 392 interception return yards. His 86-yard touchdown against Indiana in 2009 ranks as fifth longest interception return in school history.

He left Iowa with a year of eligibility remaining and was drafted in the sixth round by the New York Giants in the 2011 draft. As a special teams standout with the Giants that season, Sash was part of a Super Bowl championship team.

'He certainly was a special young man in our program, had a great career here, was extremely competitive, just a high-energy player and did a lot of great things,” Ferentz said.

Also Wednesday, the state department of health released a statement on the results of Sash's autopsy by the state medical examiner's office. It revealed no acute trauma. The cause and manner of death are pending further investigation and additional lab tests.

Visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Fellowship Bible Church in Oskaloosa. A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Friday at the Oskaloosa Community Stadium at the Lacey Complex in Oskaloosa with a private family burial to follow.

Memorials may be made to the Oskaloosa Booster Club.

Ferentz thanked the Iowa State community for reaching out via social media. The Cyclones program is no stranger to tragedy, with six players and a coach suffering untimely deaths since 2003.

With Saturday's game in Ames, Iowa sports information director Steve Roe said ISU reached out with an idea to honor Sash. There will be a moment of silence in Jack Trice Stadium.

Ferentz said he has talked to the Sash family about a tribute. During his radio show Wednesday night, he said the team will have a decal for the season and something different for Saturday's game.

'We're definitely going to find a tasteful way to pay tribute,” Ferentz said, 'and his family was very receptive to that, so we'll run it by them first, but they were very receptive to that.”

Sash's final season with Iowa was 2010. Iowa's fifth-year seniors on this team were on campus in 2011, so there was no overlap.

'There's distance, but you think about the guys that played with him, 2009 and 2010 especially, the (Shaun) Praters, the (Pat) Angerers, go right down the list of guys that were in the huddle on that defensive football team, and that's a hard thing,” Ferentz said.

Football is a game of platoons. During his days at Iowa, Sash developed a close bond with secondary coach Phil Parker (who now coaches safeties and is defensive coordinator). Every unit on the team spends a lot of hours in a classroom setting. That is where work gets done, but also where relationships are cemented.

Ferentz said Parker was hit hard by the news.

'You can imagine, yesterday was a really tough day for everybody, but for a guy like Phil who sat in the same room with Tyler for four years, there's a real bond that develops and a real closeness,” Ferentz said. '. . . It's a hard thing. It's a hard thing, but it pales in comparison to the family, what the family is going through right now, all of his close friends.”

Quick slants

- Ferentz said 'a couple players” would be game-time decisions Saturday. One of those is junior tight end George Kittle, who sat out the second half last week after suffering a knee injury.

'He's working his way back right now and we're hoping he can play,” Ferentz said. 'He's got a chance.”

- A lot of reserves entered the game last week, sophomore TE Jon Wisnieski didn't play and could be one of the injured players.

- Also on that list is sophomore running back Derrick Mitchell, who also didn't play last week.

'He's looking better,” Ferentz said. 'We're hoping he's there.”

- On tight end Jake Duzey, who has 58 career receptions and is returning from a torn patellar tendon, Ferentz said: 'He had shoulder pads on and did some things, some football activities this week. Very limited, but that's the first step to getting a guy back, so that's a positive step.”

- Ferentz also was asked about senior defensive tackle Darian Cooper, who's been out since the beginning of last season after an extensive knee repair. Would it be possible for Cooper to be awarded a sixth year?

'I really don't know if that's realistic,” Ferentz said. 'I think the biggest thing is we're just going to try to push as hard as we can within limits and be smart about it and then hope that he gets an opportunity to play this year.”

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