Iowa football signing day takeaways: Kirk Ferentz talks roster crunch, OC comments

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Compared with many of its rivals, Iowa’s signing day spectacular was more steak than sizzle.

The Hawkeyes entered signing day with 21 commits, all of whom were known by the staff months in advance. Australian punter Rhys Dakin was the final piece to announce publicly, but that followed a trip to Melbourne by special teams coordinator LeVar Woods last week.

“One thing that I think is pretty impressive, we brought in 22 official visitors this June, and 21 committed to us,” Iowa recruiting director Tyler Barnes said. “We’ve really been done since the end of June. A few guys put out their commitments a little later in July, but basically the Monday following our big weekend we had secured commitments from 20 of those guys from that big weekend, which I think is pretty impressive. More impressive than that is none of these guys have wavered the entire time since they’ve committed to us.”

As of Wednesday night, the Hawkeyes ranked No. 33 in the 247Sports Composite rankings. Five players were considered four-star prospects in the composite, up from three just two days ago. That’s the typical range for the program, and one ultimately that matters to no one at Kinnick.

Scholarship numbers

With several players considering staying for an extra year, the Hawkeyes have a scholarship crunch. Unofficial projections have them at 86 scholarships for 85 spots. When the extra-year candidates are figured in, it doesn’t take a mathematician to calculate a few current players will need to leave.

“That’s an issue for everybody,” coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It’s much talked about in Division I right now. Roster management has gotten very tricky with the portal, transfers, transfers in, transfers out, all those kinds of things.

“Then typically every year you have some attrition from January to August. I can’t remember a year where that wasn’t true. We probably have a medical case or two that are being reviewed right now on top of that.”

Among the extra-year candidates to return are defensive backs Sebastian Castro, Quinn Schulte and Jermari Harris; linebackers Jay Higgins, Kyler Fisher and Nick Jackson (who needs an NCAA waiver); and tight end Erick All. Tight end Luke Lachey and defensive back Cooper DeJean are potential draft picks who could leave early for the NFL but are figured in the current 86.

“History would tell you in the past from January through August we always lose a handful of guys,” Barnes said. “The roster management piece has certainly become a little bit different in this day and age, especially with the COVID guys, which we’ve got one more year of COVID guys next year.

“As much as I love all these guys and want them back, I can’t wait for the COVID stuff to go away. It makes my job a little bit easier. It’s fluid anyway.”

Florida speed

Jacksonville (Fla.) Bishop Kenny quarterback James Resar committed to Iowa more than 15 months ago, and he never wavered despite Iowa’s offensive struggles, the decision not to renew offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz’s contract and poaching attempts from ACC schools.

Resar committed to Iowa on his third visit and made five trips to Iowa City before signing on Wednesday. His parents are from Wisconsin, so they are comfortable with the Midwest, Barnes said, and are “fully locked in.”

“James has a role as a passer, but you can’t deny the athletic ability that he has, and that’s something that intrigued us,” Barnes said. “Something maybe a little bit different than we have in the room currently and in the past few years.

“He had plenty of other suitors, and he had picked up some offers, but never wavered from day one committing to us.”

Resar completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 1,582 yards and 15 touchdowns in 10 games this season. He also ran for 356 yards and four touchdowns. As a junior, Resar passed for 1,656 yards and 15 scores while rushing for six touchdowns.

Along with obvious arm strength, Resar has rare speed. He ran the 100-meter dash in 10.67 seconds and wasn’t fully healthy.

“We fully expect him to go sub-10.5 this spring. When you do that at 6-3 1/2 and 205 pounds, that’s impressive.”

Recruit communication

When interim athletics director Beth Goetz announced Brian Ferentz would not return as offensive coordinator, Barnes told staff they needed to touch base with every offensive recruit and explain the situation.

In particular, Barnes said, the discussion centered around being honest with those players.

“I don’t think any of the conversations were tough conversations,” said Barnes, whose wife Joanne is Kirk Ferentz’s daughter and Brian Ferentz’s sister. “We were just being open and honest before anything became public with the commits. We wanted to let them know.

“Obviously started with James, being at that quarterback position. Telling him, ‘Hey, stick with us, we’re going to have a plan in place.’ Told him fully, nothing is going to happen until postseason.

“You try and get in front of it and try to be honest. Don’t sugarcoat anything, and certainly don’t lie to them about anything. You hope that they stick with you, and thankfully all those guys did.”

Lost in translation

Ferentz discussed his offensive coordinator opening on Monday and had two issues with the way his comments were interpreted. One, he clarified he made three calls throughout the process and “never said I talked to three candidates.” He did not say whether all three phone calls were to the same person or three separate people.

Ferentz clarified that the shade he tossed toward a pair of programs “was not in reference to anybody that’s been a sitting head coach in the Big Ten.” Thus, it was not directed at former Nebraska coach Scott Frost.

“I was actually referencing a coordinator that’s come into our conference sometime in the last decade,” Ferentz said. “The person I’m thinking about specifically had a lot of passing yards on his résumé, pretty well-known nationally, but you dig a little deeper and look at what the win total was where he has been, and I think that is an important statistic. The most important one there is.

“That’s the reference I was trying to make. I just wanted to clarify that.”

Bowl preparations

Iowa released its depth chart this week for the upcoming Citrus Bowl against Tennessee. Center Logan Jones went unlisted, while right tackle Gennings Dunker was back in place. Dunker missed the Big Ten championship game with a leg injury. But it’s possible both players start the game.

“I think I did that depth chart eight weeks ago,” Ferentz quipped. “Probably two or three. We’re back practicing right now, and knock on wood right now everybody is healthy. Everybody is good to go.

“Logan is doing well. Dunk is doing good. Reason so far so good.”

(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)