Iowa football announces shifts in coaching duties

IOWA CITY - Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz announced some shifts in duties for three assistant coaches.

The most interesting of the three changes is offensive line coach Brian Ferentz. He will retain O-line duties and will have 'run game coordinator” added to his title. LeVar Woods will serve as tight ends coach after coaching linebackers the past three seasons. Seth Wallace, who was named Iowa's recruiting coordinator last June, will coach Iowa's cornerbacks and nickel backs after assisting with the defensive line in 2014.

'I believe these adjustments in coaching responsibilities will add to our efficiency and productivity as a staff,” Kirk Ferentz said in a statement released Thursday. 'We have an outstanding group of teachers and we look forward to the challenge of building a strong 2015 Hawkeye football team.”

What these moves mean are kind of up in the air, at least until Kirk Ferentz more thoroughly discusses them.

- What is 'run game coordinator”? It's pretty much what the title says it is. Brian Ferentz will be responsible for run game design/implementation. It doesn't mean he will call plays or even share those duties with offensive coordinator Greg Davis. It probably doesn't mean that. We don't know for sure what it means.

Remember, when Brian Ferentz was hired, Iowa athletics redrew its organizational chart so he wouldn't be a direct report to his father, Kirk. This was done to ameliorate claims of nepotism. Iowa athletics director Gary Barta said Thursday that remains the case.

Will Iowa change the core of its running schemes, namely the zone blocking and inside and outside zone plays? That remains to be seen.

- It's probably OK to assume Wallace, who was defensive coordinator at Valdosta State from 2011-13, also will hold recruiting coordinator duties. Last summer, a recruiting staff was hired, and so the details there can be spread around.

Defensive coordinator Phil Parker held those duties along with secondary coach responsibilities the last two seasons. This at least takes some of the chore off his plate.

- What does LeVar Woods know about tight ends? Woods played outside linebacker at Iowa in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He played linebacker during a seven-year career in the NFL. He's coached Iowa linebackers for the last three seasons. A lot of an outside linebacker's job is knowing and defending tight ends. So, Woods probably knows more than you think.

Jim Reid will cover all three linebacker positions (Woods coached outside linebackers last year) in 2015.

- Graduate assistants? D.J. Hernandez was Iowa's TE coach the last two season. Graduate assistants serve on two-year terms and can earn a third if they complete 24-semester hours during those two years at their school.

Iowa might turnover three of its four grad assistants. Broderick Binns served his first year last season. Austin Showalter and Chris Polizzi have served as GAs at Iowa for the last three seasons. Maybe those rules have changed, but it looks like there will be some turnover here.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com