Iowa linebackers looking inside and outside themselves

Put yourself in Josey Jewell and Bo Bower's shoes. As first-year players last season, they were thrown onto the field as two-thirds of Iowa's linebacking corps and asked to swim and not sink.

As you might imagine, it was mind-boggling.

'It was an infinity amount,” Jewell said of the information he processed as a freshman linebacker. 'The experience was all of it. You get all the nervous feeling out.”

The results were mixed. Iowa's defense finished No. 22 in the nation (allowing 344.2 yards a game), but when it broke, it really broke. It allowed 200-plus rushing yards in five games (the most for a season since 1999, when Iowa allowed six 200-plus rushing games in Kirk Ferentz's first season as Iowa's head coach) and 2,188 rushing yards (third most for a season in the Ferentz era).

They aren't asking for your sympathy. Bower and Jewell earned their jobs and they knew the degree of difficulty and that they would be held accountable.

They're back for a second season. This spring, Jewell has spent time at middle (Mike) and weakside (Will) linebacker, switching with senior Travis Perry. Bower moved from the outside linebacker (Leo) to the weakside. True sophomore Ben Niemann is the starter on the outside.

The group has had a year of 'infinity” growth and has a chance to be a year better. Linebackers coach Jim Reid, who also took over the outside linebacker spot with LeVar Woods switching to tight ends, was asked what convinces him the linebacker group will take a step forward this season.

'Well, let me just say, I'm not sure that it's going to be up, as much as it's going to be consistent,” Reid said. 'I think we are going to be playing hard. We're going to be physical and we've got to make more plays. And I think we've got the guys to be able to do it.”

Iowa's defense will have mostly the same bodies at linebacker and it will run the same 4-3 over defense, which the late Norm Parker installed nearly 17 years ago. But that's OK, Reid believes the strength of this scheme is the fact that it can quickly change stripes. The Iowa staff visited a few other schools in the offseason and compared notes.

'It's always good to get out and hobnob a little bit with your fellow coaches and just to discuss areas of concern and how you take care of it,” Reid said. 'But the system here that coach Norm Parker put in 16, 17 years ago now as we get into next season, is one that is so flexible and adjusts very well to all formations. It's almost kind of like you want to go there to make sure that you know what you're doing is - I'm not going to say right - but is right for you. There's a lot of people that have a lot of answers. Most of them have the best players.

'We have excellent players and an excellent scheme that adjusts to different formations.”

The idea for Iowa's linebacker this spring has been to embed and learn the defense. All four linebackers have switched positions inside and outside.

'I think it's knowing the whole defense, every position, so we can play fast,” Bower said. 'Honestly, we're sticking with the same defense and we're just repping every day and we're working on every little detail. I think that's what got us [last season], the little details, and that's what we're working on.”

For Bower, what has it meant to learn the Will spot? 'I think I've definitely gotten faster with my reads and everything,” he said.

For Jewell, just being on the field and in scheme is starting to feel more 'natural.”

'Natural is the right word,” he said. 'Every day in practice, Things come to you more quickly. You're not thinking. You feel more natural about moving to, say, quarter coverage.”

Reid said the concept is to learn 'inside to outside,” so the shifting alignments allow the linebackers to be where they need to be. This should be where you see some improvement from the same players in the same defense. Simply put, they've accepted the assignment and are dedicated to picking up the few steps that were lost in translation as rookies in 2014.

'It's not all physical talent that allows to you make a TFL (tackle for loss), to make a sack, to make a great play,” Reid said. 'It's having anticipation. It's reading the line of scrimmage. It's seeing the splits. It's knowing what the formation is. It's knowing what the down and distance is.”

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