SO LONG, FAREWELL: JERMINIC SMITH TO LEAVE IOWA FOOTBALL TEAM

It’s a beautiful Friday afternoon, so naturally we were privy to a news dump by the Iowa athletic department.

Jerminic Smith, the second-leading receiver on the Iowa roster, is leaving the Iowa football program. Per a release:

University of Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz announced Friday that wide receiver Jerminic Smith will no longer be a member of the Hawkeye football program.

"We have mutually agreed that at this point it is in everyone’s best interest that Jerminic starts a new chapter in his collegiate career. We wish him success moving forward," said Ferentz.

And that’s it. Smith, if you recall, was suspended not long ago due to poor grades, but then news surfaced he passed all his final exams. I’m not sure what this means since this release comes on the last day of the school year, but well you’re all free to speculate. It’s unclear if Smith will remain at the University of Iowa or transfer out.

Over two years of decent playing time Smith accumulated 455 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He was most known for his drops, however. Smith struggled early and often with poor route running and hands of stone, but there were enough flashes for the Iowa coaches—and fans—to have hope for Smith this upcoming season.

After Smith, the only receiver with any sort of meaningful playing time is Matt VandeBerg. And since he’s still recovering from an injury, that opens the door for walk-on Nick Easley, who has earned this year’s spring practice award for being the most talked-about player.

After VandeBerg, Akrum Wadley is the teams’ returning leading receiver, who racked up 315 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air a year ago. After him it’s Noah Fant and ..... Ronald Nash, who had 2 catches for 14 yards a year ago. The departures of Jay Scheel and Derrick Mitchell Jr. may hurt than we could have previously anticipated.

So who could contribute at receiver this year besides VandeBerg? There’s Ryan Boyle and Devonte Young, and we’ve spent a lot of ink on incoming freshman Brandon Smith as well.

Anyway, best of luck to Mr. Smith, and we’ll update the receiver situation later on.