Iowa's Athletic Director Gary Barta met with members of the media yesterday and took questions on the open coaching positions, Mika'il McCall and the Big Ten's playoff proposal.

Barta says next week is when interviews begin for Iowa's openings on the football coaching staff. The lone opening on the defensive side is linebacker coach and LeVar Woods is thought to be the leader in the clubhouse. An official announcement naming a new LB coach could come next week. The openings on the offensive side could take a little longer.

Per Barta,

"[Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz] decided his best option was to promote on the defensive coordinator [Phil Parker]," Barta said. "Now that's done, he [Ferentz] turns his attention to the two assistant coaches first, not the offensive coordinator. We have a process on campus, and football follows that process just like everyone else does."

About the length of time, Barta adds,

"Whether it's hiring a coach or an administrator, we have a process of approval we have to go through," Barta said. "We have to advertise the position a certain number of days and we work with the campus human resources and have done that throughout."

Marc Morehouse points out that the process is same whether Iowa hires from within or from outside the program.

Some other tidbits from Morehouse's piece:

• Barta wants to fight for a post season tournament game for the men's hoops team
• Barta wants to fight to retain the Big Ten's connection with the Rose Bowl
• Barta is for the seven win minimum for bowl eligibility
• Mika'il McCall wasn't suspended for his "strait bullshit" Facebook post

"We do not kick off or suspend student-athletes in any sport for a Facebook posting or a Twitter," Barta said. "We have conversations with them about it."

Iowa added that the Athletic Department has "social media guidelines" and that student athlete activity is monitored. Barta concluded with,

"Since I've been here, we have not removed someone from the athletic department or from a team for something they said in social media."

Sally Mason says that Iowa isn't "hiding behind anything." Marcus Coker, like McCall, was suspended and decided to transfer from Iowa. Mason and Iowa officials will not release information about the investigation regarding Coker and cites the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Mason adds,

"One of the things we pride ourselves on is that students have a right to privacy,"

Mason also mentions this,

releasing student information protected by FERPA could result in the school losing all of its federal funding - about $400million.

Long story short, Mason doesn't want to get sued.

After the jump, hoops and more links.

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Ferentz speaks and we learn... what did we learn? Not much other than what was released by Iowa Tuesday night. Ferentz wouldn't announce any new coaching changes besides Phil Parker's promotion and Morgan and Wilson's switch. LeVar Wood's doesn't have an official position yet, but Ferentz says "we'll find a spot." David Raih doesn't either. The best summary can be found in Morehouse's Quick Slants.

Reading those slants we learn Marcus Coker's decision to leave Iowa was his own. Ferentz responded to questions about the departed running back with,

"I think ultimately there was a little frustration there," Ferentz said. "He made the decision that was best for him. I told him I was going to support him no matter what. I think Marcus is a tremendous young man. I wish him all the best moving forward. He'll do well."

Ferentz went on to add,

"There's athletic department policy and there's student code of conduct, which every student on our campus adheres to," Ferentz said. "Then, you have legal issues. Internal conduct is sometimes more stringent than what our athletic department is. I don't know if it's ever been more stringent than what the university would regulate. We're part of the process and we work within the system."

Ferentz isn't in a hurry to announce his new offensive coordinator. The deadline, if you want to call it that, is March 24th, the beginning of spring practice. As far as the other two openings, Ferentz says he has people in mind but don't expect those announcements to come anytime soon.

Kirk didn't rule his son Brian out as a possible candidate for the open offensive line coaching position. When asked if he would call on Brian to return to Iowa City Ferentz said, "you know we're open to anything right now." He added, "I'm really confident we're going to get a good guy or we wouldn't have moved Reese."

There may be more to Reese's move to the defensive line than Ferentz would address. Kirk said this about it,

"Fair to say he was a little surprised on that one," Ferentz said. "But I guess I've got some executive privilege. I exercised it."

Morgan will take over for former coach Rick Kaczenski and by some accounts is the polar opposite in regards to approach. Perhaps a change from an in-your-face "MF this, MF that" coach in Kaczenski is what is in order along the defensive front. If anything, maybe it's an attempt to fix the attrition problems Iowa has had in keeping defensive line recruits on the roster.

After the jump, Iowa hoops vs. Northwestern and more links.

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Hey, didn't we just do this a week ago? Yes, we did, when Iowa officially signed their 2012 football recruiting class. And normally in the press-phobic world of Punxsutawney Phil Kirk that would mean six more weeks of no news until spring football starts up. But in case you've been living under a rock for the last few months, there's been a bit more turmoil than we're used to on the Iowa coaching staff. Norm Parker's departure wasn't exactly surprising, but Rick Kaczenski and Ken O'Keefe? Yeah, we weren't expecting those. So we've found ourselves in the throes of the biggest football coaching searches at Iowa since Ferentz himself landed here in 1999.

Thanks to the press release from Iowa last night, we know a little bit about the new-look staff: Phil Parker replaces Norm Parker at defensive coordinator, while Darrell Wilson replaces Phil Parker at defensive backs coach and Reese Morgan replaces Rick Kaczenski at defensive line coach. Ferentz has scheduled a presser today at 4pm CT, likely to discuss those moves. He may also discuss the impending moves on offense and the transfers of Messrs. Derby, Coker, and McCall in January. Or not, per Mas Casa.

In terms of coverage, we'll provide updates here and it looks like it should be streaming on KCRG's website and on the radio on KXNO in the Des Moines area. Not sure about other coverage options.

And hey, look at it this way: it's still better than having a press conference about a goddamn rhabdo outbreak.

The last two years the football off-season was full of conference realignment talk and program investigations. Perhaps this year the talk will be about the future of the BCS and maybe, wait for it, a playoff. The Big Ten was the first to kick off the discussion. Jim Delany, Big Ten Commissioner, has a proposal that if anything, may get the idea of a playoff rolling.

The Big Ten's proposal is to place the top four teams in the BCS into a playoff bracket and have the two semifinal games played on the home turf of the higher seed. The championship game would then be available for bid, similar to the NFL's Superbowl. This idea could raise criticism from fans from the South because of the possibility of inclement weather in the Northern states. States where Big Ten teams are located.

Adam Rittenberg, of ESPN.com, points out that bowl games are essentially a road game for Big Ten teams.

With this new proposal Delany says he'll will fight to protect the Rose Bowl and it's Big Ten tie-in, just as they did with the current BCS system.

There's a new era coming, and in the discussion is not just a playoff but a requirement of seven wins to become bowl eligible. There's a possibility that new win requirements could eliminate a handful of bowl games. See, seven is the new six.

For the record, Iowa has never finished in the Top four of the BCS (they were #5 in 2002). The last Big Ten team to qualify in this new proposal was Ohio State in 2007.

Want a little more information about a couple of new Hawkeyes? The Quad-Cities Online has this story about Mitch Keppy and Reid Sealby. The future teammates are not friends yet. That's because Keppy and Sealby are heavy weight wrestlers and Sealby is ranked #1, Keppy #2.

It's still not clear if David Raih has been promoted from grad assistant to Iowa's coaching staff. FootballScoop.com reported yesterday that fellow GA Charlie Bullen has moved on to join the Dolphins. If you want to know more about Raih then this is a must read. I hope he gets the gig, his salesmanship and energy could work wonders on the recruiting trail. Ferentz may announce Raih as a new addition at his press conference Wednesday at 4 PM (CT).

Ken O'Keefe spent 13 years as Iowa's offensive coordinator. Now he is saying goodbye to Iowa City. As you can imagine, O'Keefe recalled memories and was thankful for his experiences at Iowa. He told Marc Morehouse,

"It's just a unique opportunity right now. I'm so grateful for the time Kirk Ferentz gave us here at Iowa. It's an unbelievable place."

Why the sudden departure, the big life change?

"It's a unique opportunity," O'Keefe said. "I've known Joe since he was 17-years-old. It's hard to walk away from this because of [Iowa head coach] Kirk [Ferentz] and the kids, obviously, and the community of Iowa City, which has been so good to us, as well. It is a little unique because of our relationship, and the timing just happens to be right."

After the jump, more links.

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(H/T NBC Photo Blog / Chris Trotman / Getty Images)

First, congrats Tyler Sash. You're a Super Bowl champion!

The cat may be let out of the bag. Last night, newly signed Hawkeye Jaleel Johnson posted on Facebook,

"The Iowa hawkeyes will be gettin a new defensive coordinator....the LB coach from the NEW YORK GIANTS!!!!"

Patrick Vint has already discussed Hermann via the "Short List," to review read here. Johnson's comments could mean a multitude of things. It's not clear if he has inside information or if he's speculating like the rest of us.

The last we had heard from Hermann, he was telling Mike Hlas, "I haven't talked to anybody (about the Iowa job)" Hlas added this,

If Herrmann knows all the ins and outs of Hawkeye football, he's a good actor. Because he asked me if Norm Parker had retired as Iowa's defensive coordinator, and he asked who Iowa's offensive coordinator was. He said he didn't know if Ken O'Keefe was still the OC or not, and called him "a real good coach."

Another Iowa coaching candidate, Brian Ferentz, isn't talking about Iowa's open positions. He is talking about the Patriot's loss to the Giants. When asked about Iowa's openings Ferentz told Mike Hlas,

"My job is the coach of the New England Patriots' tight ends. I'm trying to do that to the best of my ability today. What happens in the future, whether a year, two years, 10 years from now, I'm focused on doing my job."

Recruits are saying LeVar Woods is Iowa's newest defensive line coach. Hawk Central reports that recruit David Kenny said,

"I had a chance to meet the new (defensive) line coach, so that was good," Kenney said. "His name is LeVar Woods and we really just made small talk."

There was also talk that David Raih was introduced to recruits as Iowa's quarterback coach too. Iowa hosted several high school juniors yesterday as recruiting for the 2013 class is starting to ramp up. I believe the Raih stuff comes from 24/7 and Rivals but I've yet to see an article to link that isn't pay-per-view. One thing to remember, Raih and Woods may have been filling-in for camp purposes. We'll find out Wednesday.

After the jump, hoops and more links.

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"I don't usually go to the top floor, but tonight I had a business meeting." -Devyn Marble via Jordan Garretson

For the video of Devyn Marble's late game dunk check out the video at High Porch Picnic

Iowa started out fast against the Gophers building an early 14 point lead. Cold shooting Minnesota started to find the bottom of the hoop and closed the gap and eventually went into halftime with a three point lead. Iowa's offense was lethargic for most of the second half until late when the Hawkeyes found a spark.

Marble drove down the court and did something we don't see every often, he stopped and popped a three. The very next possession Marble took the ball and drove around a Zach McCabe screen to rise up and throw down a one hand jam that fired up the Carver crowd of students taking advantage of free admission.

Marble finished with 12 points and senior Matt Gatens added 18. It was Iowa's first season sweep over Minnesota since 2007. The Hawkeyes will face Penn State Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Area at 2 pm (CT).

After the jump, recruiting recap plus more links.

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Kirk Ferentz is speaking to the press for the first time since the Insight Bowl today and while the topic is ostensibly National Signing day and the crop of recruits Iowa harvested this year* there's sure to be a few questions about the Neverending Defensive Coordinator Search and the Marcus Coker, Mika'il McCall, and A.J. Derby transfers, too. Granted, Ferentz will almost certainly say nothing of interest or consequence in response to those questions, but still: they will be asked! (Maybe. Probably.) On the bright side? No rhabdo questions this year.

* See, I can make all kinds of Iowa farming references! Sign me up, mainstream media! I'm ready to graduate to the big leagues!

Anyway, the presser starts at 4pm CT and it's being streamed ($$$) on Hawkeye All-Access. Hawk Central is liveblogging the shindig as well and all your favorite Iowa media types (Morehouse, Dochterman, Hardy, Randy Peterson, etc.) will no doubt be Tweeting up a storm from there.

The usual rules of open threading apply: no links to illegal online streams, no porn, no religion, no politics, no slurs, no douchebaggery, etc.

Current recruiting process (via CBSSports)

And Iowa is still working the recruiting trail. Prior to the departures of Jon Raymon, Marcus Grant, AJ Derby, Mika'il McCall and Marcus Coker coach Ferentz told the media Iowa was looking to sign around 20 this year. Well, it's obvious now the staff is looking to fill the max (25), or come close.

Iowa has added Alex Kozan, C.J. Beathard and Nate Meier this week. They are still after a few others that will either decide tonight or tomorrow morning. Here is a short list of players still with Iowa in the mix:

Sean Draper - A 6' 160 pound defensive back from Cleveland, Ohio. Draper is a three-star prospect according to Rivals and will decide between Iowa, Pitt and Louisville. It was rumored that Draper would make his verbal commitment known yesterday but now it appears he won't announce until tomorrow. The latest Twitter rumors have Draper as a Louisville lean.

Ian Thomas - A 6'1" 190 pound wide receiver from Maryland. Thomas is a three-star prospect according to Rivals and will decide between Iowa, Rutgers, North Carolina and Virginia. Thomas will announce his decision tomorrow at his high school around 7:00 am CT.

Aaron Curry - A 6'3" 298 pound defensive lineman from Keller, Texas. Curry is a three-star prospect according to Rivals that will decide between Iowa and Nebraska. It's Iowa against their former defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski for this one. Curry is set to announce at his high school tomorrow at 7:00 am.

Terrell Jackson - A 6'3" 255 pound defensive tackle from Columbus, Ohio. Jackson is a three-star prospect according to Rivals that will decide between Pitt and Illinois tomorrow at 9:00 am. Yesterday, it was rumored on Michigan State's Rivals board that Jackson had committed to Iowa. Iowa was in the mix but Jackson was to visit Michigan State and rumored to commit there. Now, the Twitters say Pitt and Illinois. Jackson has been linked to at least four schools in the last 24 hours so I suppose he's still one to watch. Or maybe not?

Iowa was thought to be the leader for New Jersey running back Tevin Shaw but he said yesterday Iowa pulled his offer.

Quanzell Lambert, four-star linebacker from New Jersey, is still committed to Rutgers despite the coaching change. Per Twitter, he may not sign tomorrow but rather get to know Rutgers new coach Kyle Flood before making his final decision.

Those are some names Iowa has been linked to. There could be more, like Jackson's name popping up out of nowhere yesterday. The letters of intent start faxing in tomorrow to Iowa and like last year, they will operate an updating blog with bios and videos of each recruit.

As always, recruiting is fluid and we'll use the comments to add updates if necessary.

More links after the jump.

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