Niemann!!!

IOWA CITY - Even though everyone punched in and worked, Tuesday was a big night for the Niemann family.

Jay, the dad, directed a defense that helped Northern Illinois upset No. 20 Toledo on the road. Ben, the older brother, spent his evening doing the prepwork a starting outside linebacker needs to do with his No. 11 Hawkeyes (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten) heading into a complex offensive attack at Indiana (4-4, 0-4) this weekend. Nick, the younger brother, might've had a chance to catch his breath after Sycamore High School was knocked out of the first round of the Illinois High School Athletics Association playoffs last week.

Still, dad beat a ranked Toledo team. That's a good night.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ben Niemann said he didn't plan to bury himself so deeply in the video work that he couldn't catch dad's team pull a season-making upset. Or at least, you know, DVR it.

This is kind of how it goes for a football family. Through the magic of DVR, Jay Niemann, Northern Illinois' defensive coordinator, is able to catch his son Ben in his first season at Iowa's outside linebacker. Their Saturdays are pretty full both ways, so DVR is the only way this is going to work.

'He tries to DVR my games every week and watch,” Ben said. 'We'll talk. I usually call him right afterward, stuff like that. Tonight, I get to watch his game on TV, which is nice because I usually have to miss out.”

Niemann hasn't missed much in his first year as a starter.

The 6-3, 225-pound true sophomore is third on the Hawkeyes with 6.0 tackles for loss. He has 31 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two QB hurries and a pass breakup. Neimann's best thing, however, doesn't come with a number and that's setting the edge on the strongside for the defense. You know it when you see it. You certainly know it when you don't see, and all you need to do is flashback to the Minnesota (51-14) and Tennessee (45-28) games from last season.

'Ben's been doing a great job at Leo (what Iowa calls its strongside linebacker),” linebacker Cole Fisher said. 'That's their job like 75 percent of the time, set the edge and let everyone else come from inside out. He's been doing a great job so far.”

It's been a serious upgrade for perimeter defense. Defensive coordinator Phil Parker has been happy with the defense's buy-in, because it really is a team concept, setting and leveraging the perimeter.

'It's not like we weren't coaching it last year, we just weren't as efficient as we are now,” Parker said. 'We emphasize it a little more and the guys running to the ball with the proper leverage helps out.”

Niemann deflects credit for this. He does, however, recognizes its importance.

'If you don't set a strong edge, it's hard for any defense to make a play,” Niemann said. 'That's just kind of basic defensive fundamentals. It's not just me, it's everybody.”

Without going to deeply into the web of Xs and Os, yes, Ben Niemann does occasionally receive a coaching point or two from his dad, who's in his fifth season as NIU's defensive coordinator. Ben takes it all in. He is, after all, a college sophomore who calls home at least after every game. Parents love that.

When college football recruiters first noticed Ben at Sycamore High School, they faced a pretty big roadblock given the fact that he was committed to play for his father at Northern Illinois.

Then, Iowa blipped on the radar and the call of Big Ten football was just pretty darned exciting. And then, the fit - the team culture and defensive philosophy - that was there, too. Jay Niemann knew all about Iowa and head coach Kirk Ferentz.

Jay Niemann was Drake's defensive coordinator from 1995-96. He coached at Northern Iowa from 1997-2001. From 2002-07, he was head coach at Simpson. Ben was born in Des Moines and attended schools in Iowa until Jay moved on to Hardin-Simmons in Illinois in 2008.

The fit felt right, but still, Iowa was careful with its pitch. Ferentz knew it couldn't be overaggressive. This spring, Iowa linebackers coach Jim Reid articulated the vision the staff had for Ben Niemann.

'He is fast. He is athletic. He's tough and he can really, really think on his feet,” Reid said. 'He's a high-speed athlete at linebacker.”

During the 2014 signing day news conference, Ferentz, who's coached all three of his sons at Iowa, said he vividly remembered the call he received from Jay Niemann when the family decided Ben should play at Iowa.

'It was hard because I have great respect for their program,” Ferentz said. 'Northern Illinois has a great program. Certainly, I have great respect for the Niemann family and the fact of the father-son part of it. It was a tough position for everybody, both Ben and Jay and the family. That ball was in their court all the way.

'I remember talking to Jay after Ben committed. That was one of those deals. He was happy, but, obviously, also sad for the obvious reasons.”

The mutual respect was there. You're talking about a parent who happens to be a coach on a high level saying OK to his son joining another college football program.

'He said if he wanted to send his kids anywhere, he'd be happy it's for coach Ferentz,” Ben said. 'He's a good man and he knows this program is run the right way. I think he's happy for both of us. We get to play together, so that'll make it more fun.”

Yes, Nick Niemann also is headed to Iowa. He committed in June to the Hawkeyes over, yes, Northern Illinois and Wisconsin, Northwestern and Iowa State.

'It's something a lot of kids dream about but don't get the chance,” Nick Niemann told the DeKalb (Ill.) Daily Chronicle. 'I get the chance to play with my brother at a Big Ten school. You can't pass that up.”

You're probably going to hear the Niemann name consistently for the next five or so years in Iowa City. And everybody is happy with this decision.

So, right now, it's Ben. Soon, Nick also will be in Iowa City.

'It's already getting mixed up with the coaches, so it's all good,” Ben Niemann said.

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