Iowa OK on the recruiting front; former players praise Doyle, Iowa S&C staff

The national signing period for football recruits begins in less than a week.

Next Wednesday, high school football players from across the country will sign national letters of intent and become the football property of the school they fax that letter into.

In less than a week, recruiting will be finished for 2011. According to Rivals' Mike Farrell, the timing helps Iowa in the wake of the rhabdomyolysis outbreak that sent 13 players to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

"Recruiting is 95 percent over for this year," Farrell said. "A kid who started looking now wouldn't find many if any openings, at least not at big schools and not on the Big Ten level where Iowa is."

Farrell said if Iowa experiences repercussions from this incident, it would likely come next recruiting season. Also, the questions would come from parents in the livingrooms.

"Kids hear something like this, they don't think it will happen to them," said Farrell, the lead football recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. "They think they're invincible. Parents hear something like this and they're going to have questions about supervision."

Iowa's winter workouts include groups of athletes that range from 15 to 30. Paul Federici, UI director of football operations, said Wednesday that five Iowa strength and conditioning coaches are on hand at every session. The UI's website lists four strength coaches -- head coach Chris Doyle, Raimond Braithwaite, Dustyn Baethke and Alan Weber.

Federici, who wasn't present at the workouts, shed some light on hydration opportunities during such sessions.

"There are breaks structured during all of the workout sections as well as plenty of hydration beverages available in the lockerroom, pre-workouts, post-workout," he said. "When they are in the bubble or on the surface, there is water readily available. It is completely open at their discretion when they are in between various aspects of their workout.

"So, it's limitless really and widely available."

Farrell believes the overall reputation head coach Kirk Ferentz and his staff has built and maintained at Iowa will remain strong with recruits and their parents.

"Overall, parents and high school coaches have a very good feel for the Iowa program," Farrell said. "It's an established Big Ten program. Parents know that Iowa coaches wouldn't ask their kids to do anything that would harm them."

Biff Poggi, father of freshman linebacker Jim Poggi -- one of the 13 players hospitalized -- said Wednesday that he's totally comfortable with the UI's actions and his son's return to the program, when he's healthy enough to return. As of now, there is no timeline for that.

“I also wanted to let everybody know, and I know this sounds nuts, but as a parent who's 900 miles away [Baltimore], I'm thankful for the kind of contact I've had with the coaches," said Biff Poggi, who is head coach for the Gilman School in Baltimore, Md. "Again, I've spoken to Kirk at least five times and then to his position coach Darrell Wilson, all the time. I'm very thankful for that."

In an interview with The Gazette on Thursday, former Iowa offensive lineman and Green Bay Packer Bryan Bulaga said the workout Iowa players performed (100 squats at 50 percent of individual's max as fast as possible, followed by pushing a blocking sled for multiple sets of 20 yards) was something he did during his time at Iowa.

“I've got some guys I'm still close with there," said Bulaga, who played from 2007-09 before being selected in the first round of last April's draft. "I know we'd done something very similar to that before. When I was there, nothing like that happened.”

Former Hawkeyes Mike Elgin, Jayme Murphy and Taylor Herbst told the Dubuque Telegraph Herald that they went through the 100-squat workout. They said it tested their limits, but they suffered no ill effects except for soreness and fatigue.

"That strength staff headed by Chris Doyle, they are smart," Elgin, a former O-lineman at Iowa, told the TH. "They research everything. They are looking out for the best interest of the player.

"[Doyle]is one of those guys who really cares. He really gets to know his players. He probably knows the players' bodies better than they do. They have such a magnifying glass on the players. They know what's going on.

"He's one of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the nation, and you don't fall into that reputation by being careless. It's an unforutnate incident that hopefully both sides will learn from."

Former Hawkeyes safety Tyler Sash, who's in San Diego, Calif., sent well wishes through Twitter on Thursday.

"Sending my best to my teammates for a speedy recovery," Sash tweeted. "From experience I know there are no better or more caring coaches than Coach Ferentz,Coach Doyle, and the rest of the coaching staff. Go Hawks!"