All-Ferentz Team: Linebacker



When Pat Angerer doesn't make the top two Mike linebackers...well...that tells you you had some special players over the years. I loved me some PA, but Jewel and Hodge deserve to be #1 and #2. Hodge and Greenway together was pretty special...and I call on you to just watch the LSU - Iowa New Year's Bowl to confirm it. Iowa's defense brought a sledge hammer for most of that game.

Hard to argue with any of these choices.
 


I think I'd choose Angerer as my 2 just for nostalgia's sake, but there's an embarrassment of riches on this list.
 


I think I'd choose Angerer as my 2 just for nostalgia's sake, but there's an embarrassment of riches on this list.

Every thread dealing with the various units will echo this theme. (they already have actually)
You don't get to be the dean of FBS coaches without talent. Hopefully this dispels the myth that Iowa and NDSU are comparable in any way.
NOT
EVEN
CLOSE
 


Greenway and Hodge together were indeed special. An in-law of Greenway gave my son an up-close poster of Greenway and Hodge tackling a FL Gator in a bowl game and my son, now 28, values that poster to this day. Insisted that it hang in the living room of his last apt, which the woman he was living with did NOT appreciate!
 






Can we just say for the all linebacker portion that were running a 3-4. Hodge can't be 2nd team. (but neither can Josey). How can we have Greenway without Hodge.

Abdul is one of my favorite Hawkeyes. Super nice guy. I asked him on a radio show last year who he felt was the best middle linebacker of the Ferentz Era.

His answer...The Outlaw.
 


Angerer's intangibles put him somewhere in the top two for me. There's something to be said about that kind of spirit--Angerer is all-Iowa...and his team hit the zenith under Ferentz.
 


Hodge, Jewel and Angerer......Hodge was the best run stopper of the 3. And he was the worst of the 3 in pass coverage. The gap is much larger in pass coverage vs being a run stopper that’s why I would probably put Hodge 3rd on that list.

Jokes aside, Hodge could fill the hole like no other and just nasty on initial contact.
 


It must have been tempting to put Angerer on the list just for the "thumb" comment. Asked if he was concerned about playing with an injured thumb, Angerer responded something like, "Well, my dog doesn't have thumbs and he gets along just fine"...or something to that effect. Still my favorite comment from an Iowa player in a Tuesday presser.
 




For all the talk about Angerer and Hodge, they were both awesome ball players. Fantastic. But their level of play was hugely influenced by how great the lines they had in front of them were. Hodge really had a tough go of it in 2005 when that stellar 2004 line graduated. Angerer was an absolute beast as 2008 wore on and for all of 2009. It's a team sport and those guys both knew their roles. The defense really could have used Angerer in 2010.
 


In my opinion, Angerer was the perfect MLB for Iowa's system. He was big, fast, could cover in space (as evidenced by his INTs) and could run fit better than any MLB in KFs 20 years. He also was the craziest SOB to ever put on an Iowa uniform under KF as well.

For all the above, he'd be my pick as first team MLB.....
 


In my opinion, Angerer was the perfect MLB for Iowa's system. He was big, fast, could cover in space (as evidenced by his INTs) and could run fit better than any MLB in KFs 20 years. He also was the craziest SOB to ever put on an Iowa uniform under KF as well.

For all the above, he'd be my pick as first team MLB.....

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We aren't really as deep at the outside linebacker positions as I have in my head. A lot of pretty darn good names on there but not a lot of standout ones.
 


IMO, there's a debate with PA and AH at No. 2. Josey is a clear No. 1 for me.
 




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