JORDAN CANZERI'S SEASON IS OVER. RossWB already covered it well. Jordan Canzeri will red shirt this season, according to his father. If you're looking for a bright side to Canzeri's injury it is that he still has four years to play three. Ferentz has yet to comment and probably won't until the next time he meets with the media. That will be next Wednesday when coach Campell and Morgan speak.

IOWA MAY HAVE PICKED UP THEIR FIRST VERBAL FOR 2013. Kinda. I'm not sure there is even a scholarship offer there. I assume there is, after certain requirements are met, like graduating from Junior College. Coe, if you recall, took to Twitter to complain about his coach asking him to switch to defensive line from running back. Later, Coe tweeted he was enjoying the defensive line in practice. Now, he says he can't wait to get to Iowa.

KIRK FERENTZ THE 6TH BEST COACH IN THE BIG TEN? According to Athlon.com he is. Athlon ranked the current Big Ten coaches and placed Urban Meyer at the top of the list. Ferentz is sandwiched between Bret Bielma and Bo Pelini. After Meyer Athlon lists Brady Hoke number two, Mark Dantonio three and Pat Fitzgerald number four.

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Per Hawkeye Insider:

The father of Iowa running back Jordan Canzeri confirmed to Hawkeye Insider Thursday night that an MRI performed on his son revealed that he tore his ACL.

"Dr. (Ned) Amendola said it was the ACL but the good news is that the rest of the knee is solid," Brian Canzeri said. "He's going to have surgery next week and hopes to get back into practice in September."

Brian Canzeri said that he expects his son to ease into things when he's cleared to practice and will most likely redshirt for the 2012 season.

That's pretty much what we expected after the initial reports started leaking this afternoon, but still... fuck.

Canzeri was Iowa's leading returning rusher (a hollow title considering he ran for just 114 yards last year, but still technically true) and was listed as Iowa's starter at running back on the most recent depth chart. His absence means the sum total of Iowa's experience at running back is... 29 carries for 99 yards. TREMBLE AT OUR MIGHTY RUNNING GAME, DEFENSES OF THE BIG TEN!

I would say it's good news that the injury won't cost Canzeri any eligibility, since he still has a redshirt year available to use for the 2012 season... but while that is good news, it's also not at all surprising. The last Iowa running back to use a redshirt for something other than health reasons (and if the San Antonio Spurs can list Tim Duncan as DND - OLD on an injury report, then we can consider Brandon Wegher's baby mama-induced absence a "health reason") was... hell, I don't even know. Maybe Paki O'Meara? They tried to redshirt Damian Sims in 2004 before AIRBHG's blitzkrieg attack on the position left him as one of the last men left standing (him and the immortal Sam Brownlee, of course).

Speaking of... Pat Harty says there's no curse. Mike Hlas says there's no curse. Which, DUH. C'mon, guys, we've known there wasn't a curse for years. Curses are for B-movies and Cubs fans. Our problem is an angry deity whose running back bloodlust cannot be sated. And who even tweets! You can't say He didn't warn us, either:

YOU'RE NEXT, CANZERI!WATCH YOUR LIGAMENTS, BITCH.

— AIRBHG (@AIRBHG) December 20, 2011

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So, we're are about four spring practices in? This shouldn't come as a surprise, I'll let the tweets tell the rest of the story.

An MRI today hopefully means news tonight. For up to the second updates follow @marcmorehouse.

UPDATE: Confirmed by Hawkeye Insider's Rob Howe:

This is what our photo recreation experts believe the new Illinois coach might look like on the sideline.

In a surprising move, the University of Illinois has, apparently, named folk singer-songwriter Jim Croce as their new head coach. The news, which BHGP obtained by glancing quickly at the sports page of a fellow bus passenger, comes on the heels of the school's rejected offer to VCU coach Shaka Smart. Details of the new coach's deal are sketchy, as are the specifics of his basketball background, so we are left to speculate about what direction the hirsute Italian-American song-smith will take the team. Luckily, Croce has left an extensive catalog of song lyrics that allow us to guess at what we, as Iowa fans, can expect from the new coach of one of our most bitter rivals.

1) He already has made recruiting inroads in Chicago

Croce has extensive knowledge of a shooting guard/small forward from the south side of Chicago named Leroy Brown. Brown is reported to be 6'4" and has a reputation as a "mean" player. His nicknames include He is reputed to be "meaner than a junkyard dog", "badder than ol' King Kong", and is known as the "Meanest Baddest man in the whole damn town", "Treetop lover" (by the ladies) and "Sir" (by the men). It is unclear if Brown is any relation to former Illinois point guard Dee Brown.

2) He will likely slow things down

Croce appears to value time of possession very dearly and has stated a desire to "save time in a bottle... till eternity passes away." Although NCAA rules will limit his team's possessions to the maximum 35 seconds, look for the Croce-led Illini to milk the clock to its maximum extent. As the new head coach said, "But there never seems to be enough time/to do the things you want to do/once you find them," which we believe refers to Croce's Bo Ryan-esque commitment to using the clock to find the best shot.

3) He expects Illinois to contend immediately

This one is a bit cryptic, but Croce has said: "You don't tug on Superman's cape/You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off/the ol' Lone Ranger/and you don't mess around with Jim." We are assuming that "Superman" here refers to Ohio State, "the wind" is Michigan State, "the ol' Lone Ranger" is Wisconsin, and "Jim" is, of course, Jim Croce's Illinois team. Croce does add the caveat that "Jim" is vulnerable to a man named "Slim" with a cut-heavy offense. This could refer to the $limes of Iowa, or the back-cutting style of Bill Carmody's Northwestern teams.

*** UPDATE ***

Upon further study, it appears that Illinois has hired former Ohio University coach John Groce (pronounced "gross"), not Jim Croce, to head their program. It also appears that Jim Croce has been dead since 1973. We apologize for the error.

*** UPDATED UPDATE ***

Thanks to the careful eye of reader Flakbait, even more errors have been found in the original article. Certain lyrics attributed to the non-coach Croce regarding the non-recruit Brown were in error, and have been corrected.

Dear Coach Ferentz,

Ah, spring! The season of rebirth and awakening, renewal and regrowth.

Nothing is so beautiful or hopeful as the morning dew on the leaves of a budding tree in spring, or the freshly laid chalk lines for a spring football game. As the flowers bloom and you prepare your Hawkeyes for the new season that lies ahead I write in hopes you'll read this, but also with the glacially bitter realization that the chances of you actually reading this are somewhere between an N Sync summer stadium tour and J. Lo driving anything, let alone a Fiat. So, knowing the odds of you ever seeing this letter are longer than a Terrance Malick film, I say "Hey Kirk Ferentz's secretary's intern, please hear me out!"

Few college coaches at a major program get the chance to redefine himself late in life. The ones who do most often have to pack-up and move to another school to do it. And this year, mostly as a result of the expected and unexpected loss of your coordinators, you have backed into a most providential opportunity to makeover your football persona and add to your legacy, all without having to change your shirt colors. Lloyd Carr - who was a much more successful coach than you've been thus far - would be a good example of a guy who could have benefited from the kind of opportunity you have, I'm sure he wishes he rebooted himself late in his tenure but alas. In any event, you have an opportunity to completely update the décor of your resume and I want to encourage you to proceed with audacity. A lesser man would simply slap on new paint, and trade out carpet for hardwood floors and call himself new and improved. But we both know that's veneer. A bold man tears down the walls of his past, reconsiders and then reconceptualizes his whole configuration and proves he's envisioning the future and is unafraid to make an unashamed break from his past.

See, that's the challenge here. Do you rest on the formula that has secured you arguably the most protected job in the Big Ten, a job that pays you the second highest salary, has provided you with supreme power, and the longest tenure? Or, do you act like a man who has proven all he can within an old paradigm and now wants to prove all he can within a new one? Opportunity is a rare and wonderful thing. You've got it. Now, what are you going to do with it?

Knowing you must make changes to adapt to the evolutionary progress of the game, and being sincere in the process, is only half the battle. It is, at your age, the difficult part though. And don't expect a lot of credit for making any changes either. We both know what changes you make will be the part the press, your critics and the fans focus on. There won't be a lot of backslapping for simply making changes if they just lead to failure. So, you've done the hard part already. You've brought in new people, and new people (if you allow them to share) have new ideas, and as the king you'll get credit for these new ideas, all of them. I'm guessing though that these new people, and even your old people, are unlikely to tell it to you straight about what needs to go.

So, let's start by identifying a few things from your first act that have been, how can I say this...problematic. You know Churchill once said, "Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things." Kirk, we don't have a lot of time here, so I'm afraid I have to punch you in the face with words, because your program has some health issues. Please listen though, not with a defensive posture but with an open heart and mind, and if you do, trust me the pain will eventually subside.

Here we go, in no particular order:

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Bob Dylan - Times They are a-Changin (via comoassimvelho)

HAWKEYE FOOTBALL ANNOUNCED EVEN MORE STAFF CHANGES. And this should do it for 2012. Kirk Ferentz has changed Eric Johnson's title to assistant defensive line coach, full-time recruiting coordinator. Graduate assistant David Raih will replace Johnson as the team's tight ends coach. Also, newly added grad assistant Chris Polizzi will work with the defense.

Of the moves, Ferentz said,

"Our goal in moving Eric from coaching tight ends is to allow him to focus more on all phases of our recruiting efforts and take an even larger role in that area. Having played on the defensive side of the football and previously coaching defense, Eric will provide valuable coaching assistance to our defensive line and its development."

Of David Raih, Ferentz said,

"Having David work with our tight ends is similar to the role Dan Clark played for us during his tenure as a graduate assistant. As a former quarterback who has worked with our offensive line the past two seasons, the move is a natural one for David."

FERENTZ MET WITH THE MEDIA ALONG WITH LESTER ERB AND DARRELL WILSON. You can read Kirk's transcript or watch the video here. For perhaps an easier transcript to read click here. Also, here are videos of Erb and Wilson. Here are some of the notes summarizing Ferentz, Wilson and Erb.

• KF: Recruiting areas: Brian gets Ohio, Campbell gets Michigan, Parker and Davis will be floaters
• KF: Eric Johnson will have more travel days in-season (for recruiting)
• KF: Tsopansides has moved to 2nd string DL, Gaglione to 1st team DE
• KF: Darrell Wilson will still coach the kickoff team, LeVar Woods will take over punt return
• KF: Jake Rudock is Iowa's number two quarterback, Weinke will compete for the punting job
• KF: Running back could be a committee, unless someone has ball security issues
• KF: Kornbath will have the chance to compete for the punting job right away
• ERB: Jordan Canzeri has really added some weight
• ERB on AIRBHG: "we cannot be with those guys 24 hours a day"
• ERB: Damon Bullock is "really demonstrating to be a versatile athlete"
• DW: Nico Law is talented but still learning
• DW: Will use spring to test and see if more man-to-man defense is possible
• DW is really excited about B.J. Lowery
• DW: Nico Law is probably the most physical defender
• DW: We may see less of a cushion for receivers and more press coverage

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It's the last week of March, so it's time for a BHGP tradition: The Wrestlemania Preview Podcast. This year, Ross and I are joined by Tom Holzerman (the proprietor of Walls of Jerichoholic and regular participant in #RawIsTwitter) and Jackson Young (who you probably know as Smokin' Herb Grigsby). We had fun.

Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.

BHGPodcast79

(ORIGINAL PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Holst, Press-Citizen)

The end of a season is always a good time for looking back and taking stock of what has come before and when it coincides with the end of a career, it feels even more appropriate. Which is how I find myself reflecting on the career of Montell Marion, Iowa's controversial 141-lb. wrestler. Marion's career came to an end last Saturday night in the finals of the NCAA Wrestling Tournament. He faced a long-time nemesis, the #1 seeded Kellen Russell of Michigan, and wrestled a smart, exciting, and cagey match. Tied up at 4-4 after three periods, the match headed to sudden victory and a one-minute quest for a winner-take-all takedown. Given Marion's struggles with riding (both riding opponents and getting escapes of his own), a takedown there seemed essential if he was going to have any hope of winning the match. But when he made his move and took a half-shot, Russell stuffed it and was able to quickly spin around and score the walk-off takedown of his own. Match over, tournament over, career over.

It was a bitterly disappointing loss for Marion, who like so many wrestlers before him (particularly Iowa wrestlers) came thisclose to beating Russell... only to come up short. But it was still an excellent tournament for Marion, who wrestled with the focus and determination that had often seemed lacking from his matches. And that got me thinking: it was a good tournament performance for Marion, an (almost) satisfying final chapter to his career. Looking back at his career, he's actually done quite well: being a two-time NCAA finalist and three-time All-American is nothing to sniff at. Since Tom Brands took over as head coach, Iowa has had four three-time All-Americans: Brent Metcalf, Matt McDonough, Phil Keddy... and Montell Marion. Come NCAA Tournament time, Marion proved to be a more consistent performer than Jay Borschel, Ryan Morningstar, Dan Erekson, Charlie Falck, Dan Dennis, or Alex Tsirtsis, among others.

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