Iowa Football: Brian Ferentz and LeVar Woods Fill Coaching Positions

Today, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz announced that he has hired Brian Ferentz away from the New England Patriots to be the Hawkeyes' offensive line coach and that LeVar Woods has been tabbed to coach the linebackers, according to theGazette.com.

With these two hires, the Hawkeye coaching staff is almost complete.  The offensive coordinator position remains open.

These two additions to the coaching staff should be a welcome song for Hawkeye faithful.  These two were both standout players for the Hawkeyes in the early part of last decade, both went on to spend a little time working out with NFL teams and both have a quality measure of coaching experience behind them. 

Brian Ferentz is a fighter.

Marc Morehouse of the Gazette dug up an old story he did about Ferentz for the 2006 Outback Bowl, talking about the extensive injuries Brian sustained during his playing days at Iowa. It's an interesting look into the mentality of the man that helped get his former employers to the Super Bowl.

Unfortunately for the younger Ferentz, that trip to the Super Bowl wasn't as a player. In fact, he never made it further than the practice squad for the Atlanta Falcons.

Still, getting to his place in the football world is pretty fantastic when you realize that doctors told him he may never play football again, just before one of his best seasons.

Ferentz tore an ACL in one knee, only to follow it up with a torn MCL in the other. After routine surgery on that last injury, Brian developed a staph infection that nearly took his leg.

The procedure for fixing that required taking pieces of bones and muscle from different parts of his leg to repair the damaged bone and tissue around the knee. 

You could say he wasn't all there, and it wouldn't completely be a joke.

Still, Brian fought back. He returned to the field. He returned to the line.

And he earned a chance at the NFL when lesser athletes would have called it a career and moved on to other endeavors.

Iowa needs that mentality more than ever, especially on a unit that is the heart and soul of the Hawkeye offensive attack.

Those who are looking for a rejuvenated scheme on the offensive side of the ball will likely be somewhat disappointed at the continuation of one of the most conservative philosophies in college football.

The impetus of the system relies on a strong, consistent line that paves the way for power running and calculated passing.

It isn't sexy, but it really does work when instituted properly and bringing in a fighter like Ferentz is crucial for setting the Hawkeyes up for success.

And Brian Ferentz is no stranger to building success. Under his tutelage at New England, the Patriots saw two rookie tight ends eclipse the five-touchdown mark on the season.

That's a first in NFL history. Ferenz helped coach Rob Gronkowski to 10 touchdowns and Aaron Hernandez to six, providing much-needed depth for QB Tom Brady and helping propel the Patriots to the Super Bowl.

Ferentz won't be directly building Iowa's tight end corps. He'll be back where it all started for him, working on the line. As a three-year letterman at Iowa who played both guard and center, earning All-Big Ten honorable mention, he knows a thing or two about the line.

Say what you want about nepotism, the elder Ferentz did a good job of helping secure the future of the Hawkeye line by bringing his son back into the fold.

Woods Has Earned his Wings

LeVar Woods was a standout linebacker for Iowa during the very early years of Kirk Ferentz's coaching days for the Hawks. In 2000, Woods earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors as an outside linebacker and went on to play seven seasons in the NFL with Tennessee, Arizona, Chicago and Detroit.

It isn't just Woods' play that earned him this spot on the roster, though. LeVar returned to Iowa in 2008 as an administrative assistant and has held that position until now.

He coached Iowa's defensive line for the 2011 Insight Bowl, where Iowa held Oklahoma to season lows in rushing yards and overall offensive production.

Yes, it was a loss for Iowa, but Woods' line played as well (or better) as they'd played all year long and kept the Hawkeyes in the game until late in the contest.

What Woods brings to the table is unmeasurable. Literally.

We have very little statistical information that can be directly linked back to Woods as a coach, aside from the defensive line performance in that bowl game. Can he coach linebackers? He certainly could play the position.

What we do know about Woods that should be very encouraging to Hawkeye fans is that he's ingrained in Norm Parker football. He played for Norm and was an assistant under Norm. He saw how it was done and helped work with some of the best defenses Iowa has ever fielded.

Of course, there's also his experience playing at the next level that he can use to help teach the next group of Iowa backers.

Though Norm is gone and Phil Parker now takes over the defensive duties, both Parker and Woods have had the opportunity to grow in a system that's defense-heavy and has had wild success.

Between Ferentz and Woods, LeVar arguably has the tougher job initially. Iowa's linebackers have struggled the last couple of seasons, largely due to injury and turnover. He'll have the unenviable job of building strong depth at a position that has lacked prepared reserves.

He'll get the task of taking former quarterbacks, running backs and tight ends and teaching them to think from a defensive perspective as Iowa tends to make a lot of position changes after the recruiting process.

Considering the way LeVar played and how well he had the line prepared for the bowl game last December, however, I believe he's up to the challenge and will make a strong coach for Iowa's linebackers. He'll undoubtedly have their respect.

There's still the issue of filling the vacant offensive coordinator position. There was no news on that front from Coach Ferentz, but I would expect that announcement to be made very shortly. Spring ball will start in just over a month and the Hawkeyes will need their coaching staff in position well before then.

However, as for this latest news, Ferentz has made two very good decisions. Woods and Ferentz (Brian, not Kirk) bring good playing experience, coaching experience and NFL ties with them to their new positions. They know the system well and have shown varying measures of success as leaders.

We may not know exactly what Iowa will look like come September, but with these hires, we can feel fairly confident that the offensive line and linebackers are in good hands.