Norm Parker talks up Iowa DT Karl Klug, calls DE Adrian Clayborn 'the Godfather'

It seems Iowa defensive tackle Karl Klug has become the latest football player to endear himself to Hawkeyes defensive coordinator Norm Parker.

At an I-Club event in Burlington last week, Parker talked up Klug as another in the line of crazy Iowa defensive linemen. Here's what Parker had to say:

"We used to have a defensive lineman named Matt Roth, and Roth was a helluva player," Parker said. "He didn't know where the hell he was going. Once the ball was snapped he was going there fast. And then came this kid (Mitch) King. If  you watch King on film and watched him do things, you know there's a lot of Matt Roth in Mitch King. It's true. He plays like Matt Roth. Those two guys, they turned it loose. They to turn it loose.

"And now there's another kid there by the name of Karl Klug. When I watched Klug, I say there's a lot of Matt Roth and Mitch King in Karl Klug. He turns it loose and he's like those other two guys. You don't know always doesn't know where the hell he's going, but when he does he goes fast. Those guys are the guys that are sure fun to coach."

Klug, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 270 pounds, was honorable mention last year by the Big Ten's coaches. He had 65 tackles, including 13 for loss, and four sacks. He hails from Caledonia, Minn.

Parker said there's a leadership void right now on the defense, just as there was in the past. He said King and Matt Kroul filled the void left by Abdul Hodge and Chad Greenway five years ago, and linebackers Pat Angerer and A.J. Edds were the unquestioned leaders last year. All six players are on NFL rosters this spring.

But Parker never hesitated when talking about who will fill next year's leadership void.

"There's no question one of the leaders is going to be (defensive end) Adrian Clayborn," Parker said. "He is the godfather of this defense. He's the guy they all of them look up to. He really is a super guy as a player and really is a super guy as a kid.

"Then in the secondary (Tyler) Sash and (Brett) Greenwood, those guys have got  going to be the leaders. The older guys have got to be leaders. They have to set the tempo. Those older guys as they get older in theory; it doesn't always work this way.

"We've got eight guys back from last year. They should be a year older, should be a year smarter, they've been through Chris Doyle's Bataan Death March so they should be a year stronger. They should be better players than they were last year. But all of that falls in their court. It's up to them. Where do those leaders take the rest of the team?"