Incontrovertible evidence that moustaches win championships.
We're not so happy to report that sideline stalwart Carl Jackson (yes, that's actually him in the picture; we have proof) is shaking off his professional coil this afternoon, announcing his retirement after 22 years of servitude with the Hawkeyes. He started his collegiate coaching career with Hayden Fry at North Texas in 1976, then left with Fry for Iowa in 1979. He was here for 14 years as a running backs coach, then an offensive coordinator, before coaching the Niners' running backs for 5 years. After bouncing around a couple more times, he rejoined Iowa in 1999 and has been here since.
Jackson was getting old--he's 67--and being that he hasn't coached in Texas since 1976 (a cup of coffee at UT aside), it's fair to wonder if his high school recruiting contacts were drying up. There's plenty of Baytown talent that's gone through here recently--see Drew Tate, Chuck Godfrey, and James Cleveland--but they're all products of another member of the old guard, Dick Olin. Iowa only brought in two Texas high school kids in this class, and they join Cleveland as the only scholarship players we've taken from Texas on the entire roster.
Still, a small presence in Texas is better than none at all, so let's hope Ferentz addresses this immediately. Yessir, Texas recruiting, that's the big story here.