Iowa Football Media Day Notebook

Phil Parker Surgery, CFP Expansion, QB 2-Deep

Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker reacts during the Hawkeyes' final spring NCAA football practice, Saturday, April 22, 2023, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. 230422 Iowa Spring Fb 097 Jpg / Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was surprised there weren’t any questions about injuries during Friday’s media day press conference at Kinnick Stadium.

“How far into this are we right now? Half hour, something like that? Nobody has asked about injuries,” Ferentz quipped.

For the record, there are minor injuries — “four or five,” Ferentz said — to players, and one somewhat major injury to a coach.

Defensive coordinator Phil Parker underwent shoulder surgery on Thursday after being hit during a play in practice.

“He did make an appearance this morning,” Ferentz said. “He got run into a couple weeks ago or a couple -- it feels like a couple weeks ago, maybe a week ago, less than a week, and, long story short, I think he might have had some pre-existing damage in there, but they had to address that. He had surgery yesterday. Did show up today for practice. I'm not sure if he was on the planet or not, but he was there and watching.”

Assistant head coach Seth Wallace, who also coaches the linebackers, will oversee the defense if Parker is out long.

“He's going to be a little bit more ornery than normal probably for the next couple weeks, but I don't think he'll be here this afternoon,” Ferentz said. “We'll see tomorrow. Biggest thing right now is we've just got to keep him out of harm's way, try to keep him out of the way so he's not doing too much.”

As for the minor injuries to players, Ferentz said all are “soft tissue” injuries. Running back Leshon Williams was the only player named by Ferentz as being out.

“The soft tissue stuff that takes time is frustrating, but you can't change it,” Ferentz said. “I told somebody the other day, I woke up at 3:00 in the morning, this is probably about five days ago … I just turned 69 and I'm waking up at 3:00 in the morning thinking about hamstrings. There's something wrong with that picture. It's just not how you want to be. The golden years, right?”

EXPANDED PLAYOFFS: The College Football Playoff will begin its 12-team format this season.

Ferentz said the expanded chance to play for a national championship doesn’t change his approach to the season, but he does like the format.

“I will say this about the playoffs — I am excited about them,” Ferentz said. “Excited is a strong word, but I'm happy about it.”

Ferentz didn’t like the previous four-team format.

“I thought it was not necessarily healthy for college football to go to four,” he said. “Last year is a good example. We were all, ‘Who’s 4. Who’s 5. “Used to be we argued about who's two and three. I guess my problem with what we've been doing is whenever that stupid show comes on in October, the playoff show, if you're not in that top-10 decision then you're irrelevant. I just think we miss the boat in college football, me personally.

“At least now I assume when that show comes on they'll talk about 20 teams instead of 10 teams. That's good. That's healthy. I think the more teams they talk about, the better, because there's so many good stories across the country.”

Ferentz joked that if the Hawkeyes advance far in the playoffs, he would call former assistant Tim Polasek, now the head coach at FCS national championship contender North Dakota State, to ask him how to handle an extended season.

“He can tell me about how he practiced during finals week and all that stuff,” Ferentz said. “I'll get some tips from him and play 18 straight games. But hey, if we get a chance to play, nobody is going to complain, I promise you.”

QB DEPTH CHART: Iowa’s quarterback depth chart had Cade McNamara at No. 1, Marco Lainez at 2 and transfer Brendan Sullivan at 3.

Ferentz said that depth chart was meaningless since he hadn’t seen Sullivan, who transferred from Northwestern in the spring, play yet during practice.

“We're eight days into it right now, so not making any proclamations other than he's done a really great job,” Ferentz said. “He's picked things up really quickly.”

Ferentz likes the experience of Sullivan, who played in 13 games in two seasons at Northwestern.

“The advantage he has over Marco is he's played,” Ferentz said. “He's been out there, I think, for six starts. I think he's a little further ahead from that regard. He's had that experience, a little bit more confidence and decisiveness in what he does.

“I think probably the best way I can term it right now, it's like all positions, we'll make decisions here as we go along, but the room overall is a lot more competitive than it was certainly at the end of last year, last December, and that was the goal, try to get a room where you've got good competition. We want that at every position, and some positions are a little better than others that way.”