The Summer Stories Still Remaining For Iowa Football
It seems like it's already been a long summer for the Iowa football program, but we've just started the second half of June.
There have been allegations by former and current players of racial disparities within the program, prompting numerous public responses from head coach Kirk Ferentz and athletics director Gary Barta.
Strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle, the focus of many of the allegations from players, reached a separation agreement with the university on Monday, ending his 21-year career within the program.
An independent review will be conducted into the program by Kansas City law firm Husch Blackwell.
It's only the beginning of the summer for the Hawkeyes.
A look at the stories that are still out there before the Sept. 5 season opener against Northern Iowa:
The independent review
Doyle's departure isn't the end of the story about the allegations of racial issues within the program.
The independent review is going to look at all allegations, including those against head coach Kirk Ferentz, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, and others. It will look at the inner workings of the program, a microscope that is needed considering the severity of the accusations.
Barta said the review will take "weeks, not months," which means it could be completed before the season begins.
Will they kneel?
It was presented to Kirk Ferentz as a hypothetical question at last Friday's press conference, but the coach answered that it is something that will be discussed in the coming weeks.
Will the Hawkeyes, individually or as a team, kneel in protest during the national anthem at games?
Defensive backs Kaevon Merriweather and Matt Hankins took to Twitter to give their opinions:
"We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it," Ferentz said. "It’s got to be a topic we discuss. It’s not timely right now, but it’s a topic we’ve got to discuss. I think we realize it’s a very polarizing issue right now. I’m very confident there are ways to things, ways to recognize individuals, movements, whatever it may be, causes, in a way that hopefully is not polarizing, but yet powerful. That would be my goal."
"I expected to get some backlash," Merriweather said. "But the response from the Iowa fans has been truly amazing. I had more positive comments than negative comments. That really showed the amount of support this team has from the Iowa fans, from the Iowa community."
Ferentz wants unity in the decision.
"The end goal, like Kaevon said, is we’re going to be together," he said. "That’s my No. 1 requisite for everything we do. That’s my goal."
Recruiting
Iowa's 2021 recruiting class has 16 commitments and is ranked 12th nationally by Rivals.com. Since the allegations came out, no one has opened their recruiting.
The Hawkeyes don't have much room left in this class. But the staff will face more questions from recruits as they try to get final commitments.
Remember the pandemic?
There is still the COVID-19 pandemic, and so far no decision has been made on what the schedule will look like, how many fans will be allowed to attend games, etc. Time is running out on whether those decisions will be made.
So far, Iowa has had three positive coronavirus tests out of approximately 350 tests given to staff and athletes, which is a good sign.
