Iowa should have waited to have the presser, but if you wait guys like Matt P. and Gregg Doyle can continue to make up things and have no facts behind them. If they wait to have the press conference then the media would be tearing them apart for burying their heads in the sand.
As far as Ferentz not being back when his players are in the hospital, no he is not here in person, but does anyone know if he has called the players directly or their families? For all we know he has spoken to every one of them and expressed his concern for their safety.
There will be more to this story, unfortunately when the details do come out later this week or early next week all the talk will be about the Super Bowl and the fact that once again the football program did the right thing will be forgotten.
All the facts about this case are taken second hand from facebook and twitter, not always the most reliable sources of information.
This is the point that some fans and many in the media are overlooking. They are attributing his absence to a lack of leadership or, worse yet, a sign that he doesn't care about his players. Following is an excerpt from the PC transcript that answers your question about phone calls with the coaching staff:
Q. Have the football coaches answered your questions to your satisfaction?
BIFF POGGI: Well, I've spoken to position coach, Darrell Wilson, many, many times, we have been in constant contact, and I have spoken to Coach Ferentz probably four or five times, at least four or five times. I think the answer to to answer that, you know, everybody is in an information gathering mode, and that is kind of where people are. And I think that's fair to say.
In my mind, Ferentz has earned the benefit of the doubt in situations like this. However, it makes for better talk show fodder to jump to the most nefarious conclusions without knowing all of the facts.
We have seen this movie before:
1. Everson/Satterfield situation: Some in the media and on message boards jumped to the conclusion that somehow KF was involved in a cover-up. I believe the U of I hired a law firm to independently review the situation and found no such cover-up. KF followed university policy in matters such as that. It was determined that the policy needed to be looked at but that was not KF's issue.
2. KF was accused of lacking control over the program after a series of off-the-field transgressions over an 18 to 24 month time period. KF swiftly dealt with the more serious issues and repeat offenders. A majority of the transgressions were not serious offenses and were handled with in-house punishment and/or game suspensions. KF moved forward and lead the team to seasons of 9-4, 11-2 and 8-5.
3. KF was roundly criticized on message boards and in the media about his relationship with DJK. "Why was coach being so unfair to such a great kid like DJK?" "KF just doesn't like his outgoing personality." I think we now know that KF had a lot more insight into DJK's character than the so-called "experts" on the message board and in the media.
4. KF was again accused of lacking control over the program before the Insight Bowl. After DJK's arrest, supposedly anywhere from 11 to 23 players were going to be suspended for the bowl game due to positive drug tests and there was a "drug culture" on the team. Once again, it looks like things weren't as bad as the "experts" and media made them appear by jumping to conclusions without all of the facts.
Again, I feel that KF has earned the benefit of the doubt from our fan base but you can make up your own mind.