Kirk Ferentz sheds light on Iowa football’s position changes, departures

IOWA CITY — Recently-departed Hawkeyes Cody Ince and Elijah Yelverton have “been through a lot of things medically,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said Wednesday.

Ince, who is already in his fourth year academically, will graduate in May, Ferentz said.

Yelverton, who is in his second year academically in Iowa City, will finish his degree elsewhere.

“He's going to put football on the shelf, finish out this semester and go back home, finish up his degree down in Texas,” Ferentz said.

Iowa’s additions on offense

The offense added a few players, too. Logan Jones moved from defensive line to center, and Mike Timm moved from linebacker to fullback. Ferentz alluded to the same reasoning for both moves from defense to offense — opportunities.

The depth at defense line was a “big part” of the decision for Jones to move to center, Ferentz said, despite “doing perfectly fine” on the defensive line.

“We've got eight, nine, 10 guys in the mix for playing on the defensive line,” Ferentz said. “We were really young a year ago. But everybody's back.”

All but one player from last year’s two-deep depth chart on the defensive line is expected to return in 2022.

Ferentz said jokingly he thinks defensive line coach Kelvin Bell is “finally over it, a couple weeks later.”

“But he may still be mad at me,” Ferentz said. “That gave us a little bit of flexibility. KB would not agree. If he was standing here he would not agree and might hit me. … Could have been worse. I could have picked someone else, and he would be really mad.”

Timm was at middle linebacker behind Jack Campbell and Jay Higgins, so that didn’t leave much of an opportunity for the newly-under-scholarship senior.

Campbell was on the field for about 96 percent of Iowa’s defensive plays in 2021, according to a Gazette analysis of Pro Football Focus data.

Moving Timm to fullback “gives him an opportunity to play a little bit more,” Ferentz said.

“We're a little bit deep at the middle linebacker position, and that's what he plays,” Ferentz said. “So I felt like he might have a better avenue for playing time at the fullback spot.”

Comments: (319) 398-8394; john.steppe@thegazette.com