Voice from the Norm-mobile

PHOENIX -- It's a golf cart, but it's not.

Norm Parker tooled around Iowa's Insight Bowl practice Friday in a golf cart that is pimped out to be more of a Lincoln Town Car. It's painted black, has two working headlights, mag wheels and faux-leather interior. Much like it's driver, the cart has been through some wars, with more than a few scraps and gouges in the sides.

Iowa's defensive coordinator is getting around practice. He's back pretty much full-time and somewhat full-go. When he talks, the defense listens.

"Everything he says, we hang on every word," senior linebacker Jeff Tarpinian said. "Because you know when he says something, it's important."

With No. 12 Missouri (10-2) coming up in Tuesday's Insight Bowl, Iowa's veteran defense knows it's time to listen.

"He call us up as a defense and tell what he sees and gives us a state of the union," Tarpinian said. "He tells us where we're at and what he sees. When we hear what he says, it's very important to us.

". . . He's wise, he's been around and he knows a lot."

Parker is still recovering from having his right foot amputated in September because of diabetic complications. He said Friday that he still gets a little tired and doesn't grind as many hours in the office as he once did, but other than mobility, he said he's energized and into it.

"I really enjoy being around the guys, I really enjoy being out there," said Parker, 69, who's in his 12th season as Kirk Ferentz's defensive coordinator at Iowa. "I enjoy being around the other coaches, I enjoy football. It's another way to get out of the house."

He might be making up for lost time.

Parker went from Sept. 10 to Oct. 30 with little or no connection to the team. Since Michigan State week Oct. 30, he's had some limited work with the team. This month, he returned to the practice field.

His defensive charges love it.

"It's definitely different, you can just feel his presence out there," defensive lineman Christian Ballard said. "There's a lot more clarity. I'm not saying the coaches didn't do a good job, you just have the head guy out and having him back is great. He's a good leader and a great guy to have around."

Parker isn't walking into a turn-key operation. Iowa's defense put up pretty numbers this season, among the Big Ten's top two and the nation's top 10 in several categories, including scoring (16.4 points per game) and rushing defense (103.5 yards a game).

Iowa's defense had nice numbers overall, but it also had a fourth-quarter problem. The Hawkeye allowed a late TD in all five of their losses this season.

"I think it makes a nice story," Parker said of the fourth-quarter problem. "We had Ohio State fourth-and-10, and [Terrelle] Pryor gets out and scrambles 11 yards and they eventually put the ball in. We got beat by an awful good quarterback."

And then there's linebacker, which has been ravaged by injury this year.

Tarpinian, who's been fighting a neck/shoulder stinger since September, pledged Friday that he will play. Iowa also lost Tyler Nielsen (broken vertebrae) and Bruce Davis (torn ACL) along the way.

True freshman James Morris has started the last five weeks at middle linebacker. Iowa really hasn't settled on a replacement for Nielsen at strongside linebacker.

Parker's return won't heal the wounded.

"We're sort of playing linebacker by committee right now," Parker said. "It's a 'linebacker by committee story.' "

Parker likes a lot of what Morris, who's made 63 tackles, has done in his first steps as a Hawkeye, but his job also is to coach the 19-year-old from Solon.

"The problem with any young guy is they don't have a memory bank of past experiences where you just say, 'Play it like we played this team,'" Parker said. "There is no 'play it like we played this team.' And he sees so many things that are first-time things, it's hard, it's hard when you're a freshman.

"He makes the same mistakes three years from now, it's a different story. But six months ago, this guy was riding a school bus. Now, all of the sudden he's playing in a bowl game on national TV.

"I think he's done a great job, but to think he's going to be perfect on every play and recognize every formation or recognize everything that's going on, it's a lot to comprehend."

That's why the defense gathers around Parker's Lincoln Town Cart when he has something to say. It might not be what they always want to hear, but they know it's vetted and as credible as it gets.

"When he says something, you know he's telling you what you need to know," defensive end Adrian Clayborn said. "He doesn't just talk to talk. When he talks, you need to listen."