Ferentz on Coker

The surprise here is not so much that Iowa got the highly recruited running back out of Maryland (UM is just two miles from his house; 18-hour drive to IC), but that Iowa got into the Washington D.C. area.

This is a new area for Iowa. Will Kirk Ferentz go to it again in '11? That remains to be seen. In talking to DeMatha High School coach Bill McGregor, the D.C. area invites tons of recruiting coordinators because of the transient nature of the city. McGregor said "everybody is from somewhere else" in D.C.

Links -- ESPN's Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg writes about Coker here. This link highlights the impressive haul from DeMatha's 2009 football team. Here's the story I wrote before signing day. I think it speaks a little to how much he wanted to be in IC (18-hour drive) and his family background. (If anyone out there has a link, please share in the comments. I know I'm not going to find them all.)

Bio -- From Iowa sports info: High school honors - - Named first team all-state and all-conference as a senior after earning second team honors on all-state and all-conference teams as a junior . . . earned first team all-County honors for two seasons . . . second team all-Metro . . . named offensive MVP of Super 60 list in Maryland/District of Columbia/Virginia area . . . Career - - offensive MVP as a senior helped prep team make four straight appearances in state playoffs, with a four-year record of 43-5 . . . rushed 165 times for 1,698 yards and 23 touchdowns as a senior . . . gained 1,287 yards on 108 carries as a junior, with 17 touchdowns . . . rushed 70 times for 548 yards and three touchdowns as a sophomore . . . team captain as junior and senior . . . set school record with 392 rushing yards in a game, which ranks fourth best in state history.

Personal - - Born 5/11/92 . . . Astrophysics major . . . Principal's List . . . named as state Gentleman of the Year in both 2009 and 2010, posting over 1,000 hours of community service . . . mother is Tammy Money . . . high school coach was Bill McGregor.

Ferentz on -- On having eight scholarship RBs and where Coker might fit in: "And I think the guys that we have complement what we needed. Certainly Marcus is a bigger back, stronger back. We haven't had a lot of guys like that. I think Shonn speaks for himself there, his performance, what he did. I think that's all recent memory. Ladell Betts was a physical runner but outside of that we've had a little different style."

On breaking into D.C. for Coker: "The DeMatha thing was a little bit of a surprise to me, surprised as anybody. Probably read the story. Marcus drove out. His mother doesn't drive we thought it killed our chances to get him. They drove out in August right when practice was getting started and drove to another Big Ten school. Headed home, you know however many times it took and a couple of weeks later he committed to us.

"And then the rest of the story is he was a good football player. We really liked him. I fell in love with the guy when I met him and his mom, tremendous people. Then this year he really had a good year and it's a little bit like (Jewel) Hampton had a great game against Glenville. It caught my eye a couple of years back. Marcus had a great game against Gilman. I forget how many he ran for (392, five TDs).

"I've got a friend who scouts in the NFL for a profession. He happened to be at the game. He called and left me a voice mail. He said, boy, I saw that guy committed to you, he's a really good player. You guys will probably lose him now and that was it. Good friend of mine. My good friend. I'm not going to name him right now. But so I was in the tank on that a little bit. But Marcus has stuck with us and we're really excited about him."

Projection is fun -- These will be more to the positive end, because there's no reason for anything else. These kids aren't even on campus yet.

That said, I find the 6-0, 230 pounds before Iowa weight training very intriguing for an Iowa running back. We've seen what can happen when a big back meshes with a pretty good line (2008). We've also seen what happens with a physical back and an OL learning on the job (Betts in '99 and '00).

If Coker redshirts -- don't know if it's a big "if" or not -- he'll step into a competition that will include three proven juniors, at least. I think his size at the very least gives him some market differentiation.